to get the epidural or not

[ToniFeist]

I am terrified of my delivery.. im not a fan of pain but i will do anything for my baby. Ive heard terrible things about the epidural and im trying to go all natural. this is my first baby and i just want some opinions from moms :)

[kmcarino]

I opted for the epidural and it was great!  I hate needles too but the pain that youa re in from the contractions when they are on top of each other is nothing.  I barely felt the epidural needle at all.  It was instant relief from all of the pain.  For me, I could nto feel my legs for a long time after he was born but they induced me that day and my labor was fast and he was born that same night.  I did not have to push much either.  I would definitely suggest having an epidural.

[pertykitty]

just know the facts.  an epi does deliver drugs to the baby, they arent big on sharing that before they give it to you.  it can cause problems with becoming too numb and not feeling yourself push, which could lead to a c section.  

consider learning some techniques to help with pain relief, maybe hire a doula to help you reach that drug free goal.  i regret having my epi with my first, i wished i had not had one.

ive had an epi and a spinal with my second (repeat c section lucky me) and i didnt feel much at all.  we all have a different tolerance to pain.

[kay2486]

my first baby i had no pain relief and was in labour 33 hours yes 33 hours i swore no more kids but had another little boy 4 years later he took 15 minutes and was out i felt like that one was more painful so i had gas n air and it did nothing just felt extremely lightheaded, epidural is when you feel nothing at all, id prefer to go natural, have the pethidine injection for the after birth pleae

[kendra750]

i didnt like the epidural it hurt but it does not hurt as bad as a spinal block. the epidural is a pain that you can take if your enough pain and you prolly wont even think it hurts you might not even feel it i say get the epidural but another thing it didnt not work for me at all i could move my legs and everything thats the thing it works for some people and others it dont. delivery and all that good stuff is not as bad as you think when you get in there youll probably be pretty relaxed is it a scheduled delivery? if so the enviroment is really laid back and relaxing i feel asleep alot with ma first daughter i tried to dilate but couldnt so had a c section with my second i went right in they preped me and took the baby none of it was bad at all besides the spinal block i hate spinal blocks they hurt so bad youll be fine and amazed how easy it really goes! good luck

[EmsMom07]

First of congratulations on your little bundle of joy! I was the same way that you are with my first pregnancy, I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant with my second son =0) Anyways I wanted to go all natural do to the fact that I'm scared to death of needles. Well I had to be induced with my son due to my high blood pressure, after a day in a half of labor I finally made it to 6cm and could not take the pain any more, I kept calling the nurse in to give me more pain medication through my IV but they told me I would have to wait at least an hour and it was only 15min since they last inserted teh pain medication so I opted for an epidural. The epidural for me was a LIFE SAVER, and I know that when this little guy is ready to be born that I will get my epidural ASAP. My son had no side effects at all when he was born due to the epidural and I didn't either, they say that it can effect your pusshing but that never happened to me, it obnly took me 16min to push my little guy put and also I could still feel when I had to push, I even felt him drop and knew that it was time. I hope this helps and I hope you have a healthy labor and delivery, but remember the choice is always up to you =0)