Epidural or No Did You Have One?
I'm taking opinions on getting an epidural during labor. What did you do? This is my first pregnancy, I saw a video on the epidural. However, the risks scare me. What was your experience?
I made every effort to not take the epidural, as I was truley terrified of the needle, ect. I was more scared of the epi then childbirth! lol While "natural" child birth ( without any drugs) is a admirable aspiration, its good to know the options availible, make an informed decision BEFORE you are in delivery. Get info from real sources, like your dr. Ther ei a lot of outdated info out there and a lot of scare tactics.
My dr asked me a few weeks before my due date what my plan was as far as drugs and if I was planning an epi. She warned me that if I said: no epi or no drugs, it was checked off on a form in my chart and that the room was not stocked with the drugs and a anestesialogist was not going to be called in especially when I came in. It was at ths point I decided to keep my options open. I was not going to be so bullheaded as to stand on some principal and risk not having options. She asked me this again when we go to the hospital. I didnt have to do it if I didnt want to, but I had the OPTION.
Case in point of bullheadedness is my cousin. She made it clear to the dr that she wanted no drugs and NO epi, period. After many hours of labor, she was begging for drugs and the nurse said: well, you notated a drug free birth, we have to find the dr to order the drugs, aquisition them from the hospital pharmacy, ect. Her Dr was in delivery and it literally took over an hour to even get the drugs ordered. When she decided to get an epi after many more hours of labor, it took 1.5 hours to get a anesthesiologist out of OR to come and give it to her as there was no one on standby. By that time she was too close to delivery for the epi and she was refused one. She had a very unpleasant birth experience.
For me personally, we found my son was face up and stuck. I was in back labor from the get go, and I willingly and happily took some drugs to help ease the pain. It made about a %20 difference in my pain level. 18.5 hours of hard back labor, I was not past a 2-3 cm and he was not decending. So I got the epi and honestly, I was in so much pain at that point ( literally begging god to kill me, thrashing, frantic, hysterical, we later found out I had complications which where making it way more painful than a standard birth) I was no longer scared of the needle, I was more looking forward to the pain relief. All i felt was a few litte pin pricks as they numbed it and I didnt feel the big needle at all, just slight pressure. Instant, glorious pain relief. Truly amazing. I was able to talk to my husband, move my legs, though they felt like rubber, still feel my contractions and push and just feel mellow and experience and enjoy what was going on. The catheter took about a second to put in after the epi, and I felt nothing. I never had to get up to pee, which would have been awful. I had no ill effects and oddly, neither has any of the several friends I have asked. Not one of us got a headache or a bad back or and infection or complications or reactions.
Get informed, and not from a fringe movement, I mean from real doctors, keep your options open and dont be scared.
Inducing Labor (Pregnancy Health Guru)
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