With drugs or no drugs.

jamilla7 · February 2023

When you think about your due date do you think you can give birth without drugs or with drugs, administered by the hospital?

maggiemadeit · February 2023

@jamilla7 This is a board for women trying to get pregnant. We don’t have due dates.

emeraldcity603 · February 2023

I had to look at which board this is posted on a few times but it’s definitely on the 1st trimester and people posting here actually do have a due date.

I have had 2 medicated and 4 unmedicated births. I prefer the unmedicated but one is not necessarily better than the other. It’s all about personal preferences.

maggiemadeit · February 2023

@emeraldcity603 It was originally posted in TTGP. Sometimes the Bump mods move things to more appropriate locations…

swizzlemalarkey · February 2023

You can have a plan all you want but you really never know how things are going to go/how you’ll feel until you’re in the thick of it.

emeraldcity603 · February 2023

@maggiemadeit Ah, that’s makes sense. I was so confused.

00kim00 · February 2023

I was pretty sure I wanted to go no drugs. I almost used a birth center, and did end up switching hospitals to one run by midwives and now open to low interventions. That said, I know birth is unpredictable, rarely goes totally according to plan, and many women end up upset/disappointed/feeling like a failure if it didn't go to plan. So I went in with the mindset of a Plan A, B, C, and D to account for whatever situation pops up. Plan A was no meds, labor in tub for pain relief, using positioning changes for pain and ease of delivery. Plan B adds nitrous oxide. I would've been perfectly happy with either of those. My primary goals, aside from both me and baby coming home healthy, were setting us up for success with breastfeeding and recovery (avoiding c-section and episiotomy if possible). Plan C was epidural, though I preferred to avoid it since it can have a negative effect on breastfeeding, limits birthing positions, increases the chance of other interventions, and requires a catheter, which I've had issues with in the past. Plan D, which really I wanted to avoid is at all possible, so really only a ", plan" if my baby's life depended on it, was c-section.

I had my baby 6 weeks ago, and we ended up with Plan C, and I'm really ok with that (FYI, I had no idea how glorious an epidural was until I got one; I spent the rest of labor thanking God for epidurals). I highly recommend thinking through all the possible scenarios and having multiple "what if" plans in your head. Sure, make a birth plan, but have several backups and know what you want if there's complications, you find the pain too much, baby is positioned funny, baby's heart rate drops, the epidural doesn't work, etc. Even though I wanted one thing but ended up with another, I don't feel like a failure and I'm satisfied with my experience. I think having multiple "plans", an open mind, and awareness and acceptance ahead of time to know that things usually don't go at planned, really helped. Even if I had ended up with a c-section, I think I would've been ok since it was somewhere on my list of plans, and I was able to try everything else/did everything I could.

nikestheraccoon · February 2023

It really depends. I had a home birth with my son (no meds) and it was a "great" experience. However, he came very quickly, like 9 hours total labor with only 3 of those being active and pushing. I could handle the three hours without meds, but if it had been hours and hours, I would have begged for an epidural. Personally, I think being med free makes you more aware of your body. I could feel my son move up and down the birth canal, over and over, stretching me out. I probably could have pushed earlier, and if I'd had an epidural, I might not have realized I wasn't quite ready and tore. I'm 7 weeks and planning another home birth(hopefully just as fast as my first).

mizzoumomma11 · February 2023

I wanted a natural birth with my first, but hadn’t really prepared, and had a long labor (24 hours) so I ended up getting an epidural. However, the epidural didn’t work. Second time, I actually prepared for natural birth (classes, books, etc), but my labor was even longer (37 hours, with water broken 33 hours), so they eventually convinced me to get pitocin, as I wasn’t dilating fast enough after my water broke, and then eventually I tried the epidural again, which again didn’t work. 🤦‍♀️🤣 So, this time, my plan is to try and labor at home as long as possible (I live close to my hospital), then go in. I do not plan on trying the epidural this time, and will avoid pitocin as long as they don’t see a dire need for it. I’m also a long pusher (2 hours each time), so I’m hoping this time that part goes faster, since both times by the time I delivered, I was delirious (and had a high fever the second time). Third time’s the charm, right? 😆

b_1029 · February 2023

I thought I could, but I couldn’t, and that’s ok.

kimplaints_nyc · August 2023

Can you feel your legs during an epidural. Is everything numb from the waist down? Not being able too move is a huge phobia of mine, and it's leaning me towards no meds, or just Nitrous oxide.

00kim00 · August 2023

I tried nitrous before the epidural, but it made me overwhelmingly nauseous. If you're in the US, definitely check with your hospital to see if they offer nitrous; many don't. I believe it's pretty standard in the UK, though, so it's very location-specific.

My legs were mostly numb. It was like when your limb falls asleep (before the pins and needles, there was none of that). I could feel pressure but little sharp pain. I felt it when I tore and when they stitched up my second and third degree tears,but it was a huge relief from the full body pain. I could move, turn over in bed, get on hands and knees,etc., but wasn't allowed out of the bed.

katieebo · August 2023

For my first baby, I had 2 plans: Plan A to driver with as few interventions as possible while in a hospital and Plan B anything and everything needed to make sure baby and I were able to leave the hospital alive. I was glad I was open to it because I ended up developing preeclampsia and having to be induced for our health. I also have a family history of malignant hyperthermia where anesthesia can be dangerous. Since an emergency c-section was on the table as an option because of the preeclampsia I made an agreement with my nurse that I wanted to hold off on an epidural as long as possible but would get it when she thought it was clinically appropriate. That's what I ended up doing and I really do think that it helped my blood pressure lower enough that I didn't need the c-section and I know if I had I wouldn't have had to get anesthesia. For the next baby, I plan to go as long as without and will decide during labor if I'm going to or not. The most important part is that you and baby are safe. The rest are just preferences and I really think if you go into with that mindset it won't be as traumatic

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