Natural childbirth/Bad epidural experiences??

Question

I'd love to hear some birth stories from mom's who had natural births! Or from anyone that had bad experiences with epidurals?? I want to have a natural childbirth and would love the encouragement. (Not saying epidurals are bad or that I am completely against getting one if I can't handle the pain).

Answer

With my first I had an epidural and it didn’t work at all. They kept coming in and putting more meds in but it just never did what it was supposed to do. I know it’s not super common for that to happen, but it totally sucked. You’re bed ridden, you have a catheter (which I hate) and I’ve had back pain ever since (my son is 8 years old). I would never get an epidural again. But I know they work wonders for some! Good luck and I hope you can do your natural birth!

Answer

My first was med-free birth in a hospital. It was just short of 39 hours, start to finish. I read several books and many research articles during my pregnancy which led me to the decision to have an unmedicated birth. If you are committed and serious about the decision to go med-free, it’s possible! (Of course things can change in the course of labor that require medical intervention!) There was a period when I was about 30 hours in that I was so tired I wanted to go to the hospital just for the sake of the epidural. My husband helped me through it. If you have a partner to support you through it who understands your decision and how important it is to you, it’s extremely helpful. They become your voice of reason because they’re removed from the pain. It was 100% worth it for me not to be medicated. I walked to the bathroom an hour after delivery and was jogging 2 weeks postpartum. Read up on all the reasons why women choose to go unmedicated if you haven’t already. Overall, it was easily the most difficult thing I’ve done, but also the most physically, emotionally, spiritually fulfilling experience of my life. 5/5 ⭐️, would recommend 😜

Answer

you should join a group I'm in on fb called BirthTUBE where women stream their births live and post videos of theirs. 98% of them are med free! all settings.. hospitals, birth centers and home (majority) so you can get lots of birth stories and ideas that way!

Answer

I’ve had both. I had an epidural with my first, I was very unprepared. The birth was hard for many reasons so I knew I wanted to be more prepared for number 2. I did a lot of research on hypnobirthing and using visualisation for pain relief as well as using all the natural stuff to prepare my body for labor (EPO, red raspberry) (I figured even if they didn’t work, they also didn’t harm). When the time came, I used the hypnobirthing principles to get me through to transition (then it was just really hard work haha) and my labor was only 2.5 hours, I was already 4cms before labor properly started. The recovery was amazing, I got all the hormones I’d heard about and felt great, I never had that with number 1. I was out of hospital 4 hours later with baby. And she was 8 lb 9, so not tiny. Good luck!

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I was a go with the flow, low risk, no complications momma. I've had periodic back pain since my epidural.
I'm going natural this time with Hypnobabies. In a birth center because my husband won't let me do it at home lol

Answer

When I went in to have my first in 2007 the first thing they offered me was an epidural and they made it sound magical but... when I saw the needle, there was no way in hell I was letting them shove that into my spine so I asked for options. I chose a muscle relaxer shot in my hip area. The pain was not gone, I could feel everything still but it took the edge off and even though my uterus was contracting, the rest of my muscles weren’t so I was full of energy when it came time to push. 37wks & 5 Days Went in at 10:30pm at 4cm and pushed baby out at 4:30am. No pitocin and they thought my water had broken, it broke after my second push and she was entire out with the 3rd push. Very easy. 
In 2011 when I went in to have my 38wk (+2days) appointment I was 3cm dilated with very light contractions 1-2mins apart but I had tested positive for GSB/GBS/SBG or whatever the hell its called lol so my doctor told me to go to L&D; so they could do the 2rounds of penicillin. I went in at noon and they started a round of penicillin and I was now at 4cm and before they started the 2nd round I was at 6cm so they started freaking out that u was progressing too fast and gave me something to slow me down by 9pm the rounds of penicillin were done and my labor had completely come to a halt so they started me on pitocin and it hurt like hell so they gave me a sedative/tranquilizer in my IV that put me immediately to sleep. I could still feel everything but I was too sleepy to care. In between my drowsiness I remember they broke my water and the baby had passed a bowl movement so they wanted the baby out ASAP. My contractions were still irregular and I was still at a 6. By noon the next day they were trying to tell me my baby was too big and I needed to have a C-Section. Hell no, nobody is slicing into me without giving me a chance to push first. I asked for the pitocin to be turned on to the max- worst pain ever but still drowsy and by 1pm I was at 10cm. I was so out of it, I could hardly keep my eyes open but my brain was aware of everything. I could hear them yelling at me to push and all but my eyes were closed. I pushed and I pushed and I pushed and at 2:37pm she was born. I swore I’d never have another child because that was sooooo long and hard. 
14’mos later in 2012 I was 41wks pregnant and went in to get induced. Got in at 10am started pitocin. Had water broken at 12pm pain was really really bad and I was at 5cm At 1pm I was like “what the hell, I’m tired, I’ve been pregnant way too long and these contractions hurt- give me the damn epidural”. It had to be put in twice... 😖 the first time half my body went numb and the other felt like my skin was on fire. Even my face was limp on one side and it scared my husband. They pulled it out and tried again and this time “it took” at 1:30 after everyone had cleared the room I told my husband to grab a nurse to come check my progress. They had checked me before the epi and I was still at 5 but I told Him I felt like I had to push. The doctor cane back in & was like “the epidural hasn’t even kicked in yet, just relax”  and he turned it up but I was like “no, check me now!!!” And I was at 10and crowning! We were pushing at 1:45 but since they turned up the epidural- I couldn’t feel a damn thing. I didn’t know if or what I was pushing. I couldn’t feel my legs and that was the worst feeling in the world. I had to compensate for not feeling anything so I pushed too hard and I tore really badly and needed over 20 stitches. I was too numb yet into much pain to even want to hold my son. I felt nauseous, itchy and gross. That was 6yrs ago and I’m telling you I have horrible back pain at the puncture sites. Every time it gets cold, whenever I drive, if I lay on my back or my stomach, if I stand for too long (in a cashier) it gets really really painful. Whatever “relief” I got for those few moments is so not worth the lifetime of pain I’m experiencing now. Never ever again. 
Now with this 4th I’m hoping to go unmediated. Maybe a muscle relaxer or laughing gas but most certainly NOT an epidural.

Answer

All six of mine have been 100% natural, medication free. My first was a hospital birth, laboring and delivering in bed. My next five were water births. Labored walking then got in the birthing pool to labor some more and deliver. If all goes according to plan, this baby will be a water baby as well.
Natural labor and delivery isn’t that bad in my experience. Research natural pain relieving methods and find one that works for you. Make sure your partner is on board to support whatever decision you make.
Dim light, soft music, quiet room and essential oils really help me. And of course the water is relaxing and soothing

Answer

Had an epidural with my daughter and loathed it. 31 hrs of induced labor and I couldnt feel my toes so I couldn't move to make myself more comfortable. They had to turn it off so I could regain feeling to push. When they ripped it out was worse than the whole labor- I cried. My daughter turns 5 this July and I still have lower back pain and can touch the exact spot it was put in. I'm due august 28th with baby2 and am going to do all natural this time. My doctor told me if the pain gets to be to much they can give me pain medicine through an IV instead of an epidural. I didnt know that was possible. Good luck!

Answer

My first birth I had an epidural and this one I probably will as well... however last time the epidural worked wonders and was a life saver during delivery... it ended up being the cause of the worst part of recovery.  I ended up having an epidural headache and don’t realize it. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt and any time I went to sit up and lift my head it was excruciating. I had a really difficult time breast feeding and taking care of my little man in general. I had never heard of this before so we thought it was just a bad migraine and went home. In hindsight the hospital should never have let me leave. I ended up in the emergency room two days in a row waiting for an anesthesiologist to be available to give me a blood patch.  Even though the procedure helped the headaches, I had side effects from it for a couple years. 
Sometimes I think I’m crazy for thinking about having another epidural this time...  it I’m hopeful I won’t have to go through that again.

Natural childbirth/Bad epidural experiences??

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