following mandy's labor on fb totally makes me wish for another c-sec. ok, not really, but labor SUCKS. you kind of forget how much after a while, & i'm sort of bummed that i wasn't NOT pregnant long enough to forget how much it sucked. (yeah, i know i had a c-sec, but they did let me labor for a few hrs, until i was 5-6 cm. & it was horrid. if crisis hadn't struck & rushed me into an emergency c-sec, i would have been begging for an epi. or possibly a crow bar to the head. anything not to be in pain anymore.)
which brings me to my next point-- i am in awe of women who go thru labor without any pain meds. personally, i don't see the point-- the baby gets here either way, & drugs don't affect the baby's health, so i'd rather be able to relax a bit & not be as miserable. that said-- i respect those who want to go thru natural labor. i'm not knocking them in any way-- really, i think it's a pretty phenomenal accomplishment. but in my opinion, any labor that gets your kid(s) here & into your arms is a phenomenal accomplishment, whether its with the aid of drugs, or surgery, or 8 docs, or none.
so i'm curious: what was your reasoning behind your labor of choice? (if you had gotten to choose. i know some of us didn't get the option.) did you go for drugs? want natural & change your mind? stuck with natural the whole way?
(i'll answer in comments)
bc we were having twins, i always knew a c-sec was a high probability. that said, if it hadn't been neccessary, i was always fully planning on getting an epidural as soon as they'd let me. (obviously we planned ona hospital birth.) i'm no wuss, but i had no intention of being that miserable for that long.
ReplyDelete& for #3, we'll have to wait & see if a VBAC is an option. if so-- i'll be planning on the epi!
Did Mandy have Nolan yet? I am at work and can not be on FB....
ReplyDeleteAs far as me...I wanted the Epi in the parking lot...hell I wanted it 3 weeks before I was due! LOL
nope-- she's been in labor for around 24 hrs now (mostly at home) & as of 10 this morning (EST) was planning on calling her midwife to see if she'd made any progress. last night she was 3cm & 80% effaced.
ReplyDeleteBecause I had no idea what to expect, I said I was going to try natural. Key word was try. A lot of things with pregnancy, labor and the first 7 months of mommyhood, in order to not let myself down, everything is on a "try" basis. Natural labor, breastfeeding, etc. Because again, I had no idea what to expect. I made it about 6 or 7 hours into labor, and about 8 cm before I broke down and got the epi. (Here's the ridiculous part - most of my wanting to try natural labor was because I was afraid the epi was going to be $5955896. It was worth the $200 I ended up paying.) That said - I have NO IDEA how women do it without drugs. Granted I had back labor, so I have no idea what normal feels like, but I didn't feel anything in by belly. I was literally at the point of either blacking out or barfing when I asked for the epi. And I still felt him when he was on his way out. There is no way I would have been able to do it without drugs. Also - my mom had 6 kids, and only got the drugs with the first and last. She labored witht he 3rd for 24 hours, hard labor, so why she chose not to get drugs with the next 2 is beyond me. So I will definitely get the epi again if we're lucky enough to have more.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long time to "forget" what labor was like, but reading Mandy's updates, and thinking while typing this, I just cringed. OUCH it effing hurt.
My sister has 2 kids, both c-secs. She had her 2nd 3 months after I had Grady, and my ordeal made her decision to have another c-sec very easy. She had a peaceful delivery (with both kids, actually, since her first was breech so she didn't even get to try a vag birth.) I hope you get to deliver whatever way you're hoping for!!
Sorry this got so long!
I wanted drugs the second I got there! I was induced and while they were getting me ready ect I asked about every nurse what point I could get the epi. After labor actually started...I waited a few hours and asked for it. It only worked an hour, then I was on my own. They tried to mess with it, but whenever they did, my legs just got numb from the knees down but nothing else. So we stopped messing with it, and I just dealt with it. It sucked.
ReplyDeleteThis time I don't know what I will do. I am not going to say I wont get it, but the last one left me with a horrid 4 day long migraine. But I am a wuss so I am sure I will be begging for one anyway.
i've heard that about spinals & epis & migraines.... i had a spinal & had no issues, but i'm beginning to wonder if i was in the minority there.
ReplyDeleteI had a spinal with both c-sections. My 1st section was an emergency due to the fact I was only 26 weeks. My second section was a repeat - I didn't want to chance it with a vbac.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had a migraine and felt wonky for a few days with her spinal with #1. That was 33 years ago, and I don't know if anything has changed with it. My sister (who im beginning to think just has a horseshoe up her ass) didn't have any problems. I wonder if it just depends on the person, the doc, the state (physically, not like where you live) you're in when you get it, etc.
ReplyDeleteYay story time!! LOL sorry this will be long.
ReplyDeleteK, and well J also, I was SCARED to death of a needle in my back. With K it was 32 hours of pure HELL, after about 28 hours I was begging, no screaming for something anything. They gave me a shot of who knows what and that was enough to push me through the rest of the time.
With J, again scared of the needle I went 100% natural. I actually felt NOTHING until they broke my water at an 8. I just lucked out with her.
With R, after laboring (you know the easy part of labor) for about 12 hours I really wanted an epi. The doctor told me I wasn't in labor and sent me home. 2 hours later I was begging for any drug they could give me. Sucky part there are no drugs that are safe for a pregnant woman on our ambulances. Not that it matters R was out and the pain was gone as soon as they shut the doors to the ambulance.
with C, they let me labor for awhile (about 12 hours) but the contractions were erratic, and not very strong. Then I had the c-section. While a c-section was not my choice, babies do not come out sideways, and I didn't want strain on his heart.
Thankfully I am done. If I had a oh crap the tubal failed I would have no choice but to have a c-section. I have the bikini cut on the outside, but they tore me up on the inside.
Come to think of it, I had a migraine from hell for days following my epi. They even sent in a neurologist to look at me (who then sent me for an MRI)... I never really thought about it being related to the epi....with all of the other issues going on...
ReplyDeleteYeah, my birth story really should never be shared.
I wanted drug free with kae, and got it, even if I wanted drugs, i was to far into labor by the time I got to the hossie to even get them, so yeah. all in all, i am glad of it. i got to experience it. I loved every second of it, and would have gladly done it again...I just felt liek it was something I needed to do...
ReplyDeleteWith my first I labored at home for a while until my water broke then we waited about a hour or so before going in to the hospital. I wanted to go with out pain meds dont really have a reason why I wanted to I just did. After the fist 12 hours of labor with only dialateing to a 3 they started pitocin and i labored another 17 hours and only dialated to a 6 they then decided it was enough and due to infection reasons told us they wanted to do a c section i got the epi when i was on the or table. He was a big baby with a super sized head that was stuck the doc said there was no way he was coming out. with my second i was never given the option of a vbac i got the spinal and with the third I had to many other health problems to even think about a vbac but recieved both the epi and spinal due to the health problems.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to go natural...can't really describe why, but I guess I wanted to "feel" the entire process. I was induced so the pit was making it extra hard, and I ended up getting an epi when I was 8ish cm. I will try to go natural again but will try to avoid an induction if I get the opportunity to have another baby. If I need to get an epi, I will be okay with it, but I liked the experience of the pain so much with hubby helping me the entire time (I know I'm crazy lol).
ReplyDeleteP.S. I appreciate you not knocking women that want to go natural. I think it is sad when I see women discourage eachother from having the labor that they desire. I'm all for women getting an epi and any other pain meds if that is what they want and all for women going without....just think we should all be supported in whatever we want. Okay off my soapbox now!
ReplyDeletewell...my water broke at home at 32 weeks so off to the hospital. they were hoping he would hold off for 2 weeks...he didn't...he came 3 days later. i woke up early tuesday (around 4am) to pains so they took me to be observed but they said nothing. all day it kept getting more intense but every time they took me to be observed, nothing really. so late that night while i'm on the phone with dh, i'm in so much pain and tell him that if this isn't labor, i'm not going to be able to do it. finally they take me down and it's labor. i didn't ask for it but they put some kind of pain reliever in my IV...took the edge off. doctor examined me and said i could have my epi. never asked if i wanted one, they just gave me one. i knew all along i wanted one though...lol...so i wasn't arguing. i felt nothing until they had to get the placenta out (it didn't come out naturally because i was so early) and that hurt more than having eric...lol. guess the epi was wearing off. but it took a long time before i could see eric because they wouldn't let me go to nicu until i could walk...that's the only thing that sucksed. if i ever get to do it again, i WILL have another epi. i give ladies who do it naturally A LOT of credit--i couldn't do it.
ReplyDeletei can't believe they wouldn't let you in to see eric til you could walk! they wheeled my whole bed in to see my boys. (thank goodness or i might have killed someone!)
ReplyDelete:)
Kate, they wouldn't let me go to the NICU until after midnight, C was born at 5 pm.
ReplyDeleteI did lots of research on all of the various birthing options and interventions out there. I wanted as few interventions as possible, especially no epi. The idea of a huge needle going into my spine scared me poopless, and plenty of women have done without, so I wanted to try. I left myself open to the idea of one if things got unbearable. In all honesty, labor was bearable. When a contraction came, i closed my eyes, tuned things out, and tried to relax. I was allowed to labor in a jetted tub for a bit, that was AWESOME!! The part when I pushed for four hours did suck, but I figured at that point it was too late for an epi, so i just dealt with it. Lol
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