REOM

marrymemylove

Re my siggy, my point is that the term "natural" is misused. Go ahead and have no pain meds, more power to you.

But it is perfectly NATURAL to choose the epidural as a very safe, and the safest available, and most effective, pain relief.In my book if our ancestors would have chosen it how can it be unnatural.

And I bet they would have done. After all they did everything available to them to ease labour pain, from chewing hallucinogenic bark to smoking dope and opium. For thousands of years at the very least.

So I want to push back against this frankly stupid terminology that makes unmedicated birth out to be "more natural". 

REOM

Ah, gotcha. I had two bad experiences. I won't opt for one at all with #3.  I'm just bitter epidurals don't like me

marrymemylove

I would argue the only reasons epis are ever less than beautiful is human error. I recommend Dr Gilbert Grant at NYU. He's a God. You're in NJ right? If you get a chance you should go to one of his free seminars at NYU, I think its on their website. He's fantastic. Happened to personally do mine. I love the man. Wish I could export him over here.

marrymemylove

Oh and that means I am offering to kick the crap out of the dipsticks who did your 2. :-) Any time.

marrymemylove

btw the link is 

https://www.med.nyu.edu/anes/divisions/Obseminar.html

REOM

Ha, thanks for the offer. But I would never want to have to brave tunnel traffic while in labor! THAT is scary.

I had two different doctors, and both said that my spine wasn't favorable, too compact or something. I spent an excruciating hour getting it inserted the first time, and after multiple attempts, it finally worked. But it numbed my entire body so they had to turn it off so I could push. I attribute the fact that I pushed for almost 3 hours to the epi.

It didn't work at all the second time around, and I literally had no recovery. I felt FINE as soon as the baby was born. I realized the first time around I was recovering from the epidural.

marrymemylove

LOL I know you wouldn't deliver there, I only meant you might like to go to the free seminar sometime. Then you'd be armed with the info during your labour. This guy really is the leader in his field in the US by all accounts. He even gave me a free consult basically. I have no blood-brain barrier and wasn't sure I would be able to have an epi, I spoke to him after the seminar and he said he thought it would be fine but to shoot him an email. I did, and he replied next day saying he'd looked it up and it was fine if I had antibiotics first (he did not know I was going to be his patient and he got nothing for telling me that so I thought he was pretty nice even before he gave me my epi).

I guess I'm thinking if you're already in labour its too late to ask questions so if you wanted to ask he's definitely the man with the answers. JMO.

You never know what you might want in labour I guess. 

REOM

marrymemylove:

 

I guess I'm thinking if you're already in labour its too late to ask questions so if you wanted to ask he's definitely the man with the answers. JMO.

You never know what you might want in labour I guess. 

So true. There should be a consult with an anesthesiologist while pregnant. I know that my OB only gave basic info and deferred any Qs to the anesthesiologist, who I only met once in labor/pain.

marrymemylove

Agreed. So just take my link as an FYI if you're interested in hearing him, it isn't soooo far from you for 1 evening (I think, says she with no sense of direction above 20th St in Manhattan).

 DH kept pointing out the Holland Tunnel to me near the OBs office but I never got my head around exactly where it was from where I was standing. The 30s and up bamboozled me.