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epidural
Im 21 weeks pregnant and im getting nervous about labor again. This is my 3rd baby and I have fast but painful labors! My first epidural with baby number 1 was great I had no complications but w my second labor I had a bad experience. It took the anesthesiologist about 2 hours and it was only working 50%. My blood pressure dropped a ton and im just nervous to have to go through that again. Anyone have any advice or bad followed by good experiences?
I just had my 4th baby! I had an epidural with all 4 of my babies. With my first labor, they gave me an epidural and it worked great until I was fully dilated and then it wore off. They wouldn't give me anymore so I felt everything about my delivery, including the episiotomy. That was not fun! The doctor then had to give me a local anesthetic to stitch me up. With my second labor, I wasn't in much pain at all but I knew the pain would get worse once my water broke so I still got the epidural. That one went really well. It was the perfect amount of meds. I couldn't feel any pain but I could still feel a little bit of pressure so I knew when I was having the contractions. They were not uncomfortable though. The delivery went great and they didn't even have to give me anymore meds to stitch me up with. With my 3rd labor, I was induced this time so I got my epidural quite early on but I was completely dilated within an hour of getting my epidural. It relaxed my body enough to help me dilate more! The delivery was also great, I only pushed for about 15 minutes. With my 4th, I was also induced and the pain was quite horrible. The only issues I had this time were with how long it took the guy forever to get to my room and then he took his lovely time talking to me and I felt like screaming at him to shut up and just give me the epidural! lol Once he got it in, he actually gave me an extra dose of medicine bc my pain level had doubled in the time he was there. Once it finally kicked in, it was wonderful! It was so nice that I took an hour nap and once I woke up it was time to push and I just had to push through 2 contractions and he was out! Over all, my experiences haven't been too terrible with my epidurals. I hope yours from now on will be enjoyable!
Im with spicket...i went completely natural because the thought of needles in my spine is terrifying...i didnt do iv pain meds either...there are lots of complications witou epidurals and iv pain meds...it will all work out for you though and you have plenty of time still...dont stresd yet... :)
i'm on my second pregnancy and am too debating on the epidural this time. I had a horrible experience with my epidural.
Gah! after reading these experiences I would say my 18 hour drug free labor was a cake walk! The idea of having to get the epidural in the first place is more terrifying to me than dealing with the pain. Hence...I went without it. But I know EVERYONE is different.
You could research some birthing techniques and see if you might want to go commando this time. If you have quick labors...it might be worth skipping the voodoo doll session to your back. I'm not saying in ANY way that getting an epidural is a bad idea...I just get the feeling you are already freaked out by the chance of having another failed one with strange side effects.
I have heard that recovery is easier without one too but...if you had a tear, like Ashelen did...you might have to deal with some other emergency pain reliever. So many things to consider! I had no tearing but I think that was because I labored in water. If there are tubs at your birth center...try it! It is a great pain reliever for a lot of women. I felt so much relief in the water.
anyways! Good luck to you and congrats!
You could research some birthing techniques and see if you might want to go commando this time. If you have quick labors...it might be worth skipping the voodoo doll session to your back. I'm not saying in ANY way that getting an epidural is a bad idea...I just get the feeling you are already freaked out by the chance of having another failed one with strange side effects.
I have heard that recovery is easier without one too but...if you had a tear, like Ashelen did...you might have to deal with some other emergency pain reliever. So many things to consider! I had no tearing but I think that was because I labored in water. If there are tubs at your birth center...try it! It is a great pain reliever for a lot of women. I felt so much relief in the water.
anyways! Good luck to you and congrats!
Wow I didn't realize so many other women had experienced failed epidurals!
Nicole I sure hope that the preeclampsia stays away and the epidural works for you this time!
Nicole I sure hope that the preeclampsia stays away and the epidural works for you this time!
I have two children pregnant with number 3. My first was induced. I had an epidural. Went great 9 hr labor. With my second child i was induced due to preeclampsia. 6Hr labor. Epidural didnt work. I believe i was given the epidural late. The used two places in.my back neither worked. Also had alot of pain due to the fact they couldnt find a heart beat on my stomach so they put a momitor on my daughters head. Which to me felt like i was being fisted. I plan on using an epidural with this delivery. I am 32 weeks. No preeclampsia. So maybe all will work. I am hoping for the best.
With my first epidural it went great; wasn't painful, easy. I was in early labor for over 24 hours and I slept like a baby the night before my daughter was born thanks to the epidural. However, that next morning I decided to let it wear off as active labor stared and I never pushed the button...so when she was born at 2PM that afternoon, it had worn off and I pushed her out without a problem; the labor was very painful, but totally do-able. I did tear, and I was lucky I had the epidural in because they were able to transfer me to the OR and simply turn up the medicine instead of having to take the time to knock me out or place another catheter or do a spinal, because I was in the OR for 1 1/2 hours getting sewn up and I nearly bled to death; probably would've done so in the time it would've taken them to anesthetize me if the epidural hadn't been in place! however, that is a SUPER rare complication and most women don't have to worry about it, lol.
So with my second delivery I wanted an epidural in "just in case"....but it was AWFUL. The anesthesiologist couldn't get through the calcification on my spine to place the catheter, so he had to stick me several times, and it was horribly painful. He told me if he didn't get it on the next stick I wouldn't be getting an epidural. He got it in! it was great for 10 minutes, because I had back labor and it was excruciating. And....then the epidural stopped working :-(. They put some more medicine in and it helped but then it stopped working again. So I pushed baby #2 out without any numbing as well...no tears, quick recovery, WONDERFUL labor experience despite the awful back labor!
So when baby #3 gets here in April, I'll be skipping the epidural. Lol. after 2 times pushing a baby out with no pain relief and one AWFUL epidural experience, I think I'm ready to go this alone, even if I have back labor again. I WAS happy to have it with my daughter, but after my traumatic experience with my son, I don't want to risk it again.
It's entirely up to you whether you feel ready to give an epidural another shot. (no pun intended, lol). There's about a 50/50 chance that you'll have a great epidural, but there's also a chance that because you have a bad history with them you might have a bad experience...it really depends on whether you're more afraid of a bad epidural or of labor pains. For me, the times he stuck me and the pain went from my toes to my scalp, that was almost more painful than the labor and I don't want to go through that again. but if you have long labors and getting an epidural would help you rest enough to push...that's something to really consider. '
I do plan to accept IV pain meds if I need them, but I'm excited to try some of the birthing techniques I've used to cope with the pain. If a situation arose where I needed an epidural for some reason and couldn't cope without it, I would accept it. But....knowing my history and knowing that it could cause the same excruciating pain with the same useless result as it did last time..it would have to be a VERY good reason, lol.
So with my second delivery I wanted an epidural in "just in case"....but it was AWFUL. The anesthesiologist couldn't get through the calcification on my spine to place the catheter, so he had to stick me several times, and it was horribly painful. He told me if he didn't get it on the next stick I wouldn't be getting an epidural. He got it in! it was great for 10 minutes, because I had back labor and it was excruciating. And....then the epidural stopped working :-(. They put some more medicine in and it helped but then it stopped working again. So I pushed baby #2 out without any numbing as well...no tears, quick recovery, WONDERFUL labor experience despite the awful back labor!
So when baby #3 gets here in April, I'll be skipping the epidural. Lol. after 2 times pushing a baby out with no pain relief and one AWFUL epidural experience, I think I'm ready to go this alone, even if I have back labor again. I WAS happy to have it with my daughter, but after my traumatic experience with my son, I don't want to risk it again.
It's entirely up to you whether you feel ready to give an epidural another shot. (no pun intended, lol). There's about a 50/50 chance that you'll have a great epidural, but there's also a chance that because you have a bad history with them you might have a bad experience...it really depends on whether you're more afraid of a bad epidural or of labor pains. For me, the times he stuck me and the pain went from my toes to my scalp, that was almost more painful than the labor and I don't want to go through that again. but if you have long labors and getting an epidural would help you rest enough to push...that's something to really consider. '
I do plan to accept IV pain meds if I need them, but I'm excited to try some of the birthing techniques I've used to cope with the pain. If a situation arose where I needed an epidural for some reason and couldn't cope without it, I would accept it. But....knowing my history and knowing that it could cause the same excruciating pain with the same useless result as it did last time..it would have to be a VERY good reason, lol.
i wish that i could answer u, but this is my first pragnancy and i have no experiance, but i am going to use epidural the worse thing is not going to work out and having a labor pain, but at least i have a chance of 50/50 to work :) best of luck :)
I would comment, however I've only had one full term pregnancy. I had an excellent experience with my epidural. If interested, I could post about that.
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