- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Birth Stories
My epi-free birth story (long)
EDD: Sat., Jan. 31st
Sat., Jan.
31st
12:00pm - Woke up to loss of mucus plug, spotting and minor cramps in
my lower back (not really painful or uncomfortable, just noticeable)
that lasted all day.
10:00pm - Woke up from nap to
stronger cramps (uncomfortable, but not painful). My mom had me try to
start timing "contractions." I was so frustrated, they were so minor,
I couldn't tell when they started and when they stopped. My dad and I
made an attempt to time them - 30secs. long and 10 minutes apart (still
not sure about that.) I wanted to call the Dr., but had an
overwhelming fear that I was just being paranoid and didn't want to
sound like a paranoid first timer...(I know, get over it, right?) So I
did what any mature self-respecting woman would do....I called DH at
work and told him to call the Dr. for me (not so bad if he's the
paranoid one, right?
)
11:00pm - DH gets home, calls the Dr., we're told to go to hospital.
We're all very nonchalant about it....I decide to take a shower, my
parents get their laptops, cameras and coats ready to go, DH changes
out of work clothes. 11:45pm leave for the
hospital.
Friday, Feb. 1st 12:30am - Check into hospital - nurse checks me...2cm dilated. Within minutes, contractions go from "easy breezy" to very very very painful in my entire abdominal section and lower back. (30secs long, 5-7 minutes apart). Nurse says she'll be back in 2 hours to check me. If I haven't progressed, they send me home. (Is she crazy?!! How can you send someone home in this kind of pain?) Also, at this point, tell the nurse I don't want the epi. She tried to talk me into it. WTF. I did not get the epi, however, I did, however, accept nubain later in the morning (which did not take the edge off as they said, pain was just as accute, I was just now "loopy" and in pain.) 2:00am - Pain is so horrible I have the nurse check my progress instead of waiting 30 more minutes - 4 cm dilated and move to rocking chair for minimal more comfort. 2am to 4am - Lots of painful contractions. Completely indescribeable. 1 to 3 minutes apart which felt like seconds. 4:00am - 8-9 cm Dilated. Nurse freaked out at the quick progression. kept telling me Dr. was on his way. Pain and urge to push completely overwhelming...4:30-4:45ish am - Dr. shows up. Push push push. Barely felt the baby coming out and didn't feel tearing because the pain of the contractions was so tremendous. (Oh, water breaking was never noticeable, apparently it just slowly leaked out without the staff or me noticing).
5:18am - Kamden Anthony 6lbs 15oz. entered the world (Although, he didn't have a name until about 6:30am). DH and my mom were able to experience the birth. My dad couldn't take seeing "his baby" in so much pain, so he left the room somewhere between 4 and 8 cms dilation. He attempted to come back during the pushing until he heard, in his words "a primal yell" come out of my mouth, which led him to turn around and return to the waiting room as quickly as he could.
Kamden - blue and not breathing....nurses called NICU for a specialist and were working on him. Meanwhile, back at the batcave, Dr. is looking at my vaj. with WIDE eyes. 4th degree tear and he's stitching me up as fast as he can and I'm continuing to lose a lot of blood. Contractions and urge to push start again as bad as where they left off a few minutes before. WTF? Dr. wont let me push until he gets in a couple more sutures, or in my world, 3 more contractions. As soon as he says push, OMG, I push and have the most relieving sensation ever as the placenta and a ton of blood literally shoot out of me - the expression on the Dr.'s face was priceless. Poor guy, it was all over him, etc....ok, enough detail on that. Although, I do remember mumbling "gross" in my exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Kamden started breathing and all was well in L&D room #4This discussion has been closed.
Re: My epi-free birth story (long)
thank you and beautiful baby!
i am trying to go epi-free too
I do not understand why anyone would be proud of having put themselves through indescribable pain when you could have had safe relief. I can only conclude that either you really secretly liked the pain (or liked being able to brag afterwards) or you have a pathological fear that prevented you from taking the safe pain relief (ie you believe the crap that it isn't safe).
Babies born to epidural-using mothers have better oxygenation than those to non-medicated birth mothers btw.?
?
Why in the world was that necessary? I had an epidural but there's really no reason to come into this post with nothing more intelligent to say then to basically call the poster an idiot. No one's judging your choice to go with an epidural and certainly not the op so what's the point. Oh and while I have no idea of the validity of your fact - non medicated birth babies nurse better from the get go than medicated babies. There have been several studies on this. So if you want to compare apples to apples there's always a reason to or not to do something.
And to the op - congratulations on your birth!
this was unnecessary. she gave her baby the absolute best start in life by declining the epidural. you are uneducated & have no tact.
congrats, op!
This is ONLY true if you do the following deceits:
1. include all the non-safe medications like demerol and stadol
and
2. don't adjust for the fact that everyone with severe complications is likely to need an epidural or spinal...
So comparing APPLES with APPLES is EXACTLY what shows up that epidural babies are slightly better off, and definitely not worse off.
The poster below who merely name called with no attempt at evidence referred to "the best start in life". Frankly the best start in life for mom AND baby is a nice painless epidural birth. For many reasons.?
You are an as*. You have no right to come onto this post and say that what she did is wrong. We are all entitled to our own opinions and there is a place & time to air them out. THIS WAS NOT the appropriate place for you to be judgemental. Good grief.
BTW, you have the most adorable baby boy! Congrats on having the birth that you wanted & knew you could handle.
[url=http://www.thebump.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=UBB&utm_campaign=tickers][img]http://global.thebump.com/tickers/tt1a1ae8.aspx[/img][/url]
Funnily enough real science isn't at the end of a google link.Peer reviewed journals are not usually free or online.But if you want to fi nd it I'm sure you'll ifnd the 2005 study from Northwestern and the 2006 from Yale showing that a) early epidurals do not have higher complication rates and b) that oxygenation and APGARs are higher for epidural babies controlling for other factors. TYVMBTW if it isn't the right place to call out the natural birth propaganda on here then I presume you mean to silence it completely.
Nice.?
Ok I agree that this was unnecessary, and I have to say, you are a very ignorant person. Have you noticed all of the extra attention that medicated babies have to have a majority of the time? They have to be rubbed, put under a warming lamp, and RARELY want to breastfeed directly after birth. Whereas, a with naturally born babies, they can in normal births, go directly on the mother's chest and not leave it until the mom says so. They don't need warming lamps. They don't need to be rubbed for stimulation. They've received the nerve stimulation they needed by not being drugged as well (because, as we all know, the placenta is NOT a barrier for drugs...not even Tylenol!)
People choose to have drug free births for many reasons, and very few, if any, women do it because of "enjoying the pain" or being able to brag about it afterward. There are a MULTITUDE of benefits of giving birth naturally, not to mention it is what our bodies are made to do. Medicine was made to help sick people. Delivering a child is not a sickness and does not REQUIRE medicine. The cure for labor...is DELIVERY!
Let me also add that medical interventions snowball. Epidurals slow down birth in most cases, causing most doctors/nurses to begin Pitcoin, which is unnatural and can be dangerous for the baby considering it causes unnaturally strong and long contraction. It puts the baby in distress and that often ends up leading to a c-section...something most mothers would do anything to avoid considering more women die due to c-section than due to vaginal birth.
I am choosing to have an intervention free birth because I truly believe (and have research to back it up) that deliveries without interventions are better for the baby. And I would like to be able to get up and walk around after I deliver my baby, not be stuck in the bed until the next day with a catheter in me.
I find it interesting that people feel like it is ok to attack mothers who choose natural birth...however, if I came across a birth story here where a mother opted glady for an epidural, I would not feel the need to reprimand them for it.
And why would someone be proud of having a natural birth? Probably because they allowed their body to do what it was made to do without needing to use the drugs that other women use for personal comfort. Yes, child birth is painful, but it is pain with a purpose.
If you don't want to have a child naturally, don't. But don't act like mothers who choose that are idiots. We all have the right to our own desired birth experience.
Congrats on your LO and your med-free delivery.
WOW. I can't believe people who condemn mothers for having a natural birth. We all have the right to make that choice. I had an epi with both deliveries and now looking back regret that decision for many reasons.
It is this kind of lying, yes LYING that makes women feel natural birth is "expected". This is ALL rot. Most epi babies DO NOT require anything more than non-medicated babies. The mum IS NOT tied to the bed, nor is she stuck in bed until the next day. You CLEARLY have no clue what it is like to have an epidural birth. Poor you.?