My thoughts on the epi...

KatieRL1979

Here's my experience if it helps you all any ....

 I was not planning on one at all but decided that if I needed it I wouldn't beat myself up about it.  I labored without any assistance overnight (I was given cervadil and that actually helped me go into labor on my own without any pitocin).  Around 11am my water broke when my doctor was checking my progress.

After that the contrax instantly became more than I could handle physically or mentally - after about an hour of those I asked for the epi.  I still was not happy about it but at that point I just couldn't take it anymore.  After I got some relief I got some sleep and about 3 hours later I was able to push my baby out in 20 minutes.

Now the only regret I have was not waiting longer.  I noticed when I sat up for the epi that it felt a lot better but I was so stressed from the pain it didn't occur to me the whole time to try getting up and moving around, different positions or the birthing ball - essentially everything I learned in childbirth class I completely forgot about.  I wish I had thought about it, perhaps then it would have helped me and I could have gone without the epi, but in the long run it doesn't matter, I still have a beautiful healthy baby. 

Next time around I'll try to remember to get up off the bed