My birth story-mostly med free

KKSBeans · September 2012

Hello all ! I had told myself from the get go that I did not want an epidural, mainly because I was scared of the needle (I'm not going to lie)

I started prodromal labor at 5:30am on Sunday. The contractions stayed about 15 minutes apart until 9am on Monday. When I went to the bathroom at 7am, I had major bloody show and I think until that point, I was in denial that I was in labor. I thought it was gas pains lol. At about 9 I went to the bathroom and was still spotting, so I thought I would get in the shower and go get checked out, in case something was wrong. Keep in mind, DH had been trying to get me to go to labor and delivery since Sunday afternoon. Well, when I got in the shower the contractions started coming about 2-3 mins apart. But they weren't awful, I didn't even need to breathe through them. So I of course thought I was going to get triaged and sent home. DH was finishing the hopsital bag, taking the dog out and then we left. On the 5 min drive to the hospital I had 2 contractions, then had another on the way into the building. Once again, not super painful I didn't even stop walking. I got to L&D and they took me to triage, which they told me they wouldn't do unless they doubted someone was in actual labor. I got changed into a gown and they started taking my vitals. My BP was like 150/something and my pulse was like 144, so they wanted me tested for PIH, which I assume came out negative. The nurse lifted my gown to check me and I heard my hubby say "Please let her be dialated or she is gonna kill me since I made her come here" lol. The nurse told him to relax because I was a 6 !!! I couldn't believe it ! They took me to my room and my midwife came to break my water. In the 45 mins it took her to get to the hospital to break my water, I dilated to an 8 !! Then I stalled at 8.5 for a minute, so I walked the halls. When I got back, I asked for nubain to take some of the edge off. I admit, I was exhausted from 26 hours of labor. That only lasted for 25 mins, maybe. Then I apparently went to a 9 and that's when it got painful. I couldn't help but bear down with the contractions, I tried not to and did anyway. At this point I started begging for the epidural, because breathing was doing nothing. The only thing I could do was yell. Well, they humored me and brought the anestheologist up to talk to me, knowing full well I wasn't going to make it the hour it was going to take to get the fluids in me. Next thing I knew, I was complete and ready to push and to be honest I was TERRIFIED ! I started crying saying I couldn't push without the epi, which of course I ended up pushing without the epi. I had a shot of lidocaine because I needed an episiotomy to get her past my pelvic bone. I pushed for 25 mins and out came Kenna Elise at 7lbs 10 ozs and 20 1/2 inches. It took 30 stitches and recovery was NOT fun, but all in all is wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be.

After I delivered, DH asked the nurse how many women make it without an epidural and the nurse told him that only 5 - 10% do it without. Which apparently, DH saw as bragging rights. lol

I honestly did not think I could do it, but besides the pointless nubain, I did it !!