Medicated vs Non-Medicated birth stories?

Question

Im 16 weeks with my first child and just want to hear some stories of labor and delivery for both with meds and without.

Answer

i had a completely healthy delivery. i went without meds until i literally couldn’t take it anymore. i lasted probably 4 hours before i tried stadol. that did not work but made me relax. i ended up with the epidural lol. everything was awesome though! i wanted unmedicated. in case you decide to try unmedicated, and it doesn’t work out there is zero shame. nobody gets an award for how the baby gets here, we just do what we have to do. my spine literally felt like it was being pulled out of my asshole :)

Answer

I love reading birth stories 🩷
My first pregnancy I labored for 12hrs unmediated. I decided to get the epidural due to exhaustion. I was in Prodromal labor for 7 days before my active labor and I was tired! My labor never progressed beyond 6cm even with pitocin. After 28hrs of labor and being stuck at 6cm and baby’s heart dipping I had to have a stat c section. I was literally signing legal documents as they were loading me onto the OR table! Very traumatic experience because I felt no one was properly informing me. Because it was an emergency no one really said anything to me aside from “we have to get baby out now” it was horrible and healing afterwards too 6 months!!
My second (2yrs ago) was VBAC and a totally different experience. Over all It was everything I had hoped for and was truly great even though there was some not so great parts. I labored for 17hrs without pain medication. I had a doula and midwife and they were phenomenal. However I was in the hospital so Indid have to meet with an OB once and they told me all the “things that could go wrong and how best to prepare myself” I wish they would have never told me any of it because it messed up my grove and I started letting fear take over and started making choices based in that fear. I wanted unmedicated but after 17hrs I decided to get the epidural which was the worst part of the whole birth. The anesthesiologist messed up my epidural 3 times and stuck the needle in the incorrect spot. It was painful. I still have back pain to this day from it. Anyway after the epidural it was smooth sailing. I got to rest and 8hrs later my baby girl was on my chest.
I’m 30 weeks now and I’m still undecided if I will go unmedicated or not. A part of me wants the epidural so I can have the best nap ever before the birth but also I would love to experience an unmedicated labor as this is our final baby. 
Whatever you decide will be what’s best for you. Both medicated and unmedicated are beautiful, unique, cosmic experiences and all births are sacred 🩷 just lean into your labor with an open mind and heart and let your intuition guide you. Best wishes and congratulations ❤️

Answer

I had my first baby Sunday, June 30 and I never had a strict birth plan. I figured I’d see how I felt when I went into labor. I started having contractions the Friday evening before I delivered and Saturday things picked up and I hardly slept. I labored at home all day Sunday before finally heading to the hospital around 3:30 pm. At that point I was totally exhausted and in a lot of pain so I went for the epidural! I had the most pleasant and peaceful experience after the epidural kicked in. My husband and I put on fun music and I was finally comfortable and just excited to meet the baby. I couldn’t feel anything until it was time to push (I thought I had to poop 😂). The epidural really helped me relax and gave my body much needed rest before having to push. They did offer me pitocin or to break my water which I refused simply because I was comfortable with the epidural and didn’t mind if things took longer to progress. Little girl decided to arrive at 11:31 pm, so things ended up progressing pretty quickly on their own! 
To make decisions in the delivery room I used the BRAIN method. It helped me to feel a bit more in control! Good luck to you mama! Remember that the baby will ultimately call the shots, so give yourself some grace and go in to the experience with an open mind! You’ll be great.

Answer

I've had 2 unmedicated births, and they were very different but both super positive. For my first, using breathing techniques got me through. This birth was much more intense and longer contraction wise, and they did overlap for a good while. It began 5 am with a contraction that woke me from sleep and ended at almost 1 am after a lot of pushing. I didn't like the position they had me in for pushing and felt exhausted very quickly with the lying down. I had been standing up until my water broke.
With my second, I couldn't relax and it became intense a lot quicker. Early labour was easy to ignore and so was active labour. I went crazy with cleaning and cooking to prepare and was still second guessing myself by the time the evening rolled around. I still called my midwife to give her a heads up I was having contractions but told her not to come yet. The intensity suddenly increased a few minutes after that phone call, and I assumed I was entering transition and panicked. I told my sister to call the midwife back. I had to breathe through contractions at this point. I felt like my water was about to break, so I headed to the washroom, and it broke on the toilet. Soon after, I felt the need to push but tried to resist since the midwife wasn't there yet. After another pushing feeling, I wasn't willing to wait any longer because of how painfully intense it was. Three pushes later, baby was here thankfully healthy and caught by daddy. The worst of this labour was 45 minutes. It was around a 13-14 hour labour.

Answer

Each of my 3 deliveries were different. My first, my water broke and get an epidural at 7 cm. It was great. My second I was induced l, got the epidural right after they broke my waters, epidural only worked one half of my body. It was terrible. My 3rd pregnancy happened so fast no time for an epidural, I walked out 24 hours after giving birth. I was on an adrenaline high for about a week but other than that I felt great. Each labor and delivery was different but I wouldn’t change them. They mean so much to me. Hoping #4 will be fast a furious as well.

Answer

I planned unmedicated for my third birth. First two had epidurals. My third was by far the most peaceful empowering birth. I did hypnobabies online class to prepare myself for the delivery. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Only way I could have done it was with the hypnobabies for sure. It taught me the self discipline and how to think positive and calm and breathe when you body wants to take over and make you scream. I literally felt no pain until the crowning/pushing stage. Pain was only during the final hour of delivery as he rapidly descended to crowning position. All the births were beautiful but this one was something special in a different way. I would research the hospital and if they have wireless monitor in and how many they have on hand to ensure you can have that, you will not want to be tied to the bed with out pain meds. You need to be able to walk. Some hospitals only carry a small number of those monitors and so they run out quickly as moms request them. Also see what your doctors view is on letting you labor with out pitocin and with out breaking your water. Breaking the waters early will add more pain as the cushion between babies head and your pelvis is gone. Pitocin just ramps things up faster and your body will naturally ease into it so the build up is gradual. In my opinion, to go naturally it’s best to GET EDUCATED. So your doctor and nurses can’t pressure when you are in a vulnerable position

Answer

my first birth was medicated with iv pain meds and then eventually the epidural. it was about 22 hours long from the time my water broke at home, contractions then followed hours later, till i delivered her. it was a lot of pressure but not too painful. it’s labor so you will not ever be completely pain free. i had stitches i think one or two and i couldn’t walk around for a few hours after giving birth and i felt quite weak. my second birth i planned to do the exact same, iv meds, and then epidural. well! nothing went as expected. long story short my hospital sent me home at 4cm, was back in l&d with a baby on my chest after delivering in the elevator with paramedics. i pushed on my own with no assistance i think 3 times and he was out. so i had no type of pain medication whatsoever, and i didn’t need any stitches, i felt great after birth i had some energy (obviously not a ton) but quite a bit of it more than my first birth. my vagina didn’t hurt that bad honestly, i wasn’t weak, and i could walk around immediately, my bleeding is also not as bad with my first ( im 10 days pp) but i don’t think that’s any correlation to pain meds or natural. i totally didn’t want an unmedicated birth and it did hurt like hell but i did it and i am proud of myself. whether you need pain meds or not is no shame or anything, i did both. and i would probably choose at lease some iv pain meds if i ever gave birth again. i never would of imagined i could go naturally. it honestly looking back on it was a lot easier than i thought it would be, and it was quite quick, my labor wasn’t long at all,and i felt great afterwards. it was very intense and very traumatic due to the circumstances but my son is high risk and that contributed to my fear a lot since i just barely made it to the hospital at all, a few minutes later and he would’ve been born in the ambulance, and i only live 20 min away from my hospital.

Answer

My birth story happened almost 2 years ago, I was awoken about 6am if I remember correctly with back contractions, I decided to hop into the bath to try to combat the pain. Throughout the day the contractions kept getting closer and more painful, I had just been at the hospital 2-3 days earlier with what I thought was labor but wasn’t, so I was trying to wait it out until my doctors appointment in the morning. I could not lay down or walk, I was bent over a chair swaying side to side to try and deal with the pain, ended up calling l&d to see if they thought I should come in, the nurse said it was my call but that it definitely sounded like I was in labor, I ended the call and was going to just wait but then got hit with a terrible contraction so I told my man we would head in. We were maybe 10 minutes away from the hospital when we got pulled over for a taillight being out, my man told the cop I was in labor and we ended up getting an escort. I wanted to try unmedicated but the back labor was kicking my but so I got meds through IV and eventually the epidural. Once I hit 10cm my boy said it was time for him to come out and it took less than 2 hours for him to be out. My man kept me so calm with his support that I barely made a sound while pushing.

Answer

My first was unmedicated and my delivery was traumatising my I was in hospital for over 24hours and the gas made me so sick and just vomit my contractions eventually stopped as my body was exhausted and I had no fuel in my body to help and at one stage I was pushing for three hours with no contractions and he was not moving so they ended up cutting me and using a vacuum while I was pushing to get him out. 
My second I was induced and I had the epidural and from start of the pitocin to delivering my baby was three hours and I loved it. I felt only pressure when my contractions hit and I was having a proper conversation with my husband

Medicated vs Non-Medicated birth stories?

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