Any not had an epidural and regretted it?

[Anonymous]

I had an epidural for my first and did not have one for my second. I much preferred the non-epidural birth, even though it was really really painful. I liked being able to get up and walk immediately after, no catheter, etc., and my recovery was really fantastic and easy. However, I was lucky both times to have pretty short labors. I do not know if I would have felt the same if I had had, say, a 15 hour non-medicated labor, because I would have been totally exhausted.

[Anonymous]

For my first, I was aiming for a non medicated birth. After laboring, they had to get DC out by emergency C-section. Because I didn't have an epi in,, they had to general anesthesia. The anthesia was awful. Awful.

And I had totally normal pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an epidural for my first and did not have one for my second. I much preferred the non-epidural birth, even though it was really really painful. I liked being able to get up and walk immediately after, no catheter, etc., and my recovery was really fantastic and easy. However, I was lucky both times to have pretty short labors. I do not know if I would have felt the same if I had had, say, a 15 hour non-medicated labor, because I would have been totally exhausted.

Ha ha ha. That is nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've done it both ways. I feel like an idiot for having an unmediated birth. It's like insisting on a drug-free root canal. Why?

Me too. First was epidural (spinal headache after) and second I choose not to have one. Horrible but felt like I had to do it since I was so committed. Third epidural and wonderful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FTM here, so this is secondhand info. My sister had an epidural with her first but went unmedicated for her second. She doesn't say much about the pain with either (she labored for a long time with her first, though), but she has said that postpartum recovery was much, much easier without the epidural. She strongly recommends against my getting one if at all possible.

This was my experience as well. I think it had to do with the fact that I could push more efficiently without the epidural (it was also my second baby, so that probably had something to do with it as well). I will talk about the pain though, it hurt like hell, but it was really quick (I got lucky and from the first contraction that i actually felt until baby being born was about 1.5 hours, but I was already in the hospital since I was supposed to be induced that morning). I felt awesome immediately after the birth, I could have walked to the PP room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FTM here, so this is secondhand info. My sister had an epidural with her first but went unmedicated for her second. She doesn't say much about the pain with either (she labored for a long time with her first, though), but she has said that postpartum recovery was much, much easier without the epidural. She strongly recommends against my getting one if at all possible.

What was hard about her recovery and why does she think that was related to having the epi?

[Anonymous]

I had an unmedicated birth and do not regret it for a second. If anyone here is actually considering it, my advice is to walk away from this thread and all the horror stories. Sure, there is pain but it is a different type of pain - it is working towards something.

For me, transition was bad - I lost focus and let my fear take over. But it only lasted about 20 minutes.

I honestly felt no pain after I was dilated. Pushing felt like an awesome relief of the pressure and I didn't experience any burning that some people talk about.

So I'd do it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or..specifically looking to hear from women who had one natural delivery and one epidural delivery. I had an epidural with my first years ago and didn't like the total numbness during and after. Looking to go unmedicated this one but my husband thinks that's crazy given the "ease" of delivery with the epi first time around. So ladies that had both...which did you prefer?

I had an epi and was not totally dumb by any stretch.

My epidural DID numb me, all the way down to my toes. It was awful. It was placed slightly wrong so that as they gave me more and more medicine, it made my legs more and more numb. It took a good 10 hours after the birth for all the sensation to come back into my legs and feet. The worst part of the story was that the place where I actually needed pain relief -- that is, my belly -- was left with hardly any pain relief at all. Yuck. I also had residual lower back pain at the epidural site for about a year.

Goes to show, every person's experience will be somewhat different.

[Anonymous]

I had an epidural for my first and not for my second (despite asking for one ... I was in another country where it's not always available).

The recovery difference is more because of 1st and 2nd birth, I think, not due to the epidural or not.

Also, I felt in shock with my first and more relaxed after my second, but that may have nothing to do with the epidural as well.

To me, the biggest difference between my 2 births was what happened to the baby immediately after. With the first, it was taken away for checking, then brought to me wrapped up. With my second, it was placed immediately on my belly, cord still attached to me. Somehow, that experience gave me a huge hormonal boost/high or something! I felt great! I think it's the skin on skin thing. And I think it was much more than whether I had an epidural or not.

If I had a third, I'd probably end up asking for an epidural at some stage. But I wouldn't worry if it wasn't available. But I'd insist that they place the baby on my stomach immediately, no matter what.

[Anonymous]

I had a walking epidural that wore off around transition. I was never totally numb and could move my legs, but contractions weren't painful. Until it wore off. Holy hell, worse pain than I ever imagined. I could barely breathe let alone push. I was able to get up immediately after, but that was also painful because I had a lot of tearing. Oh, and the shot to numb me before stitches? Awful. Next time I don't care I'd I can't walk for 2 days, nothing could be worse for me than going through that again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an epi and was not totally dumb by any stretch.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an epidural for my first and did not have one for my second. I much preferred the non-epidural birth, even though it was really really painful. I liked being able to get up and walk immediately after, no catheter, etc., and my recovery was really fantastic and easy. However, I was lucky both times to have pretty short labors. I do not know if I would have felt the same if I had had, say, a 15 hour non-medicated labor, because I would have been totally exhausted.

I was able to walk, pee etc with epi right after birth as well. Not all epis are the same, apparently.

[Anonymous]

I had epidurals with both of my children. The first was okay-- the birth was relatively painless, but I wasn't crazy about how the epi made me feel. But it was fine. I had a complication with the second one, and was bedridden for over a week with the spinal headaches-- the worst pain I have ever had. I have not experienced unmedicated birth, but I can pretty much guarantee I would have much rather endured the pain of childbirth than the misery I experienced due to the epi.

So for folks who would say, "Why would you go unmedicated when you can have an epidural?" Well, it's still a medical procedure. There's still a risk of complication, even if small. Having a wet tap (which is what happened to me) occurs in about 1 in 100 epidurals (according to the anesthesiologist). So it's rare, but it's not THAT rare. And when you're the 1 in the 100, it pretty much sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an epidural for my first and not for my second (despite asking for one ... I was in another country where it's not always available).

The recovery difference is more because of 1st and 2nd birth, I think, not due to the epidural or not.

Also, I felt in shock with my first and more relaxed after my second, but that may have nothing to do with the epidural as well.

To me, the biggest difference between my 2 births was what happened to the baby immediately after. With the first, it was taken away for checking, then brought to me wrapped up. With my second, it was placed immediately on my belly, cord still attached to me. Somehow, that experience gave me a huge hormonal boost/high or something! I felt great! I think it's the skin on skin thing. And I think it was much more than whether I had an epidural or not.

If I had a third, I'd probably end up asking for an epidural at some stage. But I wouldn't worry if it wasn't available. But I'd insist that they place the baby on my stomach immediately, no matter what.

The research says your natural high was from the hormones your body releases to deal with pain in labor, so it was the no epidural that gave you that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had an epidural for my first and not for my second (despite asking for one ... I was in another country where it's not always available).

The recovery difference is more because of 1st and 2nd birth, I think, not due to the epidural or not.

Also, I felt in shock with my first and more relaxed after my second, but that may have nothing to do with the epidural as well.

To me, the biggest difference between my 2 births was what happened to the baby immediately after. With the first, it was taken away for checking, then brought to me wrapped up. With my second, it was placed immediately on my belly, cord still attached to me. Somehow, that experience gave me a huge hormonal boost/high or something! I felt great! I think it's the skin on skin thing. And I think it was much more than whether I had an epidural or not.

If I had a third, I'd probably end up asking for an epidural at some stage. But I wouldn't worry if it wasn't available. But I'd insist that they place the baby on my stomach immediately, no matter what.

The research says your natural high was from the hormones your body releases to deal with pain in labor, so it was the no epidural that gave you that.

I believe it. I had unmediated births both times and, while the pain was unbelievable, the high afterward was like nothing I've ever felt before or after. The nurses (at Georgetown, where 99 percent of births include an epi) kept commenting on it. It really felt like I was on the best drug ever. And then I wouldn't put my babies down for the next two days. Like, at all.