March 2015 Moms
Kia29
member
Should I get an epidural before getting induce? How long does an epidural last before it wears off?
Kia29
member
This is my first pregnancy, I'm 5'2 & only weigh 140, "very little"... Very nervous about getting induce Tuesday & scared with getting an epidural... I'm mainly scared of everything...
Answers
As far as if you should get one, it's all about what you think is best for you and your baby.
I had one with both of my labors and had no issues with my first labor. I was 2 cm dilated when I got it and it worked great. This time I was already 5 cm dilated when I went into labor so I was able to get it as soon as I got the bag of fluid in me. My body didn't respond well to it and my blood pressure kept dropping which meant I had to keep getting bags of fluids. I wish I had waited longer to get it because it slowed my contractions down and I wasn't progressing so I had to have pitocin. Also it started wearing off once it was time to push and I felt everything when I was pushing. This is my personal experiences with the epidural, but it doesn't mean it'll be that way for you.
As for the potential complications, I, too, had issues with low BP. I run low normally. They had to medicate me and give me extra fluids. But it was definitely worth it. My contractions stayed fairly regular right up to pushing. The epidural does not "wear off," per se, but they can adjust the dosage and many times will decrease it for pushing so that you feel it better. In my case, I labored for 7 hours with the epidural and pushed for 3 1/2 hours. I could feel the urge to push and the progression of the baby, but the contractions were not felt. My contractions did slow down at the very end, so I was put on Pitocin to speed things up for pushing. Whether that was the epidural or just my body, I don't know.
Good luck with your induction! Whatever decision you make, just know that your body can make it through.
With my second, I labored naturally (was not induced) and got an epidural at 8ish cm. My epidural was just dosed this time, no infusion. So each pain relief dosage lasted about an hour and a half. When I was pushing, the adrenaline pushed the epi dose through my body much faster, I could feel the last 5 min of pushing full force.
You will not be given an epidural before you are induced. You will feel some of your contractions, no labor is completely pain free. But you can do this. Your medical team is there to support you through this whole process. Good luck and congratulations!
I have had 3 natural births without any drugs.
Maybe go in and just see how you go.
Having a natural birth can be much quicker, less chance of having a c section and a quicker recovery time.
Just my opinion
I gave birth to my son three weeks ago and planned to have a natural water birth with no pain medication. I'm a young FTM and had a totally romanticised view of childbirth!
I have never been in hospital before, never had anything physically wrong with me medically and am a huge wuss with a non-existent pain threshold.
What actually happened was almost all of my worst fears about childbirth came true and my birth plan went to hell! I developed GD near the end and had to be induced at 38 weeks. This took 5 days of painful contractions and ended with me having my water broken and going on the pitocin drip, losing too much blood, baby getting stuck behind my pelvis and having 2 failed suction caps and being born with forceps. I had an episiotomy and lots of stitches. I was hooked up to six different drips by the end of it all and I have no idea what most of them were. I was particularly unlucky and the doctors said they'd never seen such a complicated, lengthy induction. All the other women in my ward went into labour after a couple of hours of their first hormone dose, quickly and easily.
In the end, I chose to have an epidural after 8 hours of labour and it was a good decision under my circumstances. I would do it again. I had this arranged before I was hooked up to the pitocin and it was a good job I did as the anesthetist was tied up for the rest of the night.
Let me tell you, none of it is really as bad as you think it's going to be. You will surpass your own expectations of what you can cope with and feel like a superhero at the end of it all. I know people say this all the time but it's true, you go into a sort of 'zone' when you're delivering your baby whereby you don't really feel pain and you are not scared. It's one of natures little magic tricks.
I suppose what I am trying to say is, if I can do it then you most definitely can. Oh and use that gas & air, it's heavenly
Good luck, you will be fine xxx
I too had a romanticized vision of a med free birth, and held out for 15 hours into the induction. At a certain point, my body was so worn down and tortured that I was shaking constantly and my dilation stalled at 6cm.
The epidural was devastating emotionally because it went against my birth plan, but as soon as I got it, everything changed and my stressful awful drawn out labor morphed into a positive experience. I was able to get sleep, and my dilation continued on, picking up speed.
My advice is to hold out until the contractions get too uncomfortable, then to get it, that way you don't have to worry about it wearing out, or stalling labor.
With baby girl I was I went into labor on my own and started 5 cm and 50% effaced and got the epidural about an hour or 2 after I was admitted and was in labor 16 hours and pushed 17 minutes. I stayed at 5 cm for almost 8 hours until I finally started progressing after getting pitocin.
It just goes to show that epidurals and inductions are differnt for everyone, both my experiences were completely different. Make the decision you think is best for you. It is scary being a first time mom experiencing labor for the first time but just think of the beautiful little reward you get as a result of all your pain and hard work.