another random quetsion

so many people say they had a painful vaginal delivery, but how can it hurt if you get an epidural? i'm just trying to figure out which way to go, and i know there is some level of pain associated with both a vaginal and c-section, but i'm starting to think that i don't want to be spending weeks or months trying to recover from a c-section....
my doc is very generous with epidurals, both my babies are head down....
so how can vaginal delivery hurt if you are getting an epidural?

 

I think you would feel a vaginal delivery with an epidural if the epidural wore off, if it wasn't put in correctly, or if your body just didn't react well to it. My epidural was wonderful....I felt no pain, only pressure when I needed to push. I had a great labor experience because of it. I know not everyone has good stories about epidurals, but I definitely would have another one if I have these two vaginally!

 

With my son, I absolutely loved having the epidural.

Some problems though.... They don't put the epidural in until you are really progressing. So you may have painful contractions, especially if you are induced up until they determine it is safe to have the epidural. I guess if put in too early it can slow down labor.

Also, my girlfriend planned on having an epidural. Well by the time she got to the hospital it was too late to get one, she had progressed too far, and she had to have a "natural" labor, even though she had planned on the epidural.

My suggestion though, is get one if you can. I wanted to kiss the anesthesiologist (sp?) after it got put in!

 

Even with an epidural you can still feel some discomfort because you have to be able to push and feel when you need to push. With my oldest DD when they finally gave me mine they gave me too much, then I was 10 cm and they told me to push and I said "push what" it was still too strong for me to feel the pressure. They had to decrease the amount and then I felt the pressure. It was not a painful delivery, but I definitely could feel discomfort, especially since I then had to push for 2.5 hours (ouch!). But I wouldn't say it was painful. But you have to feel something to know when to push.

BTW: the epidural was great! After I got it I could not feel my contractions and was able to relax for awhile. An epidural is your friend!

 

if... IFFFFF i decide to go vaginal, i'm 120% getting an epidural!!! but if i were to be a situation where i got there too late to get an epidural, then i would for sure go c-section. i'm such a huge baby when it comes to pain

i don't mind feelng pressure... it's the pain of ripping and tearing that i don't want to feel! and i understand that i will feel pain during the contractions BEFORE i get the epidural... but... okay, here's what the nurse said to me last night: she said that i am now dilated at 3cm. and usually once you get to 5, you start to go a little faster. so doc would give me the epidural at that time, cuz things will start to go faster.... the nurse said that it's in my favor that i'm at a 3 now because of that..... am i making sense? probably not... lol anyway, i'm ten minutes from the hospital and she said the chances of me going from a 3 to a 10 in that amount of time is very unlikely... alright, i'm done rambling, if you all managed to follow me this far!

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Oct 2 2007, 12:28 PM) [snapback]432566[/snapback]
if... IFFFFF i decide to go vaginal, i'm 120% getting an epidural!!! but if i were to be a situation where i got there too late to get an epidural, then i would for sure go c-section. i'm such a huge baby when it comes to pain

i don't mind feelng pressure... it's the pain of ripping and tearing that i don't want to feel! and i understand that i will feel pain during the contractions BEFORE i get the epidural... but... okay, here's what the nurse said to me last night: she said that i am now dilated at 3cm. and usually once you get to 5, you start to go a little faster. so doc would give me the epidural at that time, cuz things will start to go faster.... the nurse said that it's in my favor that i'm at a 3 now because of that..... am i making sense? probably not... lol anyway, i'm ten minutes from the hospital and she said the chances of me going from a 3 to a 10 in that amount of time is very unlikely... alright, i'm done rambling, if you all managed to follow me this far!



With my oldest DD I was at 3cm at 37 weeks, well she wasn't born until 41 weeks. So being that far along did make things go faster I think, I was only in labor for 7.5 hours, my water broke at 12:30 am and she was born at 8:15am (okay well 7.75 hours), but the one thing I think being so far along is my contractions started hard and fast. They were extremely painful right from the get go. And when I got to the hospital, begging for an epidural, the mean nurse I had told me I didn't have time for one. WHAT?? :icon_eek: But my OB did say I could get one, the nurse said that before my OB had seen me) when she came into see me, and the nurse actually questioned my OB and my nice OB said she was not going to deny me of it if I wanted it.

So yes, with you being 3cm already you should progress a bit faster and be able to get the epidural sooner.

 

QUOTE(summerfun @ Oct 2 2007, 11:45 AM) [snapback]432591[/snapback]
With my oldest DD I was at 3cm at 37 weeks, well she wasn't born until 41 weeks. So being that far along did make things go faster I think, I was only in labor for 7.5 hours, my water broke at 12:30 am and she was born at 8:15am (okay well 7.75 hours), but the one thing I think being so far along is my contractions started hard and fast. They were extremely painful right from the get go. And when I got to the hospital, begging for an epidural, the mean nurse I had told me I didn't have time for one. WHAT?? :icon_eek: But my OB did say I could get one, the nurse said that before my OB had seen me) when she came into see me, and the nurse actually questioned my OB and my nice OB said she was not going to deny me of it if I wanted it.

So yes, with you being 3cm already you should progress a bit faster and be able to get the epidural sooner.
With my oldest DD I was at 3cm at 37 weeks, well she wasn't born until 41 weeks. So being that far along did make things go faster I think, I was only in labor for 7.5 hours, my water broke at 12:30 am and she was born at 8:15am (okay well 7.75 hours), but the one thing I think being so far along is my contractions started hard and fast. They were extremely painful right from the get go. And when I got to the hospital, begging for an epidural, the mean nurse I had told me I didn't have time for one. WHAT?? :icon_eek: But my OB did say I could get one, the nurse said that before my OB had seen me) when she came into see me, and the nurse actually questioned my OB and my nice OB said she was not going to deny me of it if I wanted it.

So yes, with you being 3cm already you should progress a bit faster and be able to get the epidural sooner.



so you got one as soon as you got to the hospital?



also, how long does an epidural last for?

 

QUOTE(Lynner405 @ Oct 2 2007, 12:09 PM) [snapback]432522[/snapback]
I think you would feel a vaginal delivery with an epidural if the epidural wore off, if it wasn't put in correctly, or if your body just didn't react well to it. My epidural was wonderful....I felt no pain, only pressure when I needed to push. I had a great labor experience because of it. I know not everyone has good stories about epidurals, but I definitely would have another one if I have these two vaginally!



ditto here, except my epidural only took on one side - it was very weird only feeling one side of my body

just a few minutes before it was push time, the nurse rolled me over on the side where it did not take and within no time it took on that side too, so I was pain free at that point - YEAH!!!!!!!

The epidural itself was completely painless for me. The hardest part is being able to sit up so they can get to your back, after that, I did not feel anything.

 

With my son I got my epidural an hour after they broke my water- and I was only 1 or 2 cm when they broke my water. I got it very early- my doc said that it would not slow my labor down at all, and it would not wear off. They used a continuous drip of medication to keep me numb. When it came time to push my vial of medicine was out and rather than give me a new syringe they let it go, so by the time I was done pushing I felt quite a bit, but it was not horrible. The pressure isn't fun, but it just gives you that motivation to get the baby out!!!
I always thought I had a strong pain tolerance, until they broke my water, and I learned I definitly don't!!! :rotflmbo:

 

I have done both (just a singleton vaginal) and I would pick vaginal with no meds over Csection anyday! But I that is just my experience. I hated the feeling of a spinal and I hated the recovery. BTW I tore to a 4 (the worst you can tear) with my vaginal and no meds and I would still choose to recover from that than a csection. I would do whatever you doc felt was safest. Vaginal delivery is really good for babies lungs.

 

I am keeping these babies in till they figure out how to teleport them out of me!!! :blink:

 

QUOTE(camdensmommy @ Oct 2 2007, 01:01 PM) [snapback]432628[/snapback]
With my son I got my epidural an hour after they broke my water- and I was only 1 or 2 cm when they broke my water. I got it very early- my doc said that it would not slow my labor down at all, and it would not wear off.


I had the same experience with my epidural but it did wear off. I got it right after they broke my water when i was 3cm dialated. I did have trouble with mine (the epidural) though and at times could still feel my contractions ALTHOUGH not bad (felt like bad AF cramps) By the time it came for me to push I was fine pushing and actually felt relief with each push BUT when it came time to deliver we were moved into the OR but my epidural had worn off and I was given Fentanyl (I think that's how it's spelled) I felt EVERYTHING...I needed an episotomy as Baby A was born with the help of forceps which is what gave me the most excrutiating pain, I was not prepared for that. Baby B was footlong breech but she was a breeze. I was just relieved to have the pain with the birth of BAby A over that I never even felt her being born...OB pulled her out by her legs.

I ended up with stitches and couldn't move to fast. Had to take my time very slowly to get into a sitting position BUT it was all worth it in the end :icon_biggrin:

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Oct 2 2007, 12:52 PM) [snapback]432611[/snapback]
so you got one as soon as you got to the hospital?
also, how long does an epidural last for?



No, because of my mean nurse I did not. :angry: Can you tell I'm still bitter about it. I probably got one about 2 hours after I got there, when my OB finally came in and told me I could have one.

Mine lasted 4 hours really well and I couldn't feel a darn thing ( I was in heaven), but also didn't know when it was time to push. So they had to decrease the amount.

I think they can make them last longer if needed, I know they can vary the amount.

 

Hey chickie! I've tried to reply twice now and each time a baby hit escape or the tab button and erased my reply!!!

I didn't get my epi until about 10 hours had passed, since I wanted one at the last possible moment, and then they recommended it since i was only dialated to about a 3. The epi hurt like **** going in since I couldn't bend far enough over for him to get the needle in, but once it was in, HEAVEN!!! I was like, oh, I had a contraction? OK!
The only thing that I wasn't aware could happen was that when I would lay on one side, the meds would drain from one side to the other. So if I was laying on my left side, my right side would start to ache and I could start to feel contractions again. I would have to have someone flip me over (usually DH) and then it took like 15 minutes for the meds to drain back, and then it would happen all over again. They adjusted my epi and then gave me this pushbutton thing to press if the epi started wearing off.

As for the C-section, I didn't feel a dang thing. Just some "sensation", you know, but nothing like pain ... but the meds they give you kind of make you dazed, there's video of the C-section and I'm just kind of like, lalalalala but once you hear that first baby's cry, you really don't feel anything at all! I didn't even know when they were cutting, anything like that, just heard "Ok, almost have Baby A ... here we go!" and then you heard a cry. The worst was actually being rinsed out and stitched up, I could feel the tugging and the rinsing was very uncomfortable. Wasn't actually painful, just very uncomfortable.

 

QUOTE(cohlee @ Oct 2 2007, 11:17 AM) [snapback]432667[/snapback]
I am keeping these babies in till they figure out how to teleport them out of me!!! :blink:


I like this idea. That's what I'm going to do to, because I'm sure they will have figured it out by the time mine are ready

 

i had a good experience with my dd, but i can't say it was pain free.

i actually got the epidural before i was in too much pain. i def wasn't 3 cm yet. in fact, i've had more painful ctx now with the twins that i ever felt with dd. BUT, pushing sucks. it just does. the epidural is set at such a level so you know when to push. and then, just so you know you're doing it right, you should know that pushing the baby out is just like pooping. seriously. (no one else may tell you that. my best friend told me, and i'm glad she did b/c no one else did -- not the nurses or docs.) it feels the same, except 1000 times more intense. and it just sucks.

pushing the placenta out is no big deal. then, if you've had an episiotomy, they sew you up, which you don't really feel either. you might feel 'something', but it's probably what you'd call pressure, not pain.

no matter what happens, afterward, you'll only have a vague memory. as one of my friends said 'giving birth is just a day. it's the next 18 years that's the hard part.'