I had my beautiful baby girl almost 5 months ago, and she is the joy of my life. However, her birth wasn't exactly what I hoped for. I really wanted to have an unmedicated birth, mostly because strong drugs and giant needles scare me. I started warm-up contractions at 6am on my way to work. I figured I could still function, so I continued to the office and worked a full day. By 9pm, I could no longer walk and talk through contractions and we met the 5-1-1 criteria by 11pm and went to the hospital. I was only 2 cm and progressing slowly, and by 2am I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. After some coaxing from my husband, I got the epidural. It really did help me rest and get the energy to push for an hour and a half at noon, and I got my amazing daughter out of the deal, but 5 months later I still feel really disappointed in myself for being unable to handle the pain. I also seem to be surrounded by super women that were able to go med-free. I know it shouldn't matter because I still gave birth to a healthy baby, but man I still feel like a failure. Any one else struggle with this? I could use some encouragement...