natural or medicated childbirth?

adea8 · 07-16-2008, 09:31 PM

hey ladies whats it gonna be when u finally gieve birth? i want to have my baby natural but i hear about the horror pain. and i hear that epidorals which are medicated make your back hurt even after years of having the baby

MommyDreams08 · 07-16-2008, 11:26 PM

Natural for me......

But have the needle and anesthesia close to me and ready for spine at all times.

sgordon · 07-17-2008, 12:01 PM

I had my daughter when I was 19 and my thoughts at the time were "give me the drugs, I don't need to try to be a hero". Remember, the act of actually getting the epidural is not exactly a cake-walk. When your contractions are 5 minutes apart and it takes about 10 minutes to get the epidural and the doctor is saying "okay, whatever you do, don't move or you can be paralized"...well, you do the math. My daughter will be turning 6 in a couple of weeks, and I've never experienced any back pain as a result of the epidural.

That being said, when I choose to have more children in the future, I would seriously think about going natural. My lifestyle is very different now than it was then. I see a naturopath instead of a doctor and I am very into yoga. I would definitely give it a natural birth plan a shot, but I would make sure my plan is flexible. Just because you are giving birth doesn't mean you have to be miserable.

mnstrpc · 07-17-2008, 12:53 PM

Well, I thought I'd go as long as possible and see how it went -- my aunt had both of her girls all natural -- but I lasted only until about 4cm and then I said, "can we talk about that pain relief now?" LOL. The anesthetist who did my epidural was great though. DH is an RN and he watched it given and said the guy was really good -- it took less than 10 minutes to do and didn't hurt at all. DD is 3 1/2 months and no back pain for me. I had no pain at all after the epidural, not even when pushing, not even with a 2nd degree tear. I'll probably end up doing an epi again although women who go natural are my heros!
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I'm just chicken.

ivetastedflight · 07-17-2008, 02:30 PM

First 2 were medicated - epidural. Last was not. I think it's probably hardest for 1st time moms to handle labor without it, after that, you know what to expect. Not only that, first labors are usually the longest. I hear about 12, or 15, or 20 hour labors, then pushing for 2 hours. Screw that!

My first was 5.5 hours, and I pushed like 5 times. Twice to get him to crown. Once for his head, once for his shoulders, and once for the placenta.

My second was 10 hours (there were some complications), I pushed 4 times.

My last was 2 hours, I pushed 6 times.

I am so grateful that I had both. I am grateful that I had the pain relief, and had one natural - it was a great experience, but I did save it for last (most likely my shortest labor - but it was the most intense, too). LOL.

ETA: I never had any back aches or head aches or lasting effects from the epidural at all.

blackrosetwo · 07-17-2008, 02:41 PM

I had 2 that I recieved an epidural for. And 2 that I just asked for iv drugs. With my first the epidural wore off before I had her (only in labor 6 hours) and the second I wasn't given the epidural fast enough so it didn't kick in till 20 minutes after I had her. After that experience I decided epidurals were not for me. I asked and recieved Iv drugs and I loved those so much better. Before having any babies though and during each one I tried to go natural, but chickened out when the contractions got strong. I haven't had back pain from epidurals. Women who go natural are very awesome.

Stacie M · 07-17-2008, 03:10 PM

If/when I have a baby I want to have it natural, but I am also open to drugs if I just can't handle it. I am trying to keep an open mind.

My best friend is one who has had severe back pain since her epidural, which first started after her first birth 7 years ago. She had her last baby natural and says she wishes she would have had all of them natural after it was over with and she realized she could handle it.

ivetastedflight · 07-18-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stacie M
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She had her last baby natural and says she wishes she would have had all of them natural after it was over with and she realized she could handle it.

Me, too. Funny.

canadianmutation · 07-18-2008, 01:36 PM

Had no choice. Went natural until 8cm dialated. Dr came in and told me that I am getting the epidural since I am his 6th patient of the night thats high risk and the other 5 ended up in emergency c-section.

My DS was 6hrs labor and a 1 push wonder (they did have to break the water) Dr says that if we have a second my butt better be in the hospital when I feel the first twinge because he's not delivering in the elevator
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I'd love to be able to test that theory!

But-- I had pain in my back for over a year - they missed on the first try. And I had one of the best ppl in the country doing it too!

mnstrpc · 07-18-2008, 02:34 PM

You know what surprised me most about my pain during labor was that I had a LOT of pain / pressure in the rectal area during contractions. The pain in the uterine area was definitely there, but I could have born just that longer, I think. But it felt like an angry 15lb turd was trying to claw its way out of my bum, and that was what sent me begging for the meds more than anything else. DD was turned "sunny side up" as they say, so I dunno if that caused me to have worse than usual back labor, or if everyone gets the (literal) pain the rear. My best friend's baby was facing the right way, though, and she said she also felt pain in the rectum.

Loongirl · 07-18-2008, 02:49 PM

With all 3 of my deliveries I had an injection in my hiney of dilaudid (I doubt I spelled that right) which is a narcotic. It took some of the edge off the contractions but let me feel everything else. I had no iv's, just the shot in the hiney. With all three there were no lingering effects on my babies. With #3 though it wore off and the doc didn't want to give another one so the last hour or so was with no meds at all. I chose this method cuz I am not one to have somebody sticking a needle in my back (just gives me the heebee jeebees) and I really wanted as close to natural as possible. I didn't even ask for the meds and the doc offered me this shot and I can honestly say it was the best of both worlds. I still felt the contractions and all but the edge was taken off.

tina_d · 07-19-2008, 05:05 PM

I had my son natural. I couldn't stand the thought of where they had to put the needle for the epidural.

DIL went thru 5 epidurals with the birth of her son. The last 2 did not take at all. After 28 hours of labor and the baby still not crowning, they decided to find out why and it was because her pelvic bone had an extra ridge on it that was preventing him from going anywhere. They finally did a c-section, but she had to be put to sleep.

adea8 · 07-24-2008, 07:56 PM

Tina-d: How Did U Deal With The Pain?

SparklingGemini · 07-24-2008, 08:35 PM

With my DD I had to planned to go natural.

Then I ended up with preeclampsia at 30 weeks and went into the hospital at 33.5 weeks. I was induced at 36w2d (IIRC) and because I was entirely unfavorable the labor was long and intense.

I went over 36 hours without an epidural and it wasn't until my OB was threatening a c-section that I consented to have one.

For me, it just took off the edge of the pain of but the contractions were still intense and painful. I never had any side effects or back pain from the catheter site but I HATED not being able to get up or adjust my body after my baby was born. I wanted to move, to walk, to sit up, to curl around my baby girl but I couldn't because the effects hadn't completely wore off. The best thing about the epidural was that it help control the shakes that I had horribly.

My DD's heart rate dropped and after 3 hours of pushing(they turned the epidural off once I was at 10)she was finally born via vacuum. I had a stage three tear that I attribute to both pushing in the lithotomy position and the baby being ripped out quickly rather than being allowed to ease out.

There is a very distinct possibility that a lot of this would not have happened if I had been able to birth my DD in a natural way without crazy medical interventions.

This time, I'm planning a homebirth. I think that interventions are horrific and more often than not one intervention leads to another.

Women's bodies are MEANT to go into labor. If they are free to move around and do what the feel they need to do every thing works better. You know?

goddess819 · 07-24-2008, 08:58 PM

When I was prego with my DD my plan was natural. I'd gone to the lamaze classes and prepared myself as best I could. I do have a fairly good tolerance for pain. Anyway 14ish hrs into my labor I wanted the Staydol which is an IV medication to help relax you inbetween contractions. It did ease the pain...minimally...and it wore off too quickly in my opinion. When it wore off I was caught completely off guard by the pain. It hurt me so bad that lamaze went out the window and I couldn't breathe. The nurse asked me if I wanted the interthecal (inter-thee-cal) which is kinda like an epidural but it's just a pain shot of Fentanyl & Morphine into the spine...no tubes...no pumps...just one shot and you're done. It was flippin HEAVEN!

I got the interthecal at around 15hrs into my labor and I was dilated to 5 cm. Well...after being 'stuck' at 5cm for 4+ hrs, contracting like I was progressing but not, the Staydol, the interthecal, the head coning and my DD regressing back up instead of further descending down into the birth canal my OB said enough and hauled me into the OR for a c-section. There I got a more complete spinal and they proceded with the c-section. So...with 2 spinals in about 1-1.5 hrs...I couldn't move for HOURS. But it's all good. I had no residual back pain from them and the only pain I did have was from my incision site as what was to be expected. This time...no reason to even think about going natural because my doc will not VBAC so it's an automatic c-section for me. Which I'm perfectly fine with. I've had enough labor to fully appreciate it.

Good luck in which ever route you take during labor! If you do it au natural with no meds...more power to you girl! Good luck!