Natural Childbirth VS Epidural/Medication/Interventions

[cute_lil_bmw]

I was all freaked out about having #1 and was gung-ho about getting the epi and anything else. It wound up being all natural with the exception of some phenergan to stop me from vomiting. At exactly 3 weeks early, I had some mild cramping about every 3-4min but didn't think it was contractions. Went to the hospital anyway. Got there at 1:30ish and started barfing my brains out. I figured it was due to nerves because my OB was out of town and I'd have to deliver with his jerk partner. My water broke at 2:25 and at 2:42 DS was born weighing 7lb 10oz. Doctor didn't even make it for the delivery. I think I pushed twice maybe. I didn't feel any pain at all and was actually only worried about pooping while pushing. :o

With DD I had been in a bad car accident at 24wks and it messed up my back. The whole pregnancy was just awful. I had hyperemesis the entire 9 months and was in and out of the hospital. I had contractions at my 36wk appointment that were 2-3min apart so my dr sent me to the hospital for monitoring. Spent an entire day there with no progression and because I wasn't yet 37wks they wouldn't induce. 4 days later I started throwing up non-stop at home (in spite of being on a Zofran IV) and I just had that feeling that it was time. Went to the hospital but hadn't dilated at all. One of my dr's partners came in and said she was fine with "getting this over with" considering all I'd been through. They started a pit drip the next morning and nothing happened. Seriously...NOTHING!

At 1:30ish my dr came in and broke my water. I was at 2cm. They stopped the pit drip and within oh maybe 2 minutes of him leaving I had the urge to push. I called the nurse and she came in to check me and said I was at 4cm and if I wanted an epi they needed to do it then. I said fine, my back was killing me (from the wreck) so bring it on. The anesthesiologist comes in to do that but less than 10min after he was done inserting it I told them I HAD to push. The nurses kept telling me I couldn't. I'm like um, you don't tell a woman in labor NOT to push. LOL

Long story short, my dr didn't make it for that one either so I'm 2 for 2 on an RN delivery. #2 was definitely more painful than #1 was but given my physical state I don't know that I can really compare them.

With #3 on the way I'm on the fence. I have a severe pelvic separation (result of the wreck...will have this problem if we have anymore in the future) and have a LOT of back pain but it's not chronic so I think I'm just going to "go with the flow" and do whatever feels right at the time.

Actually, I'll probably do whatever works fastest because I am so ready for this pg to be DONE! 100+ degree heat and puking while you're preggo just don't fair well for me.

[Misscourtj]

I had natural births with both of my sonss (2 & 2 1/2 months). My first labor was horrendous. I had major back pain as a result of him being positioned posteriorly (facing up instead of down). He got stuck in the birth canal while I was pushing and so I ended up pushing for almost 5 hours. The only reason my midwife let me push that long was because I work with her at the hospital I delivered at. He was finally suctioned out with a vacuum. After that I was convinced I'd have an epidural at my next delivery.
BUT, as my 2nd pregnancy progressed, I thought "Heck, if I did that one naturally, I can surely do it naturally again". And my midwife wanted me to at least consider a waterbirth. I teach childbirth classes too, so I figured I should at least consider the waterbirth and keep all my options open. I knew I wouldn't need an epidural but was considering IV pain meds.
My 2nd labor was completely different than my 1st. I didn't really even know I was in active labor until my friend (who's also an L&D nurse) came over and checked me and I was 7 cm with a bulging waterbag. By the time I got to the hospital and into the waterbirth tub, I was 9 cm and getting ready to push. I still had really bad back labor, but the water helped so much. As soon as I got into the tub, it felt like I was in heaven. The contractions were really intense, but when they were over, I was able to completely relax in the tub. It was really peaceful as well. My water broke when I was pushing, my son's head rotated and the back pain disappeared. I only pushed for 1 hour this time, and he was born healthy and screaming at 8lbs 10 oz.
Sooooo, natural deliveries are totally do-able,and if you want to do it, just believe in yourself and you can and will do it!

[Serenacoleman2004]

With my first child I did it completely natural! I would recomend it because I felt like I had complete control knew what I was experiencing and when the contraction is coming again. You bounce back after much quicker as well. Walked, squated, did the ball and shower during labor. On the other hand, my second child I was planning for the same but his cord was wrapped around his neck and I had to stay in bed in one postion so I asked for the big one. It was worth it too; my son weighed 9lbs 13oz....I didn't feel a thing.....but recovering I needed meds.

[Spanelli8706]

I'll admit...I'm a total wimp when it comes to pain!!! I was in on my cousin's natural delivery a year before and I swear to you she screamed more when they were stitching her up then when she was actually in labor. Lol. I was totally confident that I didn't want stitches down there and a bunch of stretching out. And while I hate needles, I thought that the epidural injection wouldn't last near as long as the labor. I also have back problems (and I'm only 21), so a month after we found out we were pregnant, I asked my OB to approve a scheduled c-section. She had no problems with it because she had 3 herself by choice. I have had NO regrets about that decision. My surgery went great! I was up the next morning walking, yes a lil hunched over, but feeling amazingly great. That was the best choice for myself and my family because I dealt with the recovery very well. I plan to do the same thing again with number two in December.

[loladooder99]

Electing to have a c-section is not really a great idea but to each their own. You have to take the risk into consideration just like with anything else. If you want to have more than a couple kids c-sections are not great. You can develop complications with pregnancy from c-section.Your placenta can attach to the scar tissue. I had a c-section and I developed pallor/anemia. It was the most painful thing that ever happened to me, right after having my baby shoved back up into my body for the c-section. Its all comes down to "its your body" but now that I know what i know. I encourage everyone to really look into birth complications and don't hesitate to get a new doctor if you don't like them or they policies you don't agree with.

[VivaciousJewelz]

Well, after giving it a lot of thought, DH and I have decided that if I'm dilated/effaced at all at my 38 week appointment, I'm going to ask an induction either that week or the next, and I'm going with the epidural. Honestly, I've been having chronic back and hip pain for the last 3 weeks (I'm still only showing to be about 5 months pregnant, the baby is relaxing towards my back, lol) and I'm darn near miserable. So, at my next appointment I'm going to talk to my doctor about an induction and see what she recommends.

[tacatcon]

Ugh I'm getting the ouchies just from reading all these stories. i answered yes but here's the deal. With my first dd (now 15) I didn't even know I was in labor, all day I was bee bopping around and then finally I was having a lot of cramps and I knew I had to go to the hospital. had her 3 hours later, no fuss , no drugs, hardly any pain.

With my ds (now 12) I had pre-eclempsia and my blood pressure was soaring. they put me on bed rest and nothing resolved so they induced me with pitocin and 28 hours later he was born. 28 hard hours later even with the epidural though that sure helped.

With my dd (now 3) I started going down the same road and my blood pressure was up so my doc decided to induce me. Went in on a Tuesday night they gave me some kind of medicine to induce me (was something they insert in the cervix-name escapes me) which did NOTHING. Later on Wednesday they decided to give me pitocin and that got us going but I was progressing very slowly. So finally they broke my water and somewhere in there I wanted an epidural but I had waited too long. They gave me something to "calm" me but that never kicked in until after the birth. So I delivered her about 24 hours from when we got to the hospital -a very painful delivery.

So two I had natural though the second I guess you could argue wasn't totally natural, and one I had the epi

I would have opted for all 3 to be without drugs but only to the point where I couldn't take the pain. I think we have pain medication for a reason. And of my 3 kids, my son has been the healthiest!

[Spanelli8706]

Originally Posted by loladooder99 Electing to have a c-section is not really a great idea but to each their own. You have to take the risk into consideration just like with anything else. If you want to have more than a couple kids c-sections are not great. You can develop complications with pregnancy from c-section.Your placenta can attach to the scar tissue. I had a c-section and I developed pallor/anemia. It was the most painful thing that ever happened to me, right after having my baby shoved back up into my body for the c-section. Its all comes down to "its your body" but now that I know what i know. I encourage everyone to really look into birth complications and don't hesitate to get a new doctor if you don't like them or they policies you don't agree with.

Actually, I had a spinal fusion in 2002 and my back doctor then told me if/when I ever decided to have kids, an elected c-section would cause the least amount of stress on my back. He would recommend it, but the decision was obviously mine. I didn't want back pain on top of everything else and it was in our best interest. And everything worked out for us.

[loladooder99]

Originally Posted by regbyandjulie Well, after giving it a lot of thought, DH and I have decided that if I'm dilated/effaced at all at my 38 week appointment, I'm going to ask an induction either that week or the next, and I'm going with the epidural. Honestly, I've been having chronic back and hip pain for the last 3 weeks (I'm still only showing to be about 5 months pregnant, the baby is relaxing towards my back, lol) and I'm darn near miserable. So, at my next appointment I'm going to talk to my doctor about an induction and see what she recommends.

If you do get induced you should take into consideration that petocin which is commonly used (i had it with my induction) makes labor extremely painful alot more painful than natural labor. i had contractions every 30sec-1min on that stuff. Epidurals slow down labor and can cause the baby to turn. I had both my son ended up posterior and I couldnt have any more epidural since it quit working and i could feel everything. i am going for a nutural next time because I don't want to have any drug related complications. .Oh ps sometimes petocin can but stress on the baby because it makes contraction unnaturally strong which causes you to have an emergency c-section. I know your miserable but think about it. I really regret having drugs . But its your body, just tell your how i feel about it and what happened to me. Good luck and I hope you have a good labor and a healthy baby.

[momof2inohio]

Originally Posted by loladooder99 If you do get induced you should take into consideration that petocin which is commonly used (i had it with my induction) makes labor extremely painful alot more painful than natural labor. i had contractions every 30sec-1min on that stuff. Epidurals slow down labor and can cause the baby to turn. I had both my son ended up posterior and I couldnt have any more epidural since it quit working and i could feel everything. i am going for a nutural next time because I don't want to have any drug related complications. .Oh ps sometimes petocin can but stress on the baby because it makes contraction unnaturally strong which causes you to have an emergency c-section. I know your miserable but think about it. I really regret having drugs . But its your body, just tell your how i feel about it and what happened to me. Good luck and I hope you have a good labor and a healthy baby.

Every labor is different. I was induced with both of my kids and had a pretty easy labor. The contractions were not horrible. Painful but I dont think they were any worse than if I had labor without being induced. I just dont want to scare her because everyone has different experiences. Everyone that I know that have been induced had an easier labor than going naturally. To PP do whatever you feel and what your Dr. thinks is best. I was 2 days overdue and my Dr. thought I should be induced since my son was getting too big, if they didnt induce me I would have had to have a c-section. With my daughter, my amniotic fluid was low so they induced me 2 weeks early.