CLICKY POLL: Epidural or not during labor?

hisbabybear · April 2009

.
[Poll]

emlady · April 2009

Maybe I should have voted all natural. I'm at a birth center so it isn't an option, but if I were at a hospital I wouldn't totally rule it out.

blessed_wife · April 2009

I'm surprised that so many people are going natural

laurenshay · April 2009

If I could have them hook me up as soon as I walk in the door, I would!! Bring on the drugs!!!! I have zero tolerance for pain and the first time around was HELL with back labor so there is no question in my mind that I want the epi!!

DaisyAdair · April 2009

No epi...not because I want to go natural, I just had a bad experience with it during my 1st delivery and won't consider it again. I went med-free with #2. It wasn't pleasant, but it was much more pleasant than the complications I had from the epi with my 1st.

chels0120 · April 2009

blessed_wife:
I'm surprised that so many people are going natural

That is what I was thinkin! That's awesome so many are considering it or at least going to try to go natural as long as possible!

The New Mrs. · April 2009

Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

ChrissyK88 · April 2009

i plan on having this child the same way i did my other two.

its not all natural but its not an epidural. I will be induced at 38 wks and therefore there will be an IV. i vote Nubain. its great. i still knew what was going on but i wasnt in so much pain i couldnt focus.

Deirdre18 · April 2009

DaisyAdair:

No epi...not because I want to go natural, I just had a bad experience with it during my 1st delivery and won't consider it again. I went med-free with #2. It wasn't pleasant, but it was much more pleasant than the complications I had from the epi with my 1st.

Can I ask what kind on complications you had???

nanantato · April 2009

During labor I really wanted to wait to get an epidural. I did eventually get it, although I needed a re-dose. OMG, the pain was awful.?

I recommend it .?

SteffaniO · April 2009

The New Mrs.:
Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

I don't know if this is how she meant it, but I took it to mean that you'd like to try to go natural, but you're not opposed to having an epidural if the pain gets to be too much.

Aliliv · April 2009

I went without an epi. with my first, and I'll try to go without one again this time....but, I don't know how it will go, so I'll keep my options open. REALLY hoping to go without - the needle scares the sh!t out of me:)

emlady · April 2009

The New Mrs.:
Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

I think to see if you can make it all the way without one at all. It's not a for sure "no".

txbabs111 · April 2009

I don't have a choice. I have a severe allergy to most general anesthesia, and while it's rare for a woman to have to be put completely to sleep during delivery it still does happen. My OB and the anesthesiologist want me to have an epi asap because they said having a good epi early on is the best way to prevent having to be put under. If I didn't have to get one, I'd be in the try to go as long as possible camp because I'd like to see if I could do it med-free.

TessaTru · April 2009

Deirdre18:
DaisyAdair:

No epi...not because I want to go natural, I just had a bad experience with it during my 1st delivery and won't consider it again. I went med-free with #2. It wasn't pleasant, but it was much more pleasant than the complications I had from the epi with my 1st.

Can I ask what kind on complications you had???

Ditto....I am considering an epi but i have heard that you are so numb, that you can't feel anything, and it is harder to push the baby out. What was your experience and complications?

DaisyAdair · April 2009

Deirdre18:
DaisyAdair:

No epi...not because I want to go natural, I just had a bad experience with it during my 1st delivery and won't consider it again. I went med-free with #2. It wasn't pleasant, but it was much more pleasant than the complications I had from the epi with my 1st.

Can I ask what kind on complications you had???

It wore off in an hour. Nobody knows why. It was in place and worked great for that hour, but just wore off. They gave me a clicky thing to give myself more medicine and that didn't work.

I had to have my bladder drained twice. Even though I could walk, they wouldn't let me out of bed since I technically had the epi. The catheter hurt and I screamed the entire time.

They gave me a bolus and that numbed me upward. My entire chest was numb, which was pointless. I couldn't feel myself breathe and felt like I was suffocating under water.

My BP dropped and I needed multiple shots of epinepherine to bring it back up. That made my heart pound and the baby's heart race because that crosses the placenta.

Meanwhile, I'm still in excruciating pain because the numbness was only belly button up.

It was awful. I know I could probably have another one and it would work great, but I can't shake the memory of that catheter and the feeling of not breathing. Plus, they don't know WHY it happened. If I could point and say, "Well, it was in wrong or it fell out." I'd feel better about things.

That hour that it worked was heaven though! I'm really disappointed it turned out the way it did because I'd be all over the epi.

flutiefrostie · April 2009

I'm going as long as possible without one because I don't want to slow down labor, but I also want some pain relief. The women in my family labor really fast, except my mom when she had an epi (My mom was born while my grandma was checking into the hospital, and my dad was born in a car on the way to the hospital. My mom progressed really fast with me until she got an epi, and then her labor basically stopped- it lasted 18 hours in all. Her labors with my siblings were both under 3 hours).

2007wife · April 2009

SteffaniO:
The New Mrs.:
Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

I don't know if this is how she meant it, but I took it to mean that you'd like to try to go natural, but you're not opposed to having an epidural if the pain gets to be too much.

I took took it as trying to go natural and epi free, but not opposed to an epi or fully committed to absolutely no drugs.

I plan on going drug free and am preparing for that, but I have never been in labor before and have no idea how it is going to go or feel so we'll see.

I also think that the benefit of waiting as long as possible for an epi is that sometimes and epi can slow things down or even stop labor/dialation.

FinallyThatGirl · April 2009

DaisyAdair:
Deirdre18:
DaisyAdair:

No epi...not because I want to go natural, I just had a bad experience with it during my 1st delivery and won't consider it again. I went med-free with #2. It wasn't pleasant, but it was much more pleasant than the complications I had from the epi with my 1st.

Can I ask what kind on complications you had???

It wore off in an hour. Nobody knows why. It was in place and worked great for that hour, but just wore off. They gave me a clicky thing to give myself more medicine and that didn't work.

I had to have my bladder drained twice. Even though I could walk, they wouldn't let me out of bed since I technically had the epi. The catheter hurt and I screamed the entire time.

They gave me a bolus and that numbed me upward. My entire chest was numb, which was pointless. I couldn't feel myself breathe and felt like I was suffocating under water.

My BP dropped and I needed multiple shots of epinepherine to bring it back up. That made my heart pound and the baby's heart race because that crosses the placenta.

Meanwhile, I'm still in excruciating pain because the numbness was only belly button up.

It was awful. I know I could probably have another one and it would work great, but I can't shake the memory of that catheter and the feeling of not breathing. Plus, they don't know WHY it happened. If I could point and say, "Well, it was in wrong or it fell out." I'd feel better about things.

That hour that it worked was heaven though! I'm really disappointed it turned out the way it did because I'd be all over the epi.

I have a friend who had severe permanent nreve damage from the epi. She couldnt walk for the first 3-4 months post delivery. I will do everything in my power not to get an epi.... my plan is drug free all natural

iris427 · April 2009

An epi can slow or stall labor, so the idea behind waiting is to let labor get going nice and strong first, to minimize risks of the epi causing failure to progress.

cathy_and_matt · April 2009

2007wife:
SteffaniO:
The New Mrs.:
Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

I don't know if this is how she meant it, but I took it to mean that you'd like to try to go natural, but you're not opposed to having an epidural if the pain gets to be too much.

I took took it as trying to go natural and epi free, but not opposed to an epi or fully committed to absolutely no drugs.
I plan on going drug free and am preparing for that, but I have never been in labor before and have no idea how it is going to go or feel so we'll see.
I also think that the benefit of waiting as long as possible for an epi is that sometimes and epi can slow things down or even stop labor/dialation.

ditto. I'd like to try natural, but not having any idea what labor is like, I'm not ruling out pain meds if the labor is long, the pain is more intense than I can handle, etc.

I really want to avoid a c-section (I've had abdominal surgery before) and since having an epi can increase your chances of that, what with it slowing down labor, etc. I'm going to at least give a med-free birth a shot.

Chloebrigette · April 2009

cathy_and_matt:
2007wife:
SteffaniO:

The New Mrs.:
Not to start any controversy, but what is the reason for going "as long as possible" if you're still going to get an epi? Why suffer with more pain than you need to if you still are going to get it??

I don't know if this is how she meant it, but I took it to mean that you'd like to try to go natural, but you're not opposed to having an epidural if the pain gets to be too much.

I took took it as trying to go natural and epi free, but not opposed to an epi or fully committed to absolutely no drugs.

I plan on going drug free and am preparing for that, but I have never been in labor before and have no idea how it is going to go or feel so we'll see.

I also think that the benefit of waiting as long as possible for an epi is that sometimes and epi can slow things down or even stop labor/dialation.

ditto. I'd like to try natural, but not having any idea what labor is like, I'm not ruling out pain meds if the labor is long, the pain is more intense than I can handle, etc.

I really want to avoid a c-section (I've had abdominal surgery before) and since having an epi can increase your chances of that, what with it slowing down labor, etc. I'm going to at least give a med-free birth a shot.

THIS precisely!!!

Chrysallys · April 2009

blessed_wife:
I'm surprised that so many people are going natural

I think that's awesome, but then I'm biased

ChiShanona · April 2009

My intention is to go natural but be flexible. I'm not going to go into it saying that I'll go as long as I can and then get the epi. I'm just going to see what happens and know that its available if I end up needing it.

Beccaboo0713 · April 2009

I want to go natural but I am not opposed to getting an epi so I am going to go in and try to go natural. I am a FTM so I totally have no idea how I will react to the pain ( I usually have a fairly high tolerance). But if I can handle it I am going all natural.

Idhreniel · April 2009

I would prefer not to have an epidural because I'm worried about my blood pressure dropping dangerously low (I've had repeated problems with that already during this pregnancy). But if I'm getting myself so worked up from the pain that I'm not making any progress, I would consider getting one.

Blackvelvet · April 2009

I'm terrified of needles so I will be going without but I also might consider it some else as I will spend most of the time in a Jacuzzi right up untill 10cm when I can push then the hospital will make me get out. I wanted a water birth but my insurance doesn't cover any of the hospitals or birthing centers that offer it so it's the best I can do.

Want a personalized experience?

CLICKY POLL: Epidural or not during labor?

Re: CLICKY POLL: Epidural or not during labor?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards