Should I get a epidural!??...

Question

I’ll be 35 weeks on Monday so I’m starting to do deeper research on all things baby and labor.
One thing I’m having difficulties with is wether or not I’ll get a epidural. I’m not sure how my pain tolerance is. I’ve never broken a bone. I don’t get period cramps. Closes thing I’ve had to “real” pain is a little gas.....
Would you recommend I just get the epidural before the pain gets to be too much? Should I try to make it work without it? 
I would love to not get one but at the same time I’m not going to be shattered if I do. I want this birthing experience to be as smooth and peaceful as possible. Funny I know😂

Answer

Just wait and see how you feel when labor is happening. No one can know how your body will react to labor, but you and only in the moment. I personally didn’t experience painful contractions until after I had been in labor for more than 24 hours. Even still they weren’t intolerable. I ended up getting the epidural at 30 hours because I was exhausted and wanted/needed to sleep. You don’t have to decide before hand. Wait and see how you feel after you’re already in labor.

Answer

Noone can decide for you... I basically have high pain tolerance, but I haven't given birth also, so I at least first time are planning to go without pain meds, and the next time I know better. 😃
But I would say, make sure you know, when it is the last possible time to get an epidural, and discuss with a doctor that you want to maybe try without first, but want to have the option to ask for epidural, if you can't take it anymore.

Answer

i got one because i knew i wasnt going to make it without one. everyone is different and i would just wait till you see how you feel during labor. if i have another child, i would do it again. it honestly was not bad at all, i didnt even feel anything but a little sting from the medication they inject before the needle. i think it may be a numbing medicine? i cant remember i didnt care i just wanted relief😂

Answer

You can only go off what you feel. Once you're in labor you'll figure out your limit of pain. I've been in all kinds of pain being I was actually hit by a car on my right side while walking causing me to have a herniated disc in my lower back and I have endometriosis so I've been through a good bit but I still have no idea what active labor will feel like. I don't want an epidural only cause I've had epidural injections in my back that have not quite worked for me much the past couple years. In your case you'll just have to see what you can tolerate mama and then go from there. You can get it up to 8-9 cm. My friend didn't get hers until 8cm.

Answer

Honestly I loved my epidural and was so glad I did get it! Once it was time to push my 1 minute contractions turned into 7 mins long. I also wouldn’t want to feel the tearing/cutting of my body when pushing my son out.

Answer

Trust me when it all starts you'll know if you need one or not. I was planning on not getting it, then the cramps got so bad I took it, and I regret it because it slowed down my labour by 2.5 hours. Without it I would have a 3 hour labour altogether, with the epidural it took 5.5 hours. And it wore off before actually pushing so I felt it all anyway, the doctor got called in to top it up, but as the door slammed open i was already holding the baby and the doctor just goes "I guess I'm no longer needed then"

Answer

If your on the fence, like I was with my first aswell. I stayed open to the epidural but I also wanted to see how long I could go. I ended myself needing to be induced as my water broke but I wasnt  progressing. So induction meds make  contractions come faster and more consistently and more intense than naturally. I still wanted to tough a little longer. I ended up 9 hours of straight no break contractions when nurse told.me it was shift change and just wanted to inform  me theres only 1 anesthesiologist on overnight, so I said yes please. Because I was getting exhausted. Just exhausted. I hadnt eaten because I couldnt  with inductions meds. (Cant with epidural either) trust.me you wont want to anyways. She allowed me a popsicle because she saw I had no energy and I puked it all about 20 mins later lol
Once I got the epidural it was like heaven. I didnt feel the needle because my contractions were so intense. The hardest part was her finding an in between contraction to put it in because it was a matter of 30 second breaks lol for 9 fucking hours.  
The energy once that epidural hit was wow. I could talk again. I could enjoy the process of giving birth. The only neg part would be pushing time. I felt nothing. So they needed to tell me when to push. And I was so numb I couldnt hold.my legs up. My husband held one and nurse the other. I was numb in legs most of the next day aswell (gave birth at like 317am)
So moral of story that idk why I shared 🤣 go in with an open mind and talk to your OB before hand on what options for pain are available before hand. You can try others before epidural aswell. Or even hot showers are suposed to help with contractions aswell.

Answer

Just do what feels right for you. With my first pregnancy i got a epidural it wasnt done right i felt everything only had some  numbness in one leg My second pregnancy got a epidural again that went so bad yeah i didn’t feel anything during labor but afterwards got whats called a spinal cord headache that felt like a hammer hitting my head for weeks nonstop doctors said it was severe i lost a lot of spinal cord fluid i needed 2 blood patches(when blood from your arm is taken and injected into your spine to replace lost spinal cord fluid) to recover usually only one is needed. I still have migraines since then and occasionally get ringing in my ears. Goin thru that was awful and traumatizing for me during that time i remember a lot of pain vomiting and screaming total nightmare. Id rather feel my vagina get ripped in half then deal with that again.

Answer

I would love to say you'll be fine and it won't be bad but labor is very painful and I think it is worse not knowing what to expect. Get an epidural... they don't have a time limit anymore so if you want to wait and see how far you make it, go for it. Its totally up to you. I've had 4 with no problems and I almost didn't with my last but my mom wasn't there yet so I got it to slow things down a little bit... it worked and I had her like 2 minutes after she got there...🤷‍♀️

Answer

You don’t need to decide until the time

Should I get a epidural!??...

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