So, no epidural for me...

munsterdani · May 2011

I had a consult with the anesthesiologists on Friday to find out if I would be cleared for an epidural or not. I have been planning on not having one but still wanted to know if the option was there for me to have one should I decide I want one...

A little background - I have a clotting disorder called VonWillebrand's disease which is similar to hemophilia but not quite as severe. Due to the VWD I have an increased risk for bleeding. The bonus of pregnancy is that your levels of VW are higher in pregnancy than any other time in your life so as of April my levels are within the normal range although they are at the low end of normal. So, anyhoo off to the consult I go to find out what they say...

As the Dr was talking to me she starts by saying that before they would do anything they would have to draw labs on me when I get admitted to the hospital (keep in mind these labs take HOURS to come back because they are specialty labs) and they would want to do them no matter what in case I would need an emergency c-sec. So after she explains this to me she says that based on my labs in April I would be okay for the epidural BUT I would be at a slightly increased risk for spinal bleeding which could in turn lead to spinal damage and worse case scenario paralysis. She then said again that based on my April labs I should be ok to get one but the whole talk of paralysis has me so nervous that there is NO way I will be getting the epidural.

Long story short, I guess I shouldn't have been stressing about this so much as the decision was basically made for me. Can't wait to hear what my sister has to say about this after her ranting to me about how dumb I was to not get one...

mizzmeg · May 2011

Wow, I didn't know this. I have been followed by Yale genetics and will be tested after the baby is born. My sister has a severe case of it, and my mom has it more mild. Since I don't know yet, I guess I will just avoid the epi all together!

darmca · May 2011

If it makes you feel better, I live in a city of 85,000 people with even more people who live in smaller communities outside of the city and use our hospital too. Until April 1, 2011, our hospital did not offer epidurals- period. So thousands of babies a year were born here here with no epidurals and the mothers all survived. You should tell your sister that lots of smaller cities don't even offer them.

sarahseita · May 2011

thats kinda crazy but I guess it's good to know ahead of time and you can look into other pain management things. I'm in the same boat, kinda, my mw doesn't think they will work for me because of my past history with anesthetics and family history so I've been preparing myself to get though it without one. Hoping you have a short, easy labour!

Rossi17 · May 2011

::Butting in::

I didn't have an epi with my daughter, and don't plan on having one with this LO either. Come by the natural birth board for stories and tips. There is a reason it's called labor, but not anything to be afraid of (it's not painful as in "I am getting injured" pain, but rather "the most extreme exercise bootcamp you've ever participated in" 'pain') Think about it, many people do the extreme exercising by choice with the mentality of "no pain, no gain," and they do fine. I felt like I just got done running a marathon after going through labor, but it wasn't anything that (I felt) warranted a pain blocker.

tokenhoser · May 2011

You'll get through. I survived. If you're at the hospital, you do have some non-epi options if you don't want to be totally drug free.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, and I had an OP positioned baby, which often makes things worse.

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So, no epidural for me...

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