[Toya10]

Im hoping to be able an bare my daughter without an epidural because 1. I know its probably best and 2. im afraid of needles for the most part, BUT just in case im unable too I'd just like a lil insight, what have you learned or experienced. Alot of women i hear say they just loved it although they didnt feel anything and others said they didnt for various reasons like it didnt take until afterwards, or because they were unable to breastfeed afterwards, they couldnt feel their baby come out etc. just curious what is all of your takes on it! just curious I ready to discuss in my childbirth class next week as well, but I wanted to know what your feelings are?

[stacy]

I'm not a big fan of "not being able to feel" - plus I've had very adverse reactions to numbing pain relievers before that I need to talk to my doc about, so I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about an epidural. Probably just try my best to not have one, but go for it if the pain is just too much to handle.

[mkgirl4u]

I had an epi with my son and plan on getting one with this one as well. I have to admit that I still am nervous about getting it, just because it's a scary thought having a needle go into your back. When the medicine first goes in, it hurts and feels like someone just kicked you in the back, but just as your brain is registering the pain, suddenly you can't feel it anymore. The lady had to come back twice to fix it because I was still feeling eveything on one side of my body. But, once it finally took, it was wonderful. I felt enough contractions from 1 cm to 6 cm, that I knew I didn't want to go through anymore without any pain meds. I am so thankful someone came up with the epi.

[baccalynnwv]

I think an effective epi will still let you feel the most of your labor. It's not the kind they give you for a c-section. The epi you get with regular labor just takes the edge off but lets you feel enough so you know when to push and know what is going on down there.

Everyone responds somewhat different to the epi. In my case, it gave me time to rest and definatly took a lot of the edge off. However, in my case, it slowed my labor down (I dont think that is common). Also, when your contractions get really really strong, the regular epi is not going to do much for the pain.

As far as the needle goes... I was in so much pain from the contractions.. that I had no idea when the guy actually stuck the thing in my back. I just leaned my head on a nurses shoulder, she helped to stabalize me, and he did his job. I didn't see the needle, and didn't really feel him do it at all.

I couldn't breastfeed afterwards, but it had nothing to do with the epi. I think you might mean that they couldn't feel their breast to breast feed??? You can still feel almost everything, the sensations are just dulled. At least thats how it should be for most people. But like I said, different people respond differently to it.

[Toya10]

I didnt know what she meant as far as breast feeding i just thought it meant she couldnt since she still had the drug in her system.

Also Ive seen an epi block or walking epi is there a diff besides you can move around with one?

A lady here at work said she didnt feel much because of the pain of her contractions and they put a topical numbing agent on her back first before the needle? did they do that for any of you guys that have had it?

And are they're other pain options during that time, maybe not complete numbing but taking the edge off?

[baccalynnwv]

During labor, I just had an epi drip and could still move myself and feel everything... just had the edge taken off of it and I was able to sleep during contractions.. up until the end when the epi really didn't do much to help..... then I ended up having an emergancy C-section and my memory is pretty well gone from anywhere to a hour before the C-section to several hours afterwards. I dont know if it was the meds,,, or if I was just so tired.. or what. LOL....

I do think I had a topical number applied before they stuck the needle in. I think, I think.........LOL

I dont know if you can breast feed with those pain meds in your system or not... Good question for someone who does know though!

[Admin-pattyandthemoos]

I have had an epi with my kids. With Jeremy I waited for a long time before I finally decided to have one. With my other two I asked for one as soon as I got in the door. I don't think they are necessary and there are other meds out there for pain relief that are very effective. I say if its something you would prefer not to have explore your other alternatives or even hire a doula to help you.

As for breastfeeding, an epi shouldn't be a problem.

[Toya10]

Good insight Im going to go to my child birth classes full of questions just like I do when i go to the Dr. im nervous and excited as I see my little ticker nearing the finish line, child birth has always been my biggest fear even as a little girl, when i saw a child birth on TV and thats why i remained a virgin till age 22½. well plus i wasnt ready and didnt feel the person I was with then was worthy but i digress but being afraid of getting pregnant was a main factor. so im tryin to be brave and weigh my options.

I hope it goes quick for me I pray for it!!

[glasscandie]

I don't plan on having one, just for the mere fact that I can't stand needles, and I'd much rather deal with contractions than have a catheter shoved into my back lol Not to mention I have issues with losing control, and I'm horribly afraid if I get one intervention it'll lead to another, and another, until I end up having a c-section or something. My plan's to do it naturally, if anything, I might consider some IV meds.

[Toya10]

Originally posted by CShellAK@Jul 26 2005, 09:40 AM
I don't plan on having one, just for the mere fact that I can't stand needles, and I'd much rather deal with contractions than have a catheter shoved into my back* lol* Not to mention I have issues with losing control, and I'm horribly afraid if I get one intervention it'll lead to another, and another, until I end up having a c-section or something.* My plan's to do it naturally, if anything, I might consider some IV meds.
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see im ready for class because i hear people say other meds but U havent really heard of anything except Epi's what else is there?

[WPmomma]

thats why i remained a virgin till age 22½.[/b]

OMG Toya, are you me? I was the same way, right down to the age when I "lost it." (okay, 22 and a couple of months and the guy is now my DH but close enough).

My BF used to write me letters saying how I would just push the baby out, with no problem in EVERY letter (we still write actual letters to each other!) and it would stress me out, so I told her to stop saying it all the time. The baby shows make me cringe when it gets to the pushing part. You are not alone in this area at all. My sister was actually relieved when she had to get a C-section because it meant not pushing the baby out "down there."

There are so many options out there--I am curious about people's experiences with the epidural, so I'm glad you posted this.

[Frelle]

The issue with any intravenous meds or an epidural is that you are stuck in your bed. laying on your bck is not the most effective position for laboring. Being up and about is what brings baby further down into your pelvis. Laying on your back doesnt realyl move the baby down into your pelvis, there's no gravity there.

All pain medication crosses the placenta and affects your baby. Just like everything you eat and drink during your pregnancy has crossed the placenta into your baby. The reason some women have issues breastfeeding after an epidural is that the baby is very sleepy, lethargic, and doesnt want to nurse or even try because of the drugs effects on the baby. It really depends how long youve had the epidural in. if its for 2 hrs, the baby doesnt get a whole lot of it. If youve had an epidural for 12 hrs, baby has gotten a lot of it.

If you want to avoid meds in labor, you must educate yourself. labor is not something you can just go in and do naturally without having some sort of perparation. Its like a marathon! If you know you have a low tolerance for pain, and you want to go meds free, then take classes, read about it, do whatever you can.

And Im pretty sure you have to be about 4 cm before they give you an epidural, so you may want to eeucate yourself on pain management anyway, because youre going to have to figure out how to deal with contractions until you are far enough to get an epidural.

I have never had an epidural. I would need to be induced or having ac section for me to ever want to have one. I know too many women personally in my life who have had epidurals take on one side of their body and not the other, only in their legs and not their pelvis, have ended up with spinal headaches, all these things. Yes, epidurals can take well, epidurals can not interfere with your labor and not make you stall out and you can have a virtually pain free birth, yes those things are all true. But not everyone has a pleasant experience with epidurals. And finding out the risks and the complications that can happen is a wise idea.

[Toya10]

Originally posted by WPmomma@Jul 26 2005, 09:50 AM
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

thats why i remained a virgin till age 22½.

OMG Toya, are you me? I was the same way, right down to the age when I "lost it." (okay, 22 and a couple of months and the guy is now my DH but close enough).

My BF used to write me letters saying how I would just push the baby out, with no problem in EVERY letter (we still write actual letters to each other!) and it would stress me out, so I told her to stop saying it all the time. The baby shows make me cringe when it gets to the pushing part. You are not alone in this area at all. My sister was actually relieved when she had to get a C-section because it meant not pushing the baby out "down there."

There are so many options out there--I am curious about people's experiences with the epidural, so I'm glad you posted this.
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Glad to know im not alone! My ex tried and tried to to sac me but it didnt happen and then DH and i got together and I knew he was the one! Im so happy to be having a child with him!! BUT yes the birthihng experience like I dont even want to watch it in class i know thats bad but its like i wanna just deal with my own experience. But C-sections scare me too saw one of those too and just the insicion ahhhh my ex's sister had one and she walked slumped over for like two weeks she looked like she was in so much pain.

BUt i have faith and im trying to be a soldier and
I talk to Hailey and tell her to be careful with mommy and make it quick and she will get ice cream if she does good! of course no ice cream but i tell her good stuff!

[Lisa N]

Originally posted by EmoMom@Jul 26 2005, 10:00 AM
II know too many women personally in my life who have had epidurals take on one side of their body and not the other, only in their legs and not their pelvis, have ended up with spinal headaches, all these things.* Yes, epidurals can take well, epidurals can not interfere with your labor and not make you stall out and you can have a virtually pain free birth, yes those things are all true.* But not everyone has a pleasant experience with epidurals.* And finding out the risks and the complications that can happen is a wise idea.
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See, I've never heard of anyone having problems with an epidural. The only person I know who has even had natural childbirth is my MIL. She had 4 of 7 kids without drugs and had her last with an epidural and always says she doesn't know why she didn't do it with all of them (the other two older kids she also had drugs with). Of two people that I know, in real life, that wanted to do it without drugs, one had complications (she wanted a water birth and the baby was breach so she had a c-section) and the other couldn't handle the pain of the contractions without drugs.

To clarify, I'm not saying that there has never been a complication with an epidural BUT I personally don't know anyone that has. Everyone I know sings their praises. I guess everyone just has different experiences.

[Toya10]

Well I know I must educate myself thats why im taking the classes and reading and asking questions so I wont be totally oblivious and ingnorant to my options. I want to know whats going to be the best for me as well as my baby! I've heard good and i have heard of head aches and other things but I also step back and have looked up stats online as well and majority of women dont seem to have an issue so I figured I would see what the Oct DCC mommies have experienced. I am going to try the pain management etc but i know my tolerance for pain various depending on what it is, needles not very high, really bad cramps im a soldier, sprained ligamants i deal with them. I was jus trying to get a little insight but in all honesty I just want to try and figure out when Hailey's big show starts will I be able to handle it.

[Mary Beth]

I have never had one and will never have one unless I absolutely have to have a C-section. I am so terrified of needles that for me the worst part of labor is an IV.

The key to a successful natural birth is education, preparation, and realistic expectations. Yes, labor hurts. Lots of worthwhile things in life hurt. But if you are willing to learn everything you can learn and face labor mentally and physically prepared to work with your body you are very likely to be able to keep things under control.

Your childbirth classes should cover the risks of the epidural as well as the benefits. There have been some improvements in recent years in terms of mobility but for many women an epidural will put you in bed, tied to an IV line, and at substantially greater risk for increased interventions over someone who can remain upright and fully mobile.

And that horizontal position carries a mental effect as well -- it changes you from a person in control of her situation and a partner in her care into a patient in need of expert care and not necessarily given partnership. That's not done deliberately, its just part of being in bed and percieved as "helpless" instead of upright and active and it goes both ways. Not only will the medical personnell see you are helpless because you are in bed but you will see yourself that way as well.

Like fetal monitoring, an epidural has its place in medical practice but when overused or used in inappropriate circumstances it can cause more trouble than it solves.

Other medication options include short-acting narcotics like Staydol, which I've had during an unusually long and difficult labor. They give you short-term relief, taking the edge off to allow you to rest and recover your energy. There are probably new drug options since I last had any need to inquire.

Non-medication options include water -- showers, labor pools, ordinary bathtub, etc. -- massage, relaxation techniques, counterpressure for back labor, alternate positioning, and so on.

IMO alternate positioning and relaxation breathing are the most critical. I was tied to the bed, lying on my left side only, during my last labor (see the story in "Good Birth Stories for the complicated medical reasons). It was much more difficult to take because I couldn't shift around to relieve the pressure or walk except to go to the toilet. I felt much better upright, but in that specific situation it was counterindicated for my baby's health.

I want very much to try a labor pool but doubt that my small, local hospital is sufficiently up-to-date to have any.

[Toya10]

Originally posted by Mary Beth@Jul 26 2005, 10:50 AM
I have never had one and will never have one unless I absolutely have to have a C-section. I am so terrified of needles that for me the worst part of labor is an IV.

The key to a successful natural birth is education, preparation, and realistic expectations. Yes, labor hurts. Lots of worthwhile things in life hurt. But if you are willing to learn everything you can learn and face labor mentally and physically prepared to work with your body you are very likely to be able to keep things under control.

Your childbirth classes should cover the risks of the epidural as well as the benefits. There have been some improvements in recent years in terms of mobility but for many women an epidural will put you in bed, tied to an IV line, and at substantially greater risk for increased interventions over someone who can remain upright and fully mobile.

And that horizontal position carries a mental effect as well -- it changes you from a person in control of her situation and a partner in her care into a patient in need of expert care and not necessarily given partnership. That's not done deliberately, its just part of being in bed and percieved as "helpless" instead of upright and active and it goes both ways. Not only will the medical personnell see you are helpless because you are in bed but you will see yourself that way as well.

Like fetal monitoring, an epidural has its place in medical practice but when overused or used in inappropriate circumstances it can cause more trouble than it solves.

Other medication options include short-acting narcotics like Staydol, which I've had during an unusually long and difficult labor. They give you short-term relief, taking the edge off to allow you to rest and recover your energy. There are probably new drug options since I last had any need to inquire.

Non-medication options include water -- showers, labor pools, ordinary bathtub, etc. -- massage, relaxation techniques, counterpressure for back labor, alternate positioning, and so on.

IMO alternate positioning and relaxation breathing are the most critical. I was tied to the bed, lying on my left side only, during my last labor (see the story in "Good Birth Stories for the complicated medical reasons). It was much more difficult to take because I couldn't shift around to relieve the pressure or walk except to go to the toilet. I felt much better upright, but in that specific situation it was counterindicated for my baby's health.

I want very much to try a labor pool but doubt that my small, local hospital is sufficiently up-to-date to have any.
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[/quote]

cool good stuff, now i was wondering about the fetal monitoring too when I went into the JM make your birth plan and i saw you can opt not to have fetal monitoring or just externally or internal as well. Im am very ignorant in this subject, why would it cause harm to the baby?

[Frelle]

Another thing to consider here is that Mary Beth and I, and other moms who are not having our first baby, have ehard way more birth stories over the years than some (not all!) first time moms. I dont know how many I had heard when I was pregnant with my first at 27. I dont know that I had ever asked. But having been a mom for 5 1/2 yrs, my friends and acquaintances are primarily moms, and I have heard loads of birth stories. And if you have heard 5, and everyone had an epidural and loved it, then you have PRO 5 and CON 0 on why to get an epidural. But if you have heard 200 birth stories, and some large percentage of them have involved epidurals that didnt take, or women who had intervention after intervention because of her epidural causing her to not progress or the baby getting in distress, then you look at it differently.

We all know different people. We all know different birth stories. And most importantly, we are all different women

But the thing I always tell people is that IN LABOR is not the time to decide if you want/are open to medication. Every woman should educate herself about relaxation, pain management, and the risks and benefits of pain medications. We should all have some basis for understanding this stuff before we hit the hospital and people start talking to us about our labor and progression and fetal distress and IVs and everything. Talk to other women who have used your OB. Talk to other moms about what they wish they had known about what labor is like, and read read read!!!!

[cindymat]

I have not had an epidural with any of my three kids...but that was not by choice.
The oldest two were born at a hospital that did not administer them and with my youngest....well, I dont know what happened to that ######ed anesthesiologist. It was Christmas Eve and I am convinced he was somewhere drinking egg nogg and eating christmas cookies.

I did get medication thru an iv with the first two. I dont remember what it was called but it dulled my mind thats for sure. Everything I remember is thru a fog. It did take the edge off though, which I needed.

My youngest then was born without any meds.

I know it is scary but it is so temporary. Especially the pushing part-that part may look like its the worst but it is actually a relief (seriously!). And that part..once its over it is over immediately and then you are so madly in love that none of it matters anymore!

[Mary Beth]

Originally posted by Toya10@Jul 26 2005, 12:07 PM
...
cool good stuff, now i was wondering about the fetal monitoring too when I went into the JM make your birth plan and i saw you can opt not to have fetal monitoring or just externally or internal as well.* Im am very ignorant in this subject, why would it cause harm to the baby?*
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There are two main issues with monitoring.

First, even external monitoring puts you into that dreadful bed. So if its continuous monitoring you can't help your pain with positioning, the horizontal position slows the labor, and you get into that paitient mentality problem. Internal monitoring is worse because you can't take the thing off and get out of bed after 5-10 minutes of good tracings.

Second, because tracings can be ambiguous you can get into additional interventions done as malpractice prevention. A doctor is much more likely to be sued for failing to act than for acting unecessarily.

But, when used wisely monitoring can be terrific. I've been saved from 2 C-sections by carefully used, thoughtfully interpreted fetal monitoring. Once when internal monitoring proved that despite meconium in the fluid my DS#1 was not in distress and thus not in need of emergency delivery and once when external monitoring revealed that if I held a certain position DS#2's readings became acceptable -- again I refer you to that story for the details of a birth that was fullfilling despite unusual medical challenges.

This is where the eductation and planning comes in. I refuse all "routine" proceedures on principle. But I am open to the appropriate use of any medical intervention if it is specifically desireable in my specific medical situation at that particular moment.