I didn't have a disconnect because I still had some feeling but no pain. The only part that bothered me was the initial sting and then the itchiness afterward.

I could still feel things with my epi, a lot of pressure, just not the horrible pain (thanks pitocin).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

Not OP but had a similar experience. I have just never liked the feeling of opioids - everyone metabolizes that stuff differently, some people find it pleasant and other people find it unpleasantly disassociating. Still, I prefer that to the pain of labor! I do wish I had been more educated and prepared for what to expect with the epidural but I had been planning to go natural, doh.

So does anyone know if it is possible to get an epidural sans narcotics?

As for nitrous, I have heard that is kind of trippy so I don't think it would be for me.

I didn't receive narcotics with my epidural. Is that common??

I'd planned to go unmedicated. Then my water broke, labor didn't start, and I ended up on high doses of pitocin. After 8 hours of non-stop pitocin contractions with only 1cm of dilation, I asked for an epidural. Best decision I could have made. I dilated rapidly after the epidural, and the dosing was light enough that I could still move my legs somewhat to shift around in bed for a more comfortable pushing position. I had no pain during delivery, just the pressure to know when to push.
The only issue I had was that my blood pressure dropped quite a bit immediately after receiving the epi. There was about a half hour worth of work to get my BP to stabilize.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

I didn't read OPs post as altered, just disconnected. I'm a PP who felt that way too. The inability to actually feel what was happening with my body left me with a very 3rd party / observer perspective. It seemed like something happening to somebody else, not me. Of course my epi was very strong and I could only tell I was contracting when my hands would feel my stomach tense. I imagine it may have been different if I'd had one of these epis that others describe where it numbed the pain but they could still feel something.

Thanks, PP. This describes it better than I did - like it wasn't me giving birth. It wasn't the absolute worst thing in the world, but it was sort of a body alienating. - OP

Anonymous wrote:Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

I didn't read OPs post as altered, just disconnected. I'm a PP who felt that way too. The inability to actually feel what was happening with my body left me with a very 3rd party / observer perspective. It seemed like something happening to somebody else, not me. Of course my epi was very strong and I could only tell I was contracting when my hands would feel my stomach tense. I imagine it may have been different if I'd had one of these epis that others describe where it numbed the pain but they could still feel something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

Not OP but had a similar experience. I have just never liked the feeling of opioids - everyone metabolizes that stuff differently, some people find it pleasant and other people find it unpleasantly disassociating. Still, I prefer that to the pain of labor! I do wish I had been more educated and prepared for what to expect with the epidural but I had been planning to go natural, doh.

So does anyone know if it is possible to get an epidural sans narcotics?

As for nitrous, I have heard that is kind of trippy so I don't think it would be for me.

Yoga poster here. I did not have any narcotics with my epidural!

I didn't experience a mind body disconnect. I could still feel the contractions, and I asked the midwife and nurse to be quiet as I pushed through each contraction. It was very peaceful, and reminded me of deep meditation in yoga class lol. i also never felt the need to push the button again once t was placed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do any hospitals in the area offer Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas)? It is becoming more commonly available where I live in the south, a state where birth centers/midwives are pretty common. It hasn't been used much here, but it is pretty standard in the UK. It takes the edge off and can help with anxiety (which sounds like it might be helpful). I'm pro epidural too, totally understand choosing that, but just offering this as another option that many people aren't aware of.

It sounds like you probably already have set where you have to deliver, but I've been surprised sometimes to find out something was available if I asked, but wasn't easily listed somewhere. Nitrous is a bit different because they need special systems for it, but nothing to lose by checking. And this might be helpful for someone else reading. Good luck OP!

Currently available only at WHC.

Inova Alexandria now offers it as well (but NOT Inova fairfax)

Anonymous wrote:Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

Not OP but had a similar experience. I have just never liked the feeling of opioids - everyone metabolizes that stuff differently, some people find it pleasant and other people find it unpleasantly disassociating. Still, I prefer that to the pain of labor! I do wish I had been more educated and prepared for what to expect with the epidural but I had been planning to go natural, doh.

So does anyone know if it is possible to get an epidural sans narcotics?

As for nitrous, I have heard that is kind of trippy so I don't think it would be for me.

Had an epidural with Fentanyl, legs completely numb, did not bother me one bit. A drug-free birth was not my goal, so there were no emotions involved in getting the epidural. I would bet that the mind-fuckiness and strange feelings you experienced were due to a bit of shock and exhaustion from labor. Not sure how lower body numbness can lead to an altered mental state. Epidurals are not supposed to alter your mental state the way IV and oral narcotics do.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I hated that feeling. I went without the epi with my second (no pitocin, though), and I had a much better experience.

Me too. That disconnected feeling was really bad for me, though admittedly I had the feel-nothing level of epi (first try only got one side so they had to reapply to make it work on the other side, and the baby was born at most 2 hrs later - in retrospect I was clearly in transition when I got it.) One of my clearest post birth memories was being awake late at night crying in a chair in the hall while my husband and baby slept in the room. There was some other stuff going on and the subsequent breastfeeding issues caused by breast edema from the fluids were also a factor in what was most likely a case of undiagnosed PPD, but regardless for #2 I figured I'd do everything I could to prevent a similar experience and thus opted to forego the epidural. I know intellectually that it hurt at the end because I remember responding "ask me later" to the midwife when she asked if I was glad I did it. But the hormones really do mess with memory development because while I can abstractly remember that experience it is from an outsiders perspective - I have no visceral, emotional memory of that pain. And by 2-3 days later I was definitely in the 'unmedicated is great' camp.

Hoping you find the right answer for you in order to have a great birth, and failing that I hope you can find peace that your particular set of circumstances may just mean less than ideal birth experiences, and that sucks but is what it is.

Anonymous wrote:I will not be getting an epidural with my second because the epidural made me TOTALLY loopy.

But I don't think this is universal.

I've had 3 surgeries and it was very hard for me to come out of anesthesia. I'm usually in post-op recovery for hours.

The epidural had the same effect on me. I was in and out of it. When they turned it down, it didn't work. Like, at all. Not, "we want to feel pressure" kind of not work, but like I could feel myself tear kind of not work.

And since I had the epidural, I couldn't move around to get comfortable.

I'm shocked that I myself am not going to get an epidural for round 2 because I have NO pain tolerance. But I can't be so loopy again!

I also struggle terribly with anesthesia, and it's a major reason I'm planning on not getting an epidural. I hate having to have surgery. I'm an epic eff'ing disaster every single time. Even the sedative they give you for an endoscopy did a number on me.

I gave birth at WHC with nitrous. It definitely took the edge off.

Anonymous wrote:Do any hospitals in the area offer Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas)? It is becoming more commonly available where I live in the south, a state where birth centers/midwives are pretty common. It hasn't been used much here, but it is pretty standard in the UK. It takes the edge off and can help with anxiety (which sounds like it might be helpful). I'm pro epidural too, totally understand choosing that, but just offering this as another option that many people aren't aware of.

It sounds like you probably already have set where you have to deliver, but I've been surprised sometimes to find out something was available if I asked, but wasn't easily listed somewhere. Nitrous is a bit different because they need special systems for it, but nothing to lose by checking. And this might be helpful for someone else reading. Good luck OP!

I used laughing gas in my second labor...it was pretty nice actually. I had a c-section anyway, long story but there was a period where I was not allowed any pain relief because surgery was going to happen in a few hours and I was in a lot of pain. A LOT. The laughing gas got me through. If I had the chance to do a vaginal birth, I would definitely try laughing gas, then epi when things got too intense. And everyone's pain threshold is SO different, you might only need the laughing gas...who knows?

Anonymous wrote:Do any hospitals in the area offer Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas)? It is becoming more commonly available where I live in the south, a state where birth centers/midwives are pretty common. It hasn't been used much here, but it is pretty standard in the UK. It takes the edge off and can help with anxiety (which sounds like it might be helpful). I'm pro epidural too, totally understand choosing that, but just offering this as another option that many people aren't aware of.

It sounds like you probably already have set where you have to deliver, but I've been surprised sometimes to find out something was available if I asked, but wasn't easily listed somewhere. Nitrous is a bit different because they need special systems for it, but nothing to lose by checking. And this might be helpful for someone else reading. Good luck OP!

Currently available only at WHC.