Epidural vs natural?!?!

Question

I'm only 16 weeks but I'm already freaking out about birth. My fellow teen pregnancies have said epidural for sure, but adults at my church all are pushing for natural, and it's getting hard to keep telling them I'm not sure, they're very pushy. So please tell me your stories, whether you got an epidural or not, and if you'd recommend it.

Answer

I did it all natural. The idea of a needle in my back freaks me out. Just seems like too much could go wrong. And I've had friends who still experience pinching sensations at the site of the epidural from years ago.

But as with all things parenting...choose what is best for you at the time. Breast vs. Bottle, cloth vs. disposable diapers, working mom vs. SAHM, etc. There will be plenty of choices, always trust your own gut.

Answer

I've had two babies (expecting my third in a month !) I personally haven't ever had an epidural. But my sister did, hers only worked on one side of her body- my best friend also had an epidural and it didn't work at all hardly. Both were left with back plain to this day at injection site and throughout lower back. 
In my opinion , it's not worth the risk of a) it not working and B) it causing you back pain and discomfort for years to come. 
Just remember, you can do anything for a short period of time. Labor and delivery is way doable- trust your body to do its job :) you got it!

Answer

I really wanted to go natural. Mostly because I don't like medicine and side effects. I don't even take Tylenol for headaches. I just prefer not to put anything into my body unless absolutely necessary. I also don't really like the hospital setting. I was dreading it. I did some research and read about the various side effects of epidurals such as spinal headaches, backaches, shaking, nausea and didn't want to experience any of that. I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I told myself women have done this for thousands of years and our bodies are made for it. HOWEVER, things never go exactly how you plan and I was still open to getting an epidural if I needed one and during labor I definitely felt like I did lol. My labor was really fast- water broke at 11. Contractions started within an hour. Got to hospital around 1. Contractions were so hard and fast at this point that I couldn't breathe through them. Got the epidural around 3 and had my son at 3:52. So I didn't even have the epidural for that long but it provided so much relief for that last hour and luckily I had no side effects! Just a slightly sore back for about a week post partum. It also in no way hindered my ability to push. I only pushed for 4 minutes. Just thought I'd share my experience. I say just keep an open mind and maybe make a list of pros and cons and determine what's most important to you. I don't think we can ever imagine what labor will be like until we experience it and we can never predict how we will react or feel during it. Good luck to you and don't feel bad whichever you decide!

Answer

Highly recommend an epidural. I was in labor 23 hours. Water broke hour 12 and still had 11 hours after my water broke. That pain is beyond anything I can even describe . It was paralyzingly and I was shaking uncontrollably !! Next pregnancy I'm getting it again!! I had zero negative side effects! Ps when people ask you what you're doing I either would tell them you don't want to discuss it or you haven't decided . I avoided those convos because they annoyed me 😝 I'm a pastors wife and I see nothing wrong with modern medicine ! So the church peeps need to keep it to themselves :-)

Answer

I say see how it goes and try to go as long as possible naturally. Let them know you may decide to get an epidural later. Honestly labor is different for everyone and epidurals work differently on everyone as well.  My contraction weren't the worst feeling in the world like I had always heard. I've had ulcer pains worse. I only decided to get an epidural because I was so tired and was already 20 hours into labor with no rest and having been up 24 hours prior due to insomnia. The contractions were annoying and made it hard to sleep because the pain hit every 3 mins or less. My ulcer pains come in waves too but I at least get 20-30 mins of rest between pains. But my ulcers definitely hurt worse. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and have one but it didn't work for me. Instead of giving me relief, it caused my right leg to feel it's on fire so then ended up having to redo it all and it still didn't work. I felt everything. So there was no point in me getting one. Labor pains might not be so bad for you. See how it goes before you decide yes or no

Epidural vs natural?!?!

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