You should talk to your doctor/midwife about this at your next appointment. Every hospitals procedures are going to be a little bit different than the next.

I didn't have an epidural so I don't have any experience with it (it wasn't offered at the hospital I delivered at).

Good luck!

Epidurals suck!! I'm glad I didn't get one!! The long term effects are insane!! Plus, letting someone stick a long needle into your spine....No pain could possibly be worse than that...I know childbirth wasn't that bad for me to let them poke me!!

Talk w/ your .Dr and see what he/she says...They'll prob. Talk you into getting one and let you know what they're all about!!

How far along are you??
What are you having, do you know??

Sarah

I'm actually having dinner with a friend who had her son at the same hospital i'm going to! She had an epidural so i'll get the scoop from her i'm sure.

I'm 21 weeks today.

We're not finding out the sex.

Aww...Are you anxious to see what your little angel is?!?! My goodness..I wouldn't have any nails left. I'd be soo nervous to find out what it is!!

If I have a boy next time....Then the next time, i'll leave it as a surprise!! I just need to get my boy!! Haha...

21 weeks...You just hit the midway mark!! Now's when the .F.U.N sets it!! Like heartburn!!! Lol....Fun fun!!

Sarah

I'm not anxious but i'm really excited to find out the sex! I can't wait for that big "it's a boy" or "it's a girl" moment.

My husband and I never even considered finding out the sex, so i'm glad we're both on the same page about that!

I've been waiting for heartburn for awhile, i've even had it before I got pregnant, so I know it's only a matter of time. :?

We had our first ultrasound last week and it was so much fun! I can't believe how much the baby moves, I guess I don't feel him/her all the time!!

You should leave it for a suprise at least once! It's so much fun for you and all your family because they get to guess what the baby's going to be.

at your next appointment, bring up the pain relief during your doctor's appointment. You may have many more options that you didn't know about - not just epidural. Although epidurals are great pain relief, there are other things you can do.

Some doctors do not believe in it (serious! There are some barbarians out there!) and others only want you to have a certain kind. Make sure you talk to your doctor about all your options.

Surprise babies are perfect! It is like a precious present and you have no idea what you are getting until the very last minute. Exciting!

I will talk to my doctor at my next appointment! Thanks for the advice!

It's kinda confusing for me right now because i'm not sure who to talk to. I live in a very small town and the closest hospital is 45 minutes away and they don't even deliever baby's there. I have my prenatal appointments there for now but at 7 months I will have to start going to another hospital which is 4 hours away from me. Then I plan to deliever my baby in my home town which is 15 hours away from me and i'm in the process of finding an ob. Confusing I know! :shock:

my mom had her first baby in 3 hours, so I might be able to deliver my baby drug free!

Were the births of your baby's similar to what your mom experienced? If my mom had quick deliveries does it mean that will too?

not mine. My mom coughed and a baby emerged. In fact, my brother was born on the stretcher on the way to the delivery room. But very nearly in the car! She was 'holding him in'.

My first son was 46 hour of labor. When people say labor doesn't last that long, they lie. It did for me. It was tiring and draining and, hey, guess what? My doctor did not believe in pain medication! And it was horrendous back labor. (i'm not saying this to scare you, I was 16 and that could have had a lot to do with it).

My daughter was over a week overdue and I was induced. I also had pain medication because I feared another 2 day event of painful labor. But I had her within 8 hours.

I wish I inherited my mom's labors though.

Did your doctor try to talk you out of using pain med's or did he refuse to give you any? Can they even do that?

Wow, I couldn't imagine 46 hours of labor.

My mom is positive that I will have my baby fast like she did, but i'm learning about everything that can happen just to be prepared. I hope she's right tho!!

the hospital didn't offer epidurals and he wouldn't allow me to have anything else. I was in labor so not really up to fighting about it. Mostly I just used my energy to get through contractions. ;)

i hope your mom is right too!

Lol...I had my angel quick!! I got to the hospital at 5pm and had her at 7:58 pm.

But I chose to go drug free...It's been something i've always believed in. I knew that women had babies on their kitchen tables for thousands of years...What makes me so special to get pain meds?! But hey, that's jus my outlook on the situation.

The nurses on staff thought that I had had another child because of the speed of my labor. They thought for sure that I had had another child because why would I do it drug free and it be so quick?! Lol...They were shocked to know that she was my first.

I'll start send you labor dust now, so maybe when it's time, you'll have enough to have a quick labor!!!

Sarah

My due date is in 15 days, and i've been struggling with the "epi or no epi" question for a couple of months now. I think i'm going to try to manage as long as possible without one. They say that if you imagine each contraction as a wave that brings you closer to shore, it's easier to get through them. Focus on one at a time instead of anticipating the pain of the next one. Stuff like that. Then again, I have an extremely low pain tolerance, so we'll see how long that "wave" stuff works for me. ;)

are you going to take a birthing class? Those can help.

I didn't take any birthing classes and I did wonderfully. I knew all along that I wasn't going to use an epidural.

The "wave" concept is a perfect analagy(sp?). What my midwife/nurse told me during a contraction is to let your body limp and ease the pain out through your toes.

I stayed wiggling my feet and toes while my body was like jell-o. I squatted a lot and rocked my hips to and fro to allow her to drop further into the birth canal. If I would've stayed in the bed, I prob. Would've been there for a while. It was awesome...It got to where my contractions were back to back and yet I was able to focus and push her out in about 6 contractions. I could control how fast she came out as well which allowed me to control how badly I tore!!

I'm all about drug-free and know that every woman is capable of accomplishing birth naturally!! We're powerful creatures designed to give birth w/out the use of any drugs. Yes, the pain is bad...But you have to know that it .W.I.L.L end.

The pain only gets so bad and then you're pushing. It plateaus(sp?) it just levels off at the very end. And the actual birth doesn't hurt like many people make it out to!!!

Sarah

I had an epidural when giving birth and i'm glad I did. I could handle the pain but after 18 hours of it, I just couldn't take it anymore. It hurt getting it, but within 5 minutes I couldn't feel any contractions and yet I could still move around. I had no after effects (pain or headaches) and I have no regrets. I think I have a high pain tolerance and if I had progressed faster I may have done it without--unfortunately that wasn't the case. It's almost always available, so see how you do without it and if you need it, don't feel bad/guilty for asking for one! Why suffer if you don't have to?

I forgot to mention, I did have a catheder put in which didn't hurt at all because they put it in after you have the epi and I did not have an enema. I don't think hospitals do that anymore...I could be wrong on that though.

Well when you have a short labor, it is easier to keep letting go. When you go for hours and hours with no 'end' in sight, it gets more difficult to hold on.

I'm not pro-pain meds, but i'm not anti-pain meds. Everyone's situation is completely different and they need to do whatever they feel at the time. You do whatever is best for you and your well being

If my labor is fast i'm sure I can go drug free, however if I feel like I need one i'm not going to feel bad about getting one.

Thats exactly true, why be in pain when you don't have too!

And years ago they didn't have treatment for a lot of diseases so what makes us so special to get it now? Are we supposed to just let ourselves die...Lol

i don't think that way at all, we should take advantage of modern medicine!!

Absolutely!
:)