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December 2013 Moms
Natural or epidural????
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Natural or epidural????
Exactly this. If I need more pain management in the moment I will take it. I feel like there's no need for absolutes at this point, but I want to try med-free.
For my first I figured I would labor as long as I could naturally, then get the epi. Well, got to the point that I wanted the epi...and I couldn't get it. I have mild scoliosis and the anesthesiologist couldn't get the catheter in. At our childbirth class the instructor warned that could happen, but I figured I'd be fine. Apparently not! Anyway, I had pain meds [stadol in my IV] to get me thru to 10 cm and that was it. Pushed with no meds whatsoever. I will say the recovery was very quick.
This time, I am strongly considering not even bothering with the epi at all, even though a different anesthesiologist might get it in with no problem. I figure I got through one labor epi free, I can certainly do another, especially if it will likely be shorter! We shall see...
(quoting from TheSloppySwish but messed up)
"Very, very true.
I had an epi with my first and would plan to do so again. That being said, my first labor was only 6 1/2 hours and subsequent deliveries tend to go considerably faster. I'm worried about an "unplanned" natural birth."
First two, epidurals that worked GREAT! Very fast labors considering, DD1 5 hours, DS 1 hour after water broken. Planned on epi for DD2; she had other plans. No time (out in less than an hour from getting to hospital) and had to do it without an epi. Recovery was easier, no idea whether it was related to no epi or not, but I will just go with the flow for LO4. I am worried about a home birth though.
Well I was just curious about what everyone decided in the past and if they was doing anything different...also what first time moms decided to do as well just conversation...some people are due the first week of dec and could of thought about some of these things...
I will be having a repeat planned c - section.
But when I was pregnant with my son I kept saying I wanted to go natural and I can withstand the pain (which I could) but since I was induced due to being high risk I was in labor for 31 hours so I was convinced it would be best for me to get an epidural so that I can rest and have energy to push the baby out. I believe when going in you need to be open minded and just go with the flow and in the end the most important part is that you and the baby are healthy.
It doesn't really hurt- you can still tell when you're contracting and feel pressure. Before my epi I was actively using all the pain management techniques from my birthing class and relying on my husband to help me through each contraction (I was on pitocin)... after the epi I was on the phone chatting with my mom and tried to take a nap. We knew it was time to push when I started feeling slightly uncomfortable again and I vomited from baby pressing on a nerve. I had a great experience with my epi, and feel much safer with an epi than I do with the other pain meds they offer, like stadol... I don't want to feel loopy, and I feel like there's a greater chance the narcotics would get in my baby's system than something that stays in my spine. To each her own tho...
I'm pretty sure you would also like your doctor, anesthesiologist, and nurses to be doing the work while you undergo major abdominal surgery.
Some of the differences between epi and no epi are choices, some reflect real differences in the labors. It isn't a competition. No matter how you go about it, you won't have a pain free labor. If you have a particularly painful and long labor, you are more likely to ask for an epi. Let's hope you all have a quick (ie. 12 hours or so) labor and can go med free if you want.
(I have a friend with four kids. I have one. I labored longer than she did, total, before I even got my epi (which failed anyways). I pushed longer than she did, total. I had a longer recovery than she had, total. And more complications. You can't control these things and so much varies.)
ETA: my goal last time was med free. The only hard and fast part of my birth plan was "mommy and baby both okay at 3 months out." We failed at both. Frankly, if I'd been more open to meds and hadn't forced them to draw everything out as long as possible, I might have achieved the second goal.
Because having a med-free birth usually takes a great deal of mental preparation and some physical preparation if you want to make it as easy on yourself as possible. With the pain management techniques to learn and choices to educate yourself about, the better question is, why wouldn't you plan early?
I honestly don't know. My whole life, when I thought about childbirth, I though I would have to be crazy to not get the epi. Now that it is a little more real, I find myself open to other possibilities. I think I am going to try to go as long as I can for better labor progression, then request an epi if I feel like it would improve my birth experience.
Given all that, I am signed up for a series of childbrith classes at the hospital I will give birth in and opted for the natural labor support add on classes. I figure even if I knew for sure that I want an epi, there are so many things that could come up that would prevent me from getting it, I want the tools to deal either way. My nightmare is an unmediated birth, with no preparation, I think I might panic.
I made the mistake of accepting stadol when it was offered with my last delivery. Never again! I have never felt so messed up in my entire life. I was literally mid-sentence when I realized I could no longer formulate words, then I just passed out.
24 hours is when I caved (I hated pitocin). I have a friend who also caved at the 24 hour mark. Psychologically, there was something about going into that second full day of labor that broke me. Very difficult 40+ hour second labors run in my family so I have no hopes for a better fate this time.
Per an early comment, I've observed that the people that I know that had the worst birth experiences were deeply committed to a birth plan that simply didn't pan out. I'm simply pointing out the potential pitfalls of being too wedded to a single option when you don't know how labor will progress.
For my personal situation, a medical condition limits my options drastically. For this reason, my doctor will be the one to make the final call on my birth method.
This happened to me me with my first. Dr. broke my water at 9:00 pm, Epidural at 10:45 pm - By 11:30 pm I was pushing. Had DS at 12:15 am. Baby came so fast the epidural was useless. So I accidentally had a natural childbirth. This time I will request the epidural immediately!!
This!
That's too bad about those people you know. I've seen a different sample of people, the ones that want a med-free birth but do little to prepare for it and have terrible birth experiences as a result.
Sorry to hear your delivery choices are more limited. I hope all goes smoothly.