Epidural?

Question

I'm a first time mom so I'm of course questioning both options. Helpppp. For non first time moms can you give us some experiences both bad and good with both options?  Thank you! 😊😊

Answer

Had the epidural with my 1st two babies. It does wonders for the pain during labor and childbirth but I had bad side effects from it like horrible back pain for months that I had never experienced before as well as migraines. My 3rd baby I only had the IV pain medication and I must say that even though that was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life, when my baby was born it was over. No long lasting side effects. With this baby I'm not getting the  epidural either.

Answer

I had an epidural with my first after having been in labor for nearly 30 hours. They warned me that the epidural can slow the progression of labor even more and unfortunately it did.

They ended up giving me pitocin (common with epidurals) to increase the frequency and strength of contractions. My labor basically stopped progressing completely after the epidural, even with the pitocin. Another 10 hours went by and they were trying to convince me to have a c-section. I think that scared my body enough that things started progressing again within a few more hours.

It came time to push and I was numb so I had difficulty pushing effectively. My baby's heart rate kept doing with contractions and I couldn't get him out. There was a bunch of panic in the room then two nurses jumped on to of me and physically pushed my son out. He came out not breathing and needed to be resuscitated. It was pretty terrifying.

I honestly don't think things would have went this way without the epidural and pitocin. With no epidural I would have been able to be up and around for gravity to help my labor progress instead of being stuck laying down. I would have pushed more effectively being able to feel it also.

I know not every woman goes through this with an epidural, but after this experience I will be avoiding it at ALL COSTS this time around. I would much rather have nitrous during contractions if needed, or even narcotics instead of the epidural.

Also I was having back labor .. The epidural didn't completely remove the pain, but it made it very tolerable. I didn't feel contractions in the front, but I still had some back pain with them. This would have been more manageable with a birth partner to apply counter pressure.

I do feel we're designed for child birth, we can manage pain, and intervention to minimize it makes sense sometimes, but trying to completely numb yourself from the waist down seems like a bad idea in retrospect. Just my 2 cents.

Answer

With my daughter, I did the IV pain medicine first but it made my contractions stop so they took me off of it and put me on pitocin. I believe I was dilated to a 6 when I got the epidural. For me, the epidural was amazing. It was not painful getting it, just a bit uncomfortable. I did not feel anything while I was giving birth to my daughter, which was my biggest fear. The one thing I hated about the epidural was not being able to move my legs and because of that it was harder for me to get comfortable.
But every person and every experience is different.

Answer

With my first My epidural was amazing!! Didn't feel it when they put it in didn't feel it when they took it out. Though my hubby tried to scare me saying the needle was humongous. I'm terrified of needles so not looking helped a lot but you'll be focused more on the contractions anyway. Def getting again this time around.

Answer

I hadn't planned on getting one with my first, but my labor went really hard and fast.  I went from 4-9 cm in less than an hour and was begging for the epidural. I almost missed the chance because things were moving so fast.  After the epidural, it was soooo much better.  I felt like myself again and could joke, laugh and talk.  I got to push slowly and purposefully.  My labor was 4 hours total.  Baby came out alert and awake.  She fed right away and did great.  I didn't tear or have any side effects.  I had terrible insurance with my first so I had to pay out of pocket for my epidural.  I tell my husband all the time that it was the best money I ever spent.  I will absolutely get one this time.

Answer

I had an epidural with my first. It worked pretty good and didn't hurt going in. I did still have pain way down low in my crotch basically and the doctor said it was mostly likely just the baby pushing down on me a certain way and he couldn't really do anything. But I had no contraction pain and didn't feel anything when I pushed. I was up walking around within an hour and had no lasting side affects. Plan on getting it again with this one :)

Answer

I had a great experience with the epi. Didn't feel anything during labor I was super relaxed. It wore off a couple hours after birth and i could get up and get cleaned up. No back pain after ever. It was awesome and I will be getting it again for this baby

Epidural?

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