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September 2014 Moms
rebennett06
member
Induction without epidural?
rebennett06
member
I'm getting induced on Thursday night, and my original birth plan was to go med free. I'll be on cervadil Thursday night, then starting pitocin friday morning. I'm still hopefully going to try this without an epidural, has anyone out there done this, any advice? And even if you haven't gone epidural free, any helpful advice would be appreciated!
Fyi, other pain meds are out of the question due to allergies to morphine and fentanyl. I also have some pretty strong reactions to pain meds and I'm worried the epidural will cause my bp to drop.
Fyi, other pain meds are out of the question due to allergies to morphine and fentanyl. I also have some pretty strong reactions to pain meds and I'm worried the epidural will cause my bp to drop.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Induction without epidural?
If you are dilating and effecting on your own beforehand, and they start at the lowest dose and increase gradually, it's totally doable. Not fun but I didn't notice any difference in the contractions between my first labors which were not inductions and my 3rd that was.
I had pre-e and my cervix was still hard so they started me on cervidil at 5pm. The plan was to take the cervidil out at 5am the next morning(if it didn't fall out on it's own) and start me on Pitocin. The cervidil was enough because by early the next morning I was having contractions (like really bad period cramps), then all of the sudden my water broke on it's own and the real contractions started (super painful). I asked for the epidural but when they checked me, I was already fully dialated (went from 2 cm to 10 cm in 30 mins). There was no time for the epidural and LO's heart rate was dropping to 50 during each contraction because the contractions were SO strong and painful. They kept having me change positions on the bed, from side to side and then kneeling on the bed and I had an oxygen mask as well. They finally wheeled me into the operating room since they were thinking they were going to have to do an emergency CS but as soon as we got into the OR, LO's heart rate got better. They told me to start pushing and after about 10 painful contractions later, she was out. She was born at 4:45am, 15 mins before they were going to take the cervidil out and start me on Pitocin.
So yes, you can be induced and not have an epidural. It was not what I had planned (I wanted the epi, but I progressed to quickly) and there was no time.
Everyone is different though. I've heard birth stories where they were on cervidil and then started Pitocin and still didn't progress enough. It just depends on how your body responds to the interventions.
I think I literally sat in the rocking chair for 85% of my labor. It was just he best position for me to be in. I also got up and sat on the birthing ball for a bit, but it wasn't as comfortable.
I'm not going to lie, I cringed everytime the nurse came in to turn up the dose. I just tried to take it one contraction at a time and breath through them. My DH was great support at trying to divert my attention by telling me some of the most random things. Another piece of advice, don't watch the screen that is monitoring your contractions. If I saw a big one on screen I tended to tense up. So, I had to quit looking at the screen.
Transition was hard, but I just kept thinking the end is so close. Before I knew it I was pushing.
I didn't go in saying there is absolutely no way I wouldn't get an epidural, but I wanted to just see how much I could handle without one first. Just take it one contraction at a time and do what is best for you! Good luck!
I was given cervadil at 6pm and then at 10pm, it's a 4 hour dose they give up to 4 times to see how your body reacts. I started having light contractions every three minutes that were really mild like the worst gas you've had (2-3 of 10 pain scale). I was only like 2-3cm at this point. At 2am they started pitocin, which increased the pain of the contractions to a 4-5 level still every 2-3 mins. I couldn't sleep through them but my husband could haha, and rocking in the rocking chair made the more bearable. They broke my water at 9am and within 15-30 mins shit got real. I labored with intense contractions every 2 mins (7-8 pain level) until 2pm. When they checked then I was only 8cm, and was really discouraged and decided I might want an epidural, I didn't think I could handle it for another few hours! But by the time they called the doctor to check again I had made it to 10cm in about a half hour and the baby decided it was time to arrive. I pushed 5-6 times for 10-15 mins and there she was around 3pm! This part is not as painful, though it's physically harder, but you feel like you're accomplishing something. Not having the epi also causes you to feel any stitches you might need, but still not as bad as what you just went through.
Hopefully your hospital will allow you as much flexibility as mine did. I ate and drank whatever I felt like thought the whole thing which was important to keep my energy up. I had continuous monitoring of the baby but on a mobile device so I could keep moving around and finding positions to help lessen the pain. My nurse was absolutely amazing and helped me get through the worst of the contractions with different advice on how to handle them. I couldn't have done it without her! Good luck and just go with how you feel when your finally in there.
My water broke and when 20 hours later contractions had not picked up they started me on pitocin. I had a pain med free and otherwise intervention free labor after that. One thing my doctors/nurses did that helped was only using the minimum dose of pitocin needed to get my contractions to an effective level. The way they explained if to me is that they start at a low dose and increase every half hour or so. If they know you're planning an epidural then they keep increasing the dose to move things along. If you're not, they can stop upping the dose once contractions become effective. For me this was upped only 2 times, they upped the dose a third time but my contractions became 90 seconds long with 20 seconds in between so they backed the dose back down. Definitely worth discussing with your doctors! It definitely wasn't easy but it was manageable with the prenatal prep we did. And for what it's worth, I was able to move around and even be in the shower the whole time I was on pitocin. Good luck!