epidural experiences please...

[sb786]

Hi ladies hope you are well!
Just wanted to ask if any of you have had an epidural before and what was your experience like? I've heard a lot of positive and negative stories.
What else is available as effective pain relief that has been tried and tested!
Thanks xxx

[Megs2girls7]

Just remember you are not any less of a woman if you choose to have one.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I have had 2 epidurals.  The first one well, let me tell the story....my labor was progressing QUICK.  I was admitted at around 4:30 pm by 5:15 my water broke..I was sent to a room and begged for an epi.  (I had my previous one natural and was in no mood to do THAT again).  By the time the anasthesiologist got there it was around 6.  As I was sitting on the edge of the bed and he was putting the catheter in the baby dropped likea  ton of bricks and I suddenly felt the urge to push.  I prayed that the baby would wait until he was done with my epi.  After he finished the nurse came over to lay me back down and yelped...the baby was crowning...he was born at 6:20.  I might as well have not had it becuase it had barely taken affect.  


The second one.  The doc that did it was an idiot.  He missed the epidural space and was fishing around in my back poking the needle around.  It didn't HURT but once in awhile he hit a nerve and it sent a zinging pain down my right leg which made me wanna jump but i couldn't.  After about 5 minutes he got it in right.  After all was said and done my back a good bit in that spot.  I'm not one to need/want pain meds after birth but i finally broke down and asked for an ibuprofen.  All in all it wasn't too bad and I was glad I got it.  

I can say that from the perspective of someone who has had a baby naturally it is a BEAUTIFUL thing.  Hurts like you know what but right after it was like it never happened.  I had very supportive nurses that time who talked me through my contractions.  The next time I really wanted to go natural but the staff wasn't so supportive and i gave in.  This last time I had all of my other kids there and got the epidural becuase I didn't want to scare the crap out of them by screaming my head off in pain.

As alternatives there is demerol, breathing techniques, relaxation techniques and the bradley method....I've never used any of those.  Some hospitals offer a walking epidural as well.

[Estee_Marie]

I don't have any experiences, as this is my first baby.  But I do want to say that I like all of your advice!  I really want to try to do it myself and if I can, then I wont refuse to take the epidural.  What really annoys me is when ladies that already have kids try to scare me into making the decisions they made!  It's really irritating!  Every decision I make about my pregnancy, there comes somebody to tell me how wrong it is!!!  So I'm glad that the advice you all gave was from very positive experiences but you're not trying to push your decisions!  Thank you for that!

[Limonada]

I had an epidural last time (I was induced and struggled for as long as I could without one, but the back labour I experienced made it impossible to continue unmedicated - I doubt I would have had the strength - or sanity - to push DS out without one!)  Once I received it, I was numb from the waist down - they kept checking me with ice cubes to see if I could feel anything.  I was relaxed and happy....they let me doze for a bit before I had to push.  Pushing was easy - I could still do it, and DS was out in 20 minutes.  

I had very minor tearing and the epidural lasted through that, while my OB stitched me up.

I'll go with the flow again this time, but if I need another epidural, I certainly won't refuse one.

[Ashelen]

I agree with the other ladies...I had an epidural and it was great. it hardly hurts (just a little sting) and then you're not in huge amounts of pain and you can focus on enjoying the process of welcoming your baby into the world!! I had NO problem pushing, and I'm definitely doing the epidural again. they gave me the epidural after they manually broke my water, about 45mins before my daughter was born and it was great.

the only thing negative I had was the shaking afterwards as the epidural wore off...I shook like a leaf, lol, but other than that everything was so easy and I loved it. My entire birthing experience was fun and I was alert and able to enjoy it. I also tore VERY bad (and that thing about women tearing because they have an epidural has absolutely no research to back it up...they did everything for me that they would normally have done, including massaging/sweeping the vagina to stretch it..some women just tear) and I had to be transferred directly to OR to be sewn for an hour and a half...and they were able to simply crank up the epidural and go to work, which was fantastic because I lost so much blood that any time gap would have been very dangerous.

but it's completely up to you... I just, personally, had a wonderful experience.  

[Jenn124]

I had an epidural for my c-section and trust me when you're in that kind of labor pain, a stick of a needle is NOTHING. It was instant pain relief. The only thing I experienced was after the baby had been delivered and it was time for me to go into the recovery room, I started dry heaving but they said that was normal but doesn't happen to everyone. I think about a week after I had her I had slight headaches (nothing that a little IB Pro fin or Tylenol couldn't fix) Everybody is different though, but I would strongly recommend holding off on the Epidural as long as possible b/c they told me that it would slow my contractions down if given to me too soon. I definitely think it is an option for you to consider if you're looking to avoid the "pain" of laboring, however some women just decide that they want to get the most out of their delivery & go ahead with FULL blown pain of labor...I definitely praise them b/c I don't think I could handle it. But think it through and God will point you in the direction you  need to take! Congratulations and good luck!!!