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3rd Trimester
Scared of the epidural?
I'm a FTM and am planning on getting an epidural. However, I am FREAKED OUT by the thought of the actually process of receiving the epidural. I'm not usually afraid of needles, but I hear that this is the mother (pun? 
) of all needles. Any advice, thoughts, comments on this?
I'm trying not to worry about this, but of course...I am!!!
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Re: Scared of the epidural?
I was really afraid too, but it was pretty easy. Plus, once you are at the point you need an epidural all you want is relief from the pain, so you won't care if they stick a huge nail in your back as long as it makes the pain stop. Since everything is going on behind you, it helps that you can't see the needle. They numb you up first too.
you don't have to even see the needle. i don't do well with needles, blood etc....I jsut told the doc that so when they brought the epi guy (sorry blanking on right termonology) he knew i didn't want to see it which is pretty easy to do since it goes in your back.....honestly by the tiem you need the epi- you don't care either!!!!
gl
DMoney will be a kickass big sister
Oh yeah, I remember my childbirth class teacher saying they will give you a local before they do it so you dont feel it.
1) don't look at the needle. I had an awesome (sarcasm) labor and I was hooked up to the pitocin for an hour before my epi... so it sucked. I looked at my DH's face when the anesthesiologist took out the needle and had I not been miserable that would have been enough for me! So don't do that either!
2) Trust me, by the time it's time for one, you'll want it, regardless. I remember that in between (ha, like there was time between) contractions, the pulled over a little wheeled table and told me to lean over it, hunch my back, and relax. RELAX?! DURING CONTRACTIONS??? A nurse had to hold me in the right position because I could barely do it. They gave me the shot and I don't remember feeling it at all.
I know it's ridiculous to tell someone not to worry about the giant needle, to about cutting/ripping (which I didn't feel at all but I was cut and still tore all the way down) and to not worry about all this stuff... but seriously, every part of your body hurts and you won't be able to feel all the "little" stuff. You feel like you have to take a really big poo, and after you feel like you just took the best poo of your life, lol. The only little thing I felt was being stitched up afterward, which apparently you aren't supposed to feel and my OB actually argued with me about whether I was feeling it.
Our bodies do this wonderful thing where they make us forget how miserable pregnancy and labor can be, though
I had an epi prior. You don't even see it. It's done and over before you even know what's going on.
I sat on one edge of the bed and arched my back over a pillow, the nurse inserted the needle. She also put some numbing gel on the insertion site so I never even felt the needle.
H was facing the whole thing and he's way more traumatized by it than I was.
I also wasn't numb very long after birth. Within an hour I was up and ready to take a shower and have some food.
Wow...it's very encouraging to hear that many of you didn't feel it or barely felt it.
And I am sooooooo glad that many of you have mentioned the daddies' reaction to seeing the needle. Seeing a terrified face during that time would not help me in calming down.
You never see the needle. Everything is sterile and closed up in little packages when they come in the room. The nurse anesthetist that gave it to me talked to me the whole time. They gave me a tiny prick to numb the whole area first anyway. They said it would feel like a bee sting. I honestly didn't feel a "bee sting," it was more of a tiny little pin prick, and it didn't hurt AT ALL. Seriously, the epi was not even a big event during the delivery. It was no big deal at all.
For what it's worth, DH's best friend does epis all day and said the old "you could get paralyzed" thing that people say is positively not true. The area that put the epi in is not even close to the vertebrae where your spinal cord begins. Just an fyi in case you were worried about that. No worries!
Brayden (5 1/2) born 12.28.06
Hailey (4 1/2) born 2.25.08
Taylor (8 Months) born 12.26.11
Totally feels like the best poo of your life! Once you have the baby, all you feel is sweet, sweet relief, and you're actually giddy....(note to self--reign it in, as hubster is videotaping the end...just the baby, of course.)
ANYWAYS, i had to get the epi TWICE, because the first shot only froze one half of my body. (i have very mild scoliosis, and it happens) The needle was no big deal, trust me. They kicked out hubster so i wouldn't have to deal with the traumatized face, lol. VERY easy to deal with, i'd much rather an epi than a shot in my mouth HANDS DOWN.
GL, and it's true that it's a type of pain that you forget...within 24 hours it was like a bad dream...with a great result.
Make a pregnancy ticker
Don't be scared - it doesn't hurt. The IV kind of hurt, but not worse than a blood draw, which you're probably used to by now.
FYI, just so you don't freak out, a lot of hospitals will ask your DH to leave the room while you get the epidural. I'm not exactly sure why (they said something about reducing the possibility of infection), but they asked my DH to leave so I was in there by myself (with a nurse holding my hand) when the epidural was actually administered.
It's because of insurance liability. The group DH works for does this for certain procedures too. They don't need your DH passing out, grabbing you suddenly, or causing a problem that ends in a lawsuit on their hands, so they just ask them to leave the room. It helps them keep as many things in their control as possible while administering the epi.
I was nervous of it too for my first birth! But it was the side effects that it could have on me, my labor and most importantly my baby that worried me.
But from everyone I've talked to, they've described the IV as worse and the epidural insertion to be not that bad. So if that's you're only concern, you'll be a-ok.
Dx with endo & blocked left tube - TTC #1 for 29 cycles before miracle BFP, #2 - Surprise!!
My TTC/PG blog / Panda Phenomenon Explained
Our family blog
You won't see the needle. Nor will you care about anything that's going on. Like others have said, you'll feel a pinprick when they inject the local anesthetic, and that's it.
The hardest part was keeping completely still through a contraction. The needle was the easy part.
Oh, and my epidural ROCKED. I went from pitocin-induced hell to calm and pain free in minutes. It allowed me to thoroughly enjoy my labor experience.
Me too. I have other reasons for wanting to avoid it and be able to move around, plus reports that nursing staff, etc. can tell which newborns were exposed to epis or not... But my worry about the actual needle will hopefully help me go as long as possible before considering it.
I was scared at first as well but let me tell you, I didn't even feel it! The IV hurt like hell though! That is the part that I'm dreading with this pregnancy!
I also told the epi guy that I didn't want to see anything that he was doing or had with him and I didn't want him telling me anything. (Other then the hold still part) It was over and done with before I knew it and I was on easy street the rest of the way.
Honestly, I chalk that up to hearsay. DS was no different than any of the other kids on the floor and had no issues latching.
I will say that I did get the spinal headache and it sucked, but they were able to give me something to deal with the pain. This time I get to go straight for the spinal.
This is one of the reasons I went natural. Twice. Oh I begged and begged with birth of our second daughter. Two years later I find out my husband told the nurses no, she doesn't mean it. LOL I was a bit miffed at that. BUT--he was right. I didn't want an epi. I know there's millions of cases where everything turned out just fine, but the list of possibilities of things either not working or going wrong were just too long for me. I'm the type of person that if something can go wrong, it will with me. Especially with drugs. I always have adverse reactions to medications.
Now....having said that. Natural child birth isn't all that bad. Sure, I felt like I was dying at one point. But the worst part of it all was the fact that for 4 hours I was told NOT to push because my cervix wasn't thin enough. Fighting nature like that takes a toll on you. I got through it all, a little worse for wear, but knew the light at the end of the tunnel was once that baby is out, the pain stops almost immediately. And no, I haven't forgotten the pain of childbirth. My oldest is 6 1/2 and I remember it. There's no magic button in my body that wiped the memory banks clean once I held my children. I'm a small woman and had back labor with both of them. And neither one of them were easy births.
But I'm now pregnant with # 3 and plan on yet another natural birth. Glutton for punishment, probably. Beyond stupid, definitely!! LOL The point is: no matter which way you decide to go (epi, natural, whatever else is out there) once you hold your baby, you may not forget.....but it all ceases to matter. You and your SO will know what to do at the time it's to be done. Good luck and congrats!
I was actually reading it the other day again in a mainstream pregnancy/parenting magazine, in addition to my (more biased) reading on natural birth. We were also told this in our prenatal classes, and my SIL a L&D nurse (who herself had epis with both of our nephews) supported this. I think though it is just a "higher percentage" that have trouble latching and might be groggy, etc., not all. I am sure there is a % of natural that have difficuluties too, of course. I intend to hold off on everything as long as I can, and hope to use these things as motivation (God knows I will need them!!!), but I won't be angry at myself if things don't go as planned.