Giving birth how did you feel about..........?

Question

I was just wondering from peoples experience whether or not they thought and epidural was worth it or not. i am deathly afraid of needles so i wanted to just do without it but some people say it really helped them. i just want to know if it was really worth it and drastically eased the pain?

Answer 1

With the epidural you feel nothing. Make sure to do your research on the anesthesiologist. Sometimes they can do a lousy job.

The labor and delivery happen so fast. The epidural is a quick pinch. Well..your back does feel sore from the needle after the epidural wears off. But then again, so does your butt and tail bone. That wasn't the worse part for me. The worse part is that you feel so disgusting after labor. Your stomach is like J-E-L-L-Ooo. Your body is not the same. Your bottom feels disgusting as well. For the most part, all women who try to go natural usually end up getting a epidural. If you pray, then pray. Good luck to you and the baby!

Answer 2

I've never had an epidural. I have had 3 children, and am going to have my 4th very soon. I will not be getting the epidural this time either. There are to many variables involved, and I also hate needles. I generally will get the intraveinious drugs if I need something, they take the edge off and they inject it through the IV they will make you have anyway. If you are wondering what some of the variables are (pertaining to why I won't get an epidural) here is a list:
1) They don't always work.
2) Sometimes they work backwards (top numb, bottem half still feels everything)
3) They can cause "failure to progress" resulting in a C-Section
4) They can cause a "spinal headache" which I am told is worse pain than childbirth AND lasts for 5 days (you cannot raise your head -or- get out of bed for these 5 days)
5) Slight risk of being paralized for good.
6) They interfere with pushing the baby out because you cannot feel to push. This increases the chances of needing assistance from a vacuum extractor or forceps or can lead to the need for a C Section.

I think there might be more negatives out there, but those are just off the top of my head. Like I said, I've given birth 3 times and am getting ready to do it again. It does hurt, but it is worth it! The key is to stay calm during contractions. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true, my first two labors I tried to "fight through the pain" my body was tense and so was I. With my last daughter I went into it knowing full well that when you are in pain being tense and thrashing and being negative make pain worse. I spent my entire labor making myself remain calm. The main thing that helped me achieve this was telling my husband that I loved him and squeezing his hand during every contraction. (Yes, again, I know it sounds cheesy, but it worked for me.) I hope I have helped :)

One more thing about intraveinious poain relief. These do not take the pain away, they just make you not care that you are in pain. It is a very nice thing lol. It lets you relax enough to get some sleep/rest.

Answer 3

Yes, get the epidural! I am also terrified of needles...I mean, everytime they had to draw blood during my pregnancy I thought I was gonna pass out, my family kept saying I better start preparing for the pain of labor if I could hardly handle a little needle. Anyway, when I received my epidural, the only pain I felt was a tiny poke when they numbed the area and when the actual epidural needle was going on, I didn't feel a thing! Good luck!

Answer 4

Definitely get it! Maybe I'm just a wuss, but it saved my sanity! I was in labor for 12 hours but stuck at 9 cm for 4 hours. If I didn't have the epidural, I don't know how I would have gotten through it! Even with the epidural, at 9 cm for that long, I was in a great deal of pain. GET IT! Anyway, once you're at the point where you'll need the epidural you won't care about needles, you'll just want to end the pain.

Answer 5

I don't know about the epidural, but I am deathly afraid of it also and decided to go all natural. I would definitely recommend doing it this way. All of my friends and family that have had a epidural done said it either caused them problems, or the baby was born really tired because of the medication. Having a baby naturally is'nt as hard as people make it out to be. The birthing classes you can take, really offer insight into breahting techniques and positions that really do help during natural labor and delivery.

Good Luck! Hope this helps some.

Answer 6

I am so scared to needles too. But I swear to you that you can't even feel the needle. They rub a numby stuff on the spot where they are going to inject and you don't even feel it. I promise you that you don't even feel it.

And trust me if you don't get it you will wish you did. I didn't with the first and by the time I was at 8 I was screaming for it. I didn't care about the needle I just needed something and it was too late to get it. There wasnt enough time.

With the second one I got induced and I still was going to try to go with out but I was at 7 and screaming for it. I wish I would have gotten it sooner. This is what happened. They put it in and they give you a bolus, after the tube is in they push a large dose of the med through it and then set you on a iv drip. So the initial bolus was great but it really only worked good on half of my body. It wasn't numb but the pain was gone. Then it was time to push.

When you get the epidural it is suppose to have your legs and lower abdomen go numb like when you go tot he dentist but it never made it that far with me. But letme tell you if just the first meds they gave made me feel better i can only image how great it would have felt totally numb.

You will see once your contractions start coming, they are ten billion times worse than a little prick int he back...

Just get the epidural...

Answer 7

I have had 3 other kids and one on the way! " 34 weeks! " From my experience Hun you WANT the epidural it DOES help. I had a c-section with my first then a epidural with my second. My 3rd will I didn't get ANYTHING for the pain because I waited to long to get to the hospital thinking they was fake again. THAT WAS THE WORST PAIN EVER! With this one of course the doctor is planning on doing another c-section and will I KNOW if I am offered it I am telling him to give it to me because that was the best thing they made. It does NOT hurt like you think. You will say the same after the fact Hun.

Answer 8

I went as long as I could without the epidural...about 7 hours. Let me tell you, I should have gotten it earlier! The actual process of getting the needle doesn't hurt all that bad, but it does feel like your back down to your toes cramps up like a charlie horse briefly....that's the only way I can describe it. Then everything goes numb in about 10 minutes and yes, the pain relief is drastic. I had a girlfriend who said it perfectly, "No one is waiting at the finish line to give you a medal b/c you braved it out without medicine." Brilliant. Good luck!

Answer 9

I had my first 3 w/o any meds for various reasons...the next 2 with epidurals and OMG night and day...I would recommend them to anyone and the thought of that needle in my back PETRIFIED me until I was actually in labor, then I knew I wouldn't care WHAT they did to me, anything to make the hurt go away. I am going to demand one this time too...It also helps make a very controlled birth, you are less likely to tear or need cutting since you are relaxed enough to follow the doctors instructions and push when they tell you to...

An epidural also made my last two labors SHORTER, when you're not fighting your contractions because of the pain, you can dilate much quicker...

Answer 10

I have had 3 kids and I did all of them naturally. I never wanted to had an epidural because I've heard from many friends and family that it dramaticly increased the amount of pushing that you had to do. It does help with the pain of the contractions but it also prevents you from getting up out of bed to walk and help labor along, getting up after you have the baby to take a shower and clean up, and it limits you to the different positions you can be in during labor. I did have a small dose of stadolduring labor with my first baby which helps relax you a little bit. That might be a better option. Every person is different especially during labor but I firmly believe that an epidural could make labor longer and has too many risks. Good luck with what ever choice you make.