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I have had two v____al births and one emergency c-section and the recovery from my v____al births were soooooo much easier. I had my first one naturally without epidural, not by choice, she just came fast and my second one with epidural. If you are having an epidural you shouldn't worry too much about pain because it takes care of most of it. And believe me, it is really true that the pain goes away as soon as you have the baby and when they put the baby in your arms, you really do forget about the pain you just had :) One piece of advice is to ask your doctor about his view of episiotomy. There is a stretching exercise they can do while you are in labor to help to reduce the chances of having to have one. I had one with the first but not with the second and it was so much easier not having it done! I would choose the short-lived pain of my unmedicated birth over the recovery of my c-section any day. And I just went through a surgery last week where they had to cut my c-section incision open again to repair an incisional hernia that occurred because of my c-section. Hope this helped. God bless you and your baby!

Thank you Blessedwith4!

I've never had a v____al delivery. I had 24 hours of induced labor (and, finally, an epidural in hour 20!!!!! LOL) that ended in an emergency c-section, but I had scheduled c-sections with my next two, so no labor with them. But I would agree w/ what your doc said about substantial pain and the pain lasting longer... plus, if you labor and have a v____al delivery the majority of the pain is over with by the time you are caring for the baby, but with a c-section you are going through the brunt of the pain WHILE caring for the baby.

Thank you sahmof3. The first 20 hours that you were in labor - was it absolutely horrible? Was it that you weren't dilated yet to 4 that they couldn't give you an epidural? I'm pretty sure with both of your stories I want a v____al delivery, but stories like yours scare me!! I'm so afraid of labor!

ESol, I also was scared to death of a normal delivery and opted for a planned c-section. My baby was born at 38 weeks. I now want another baby and would like to try and have a normal delivery (I have not yet found out wat the risks involved are for normal delivery after a c-section). My son is 10 months old and I still have discomfort in the area of my scar and sometimes its just plain painfull. I remember not getting to sit up after the first 12 hours after delivery and I couldn't b___steed properly. I was sore for a week after the delivery and couldn't take care of my baby as well. I felt tired and miserable. I needed care while I needed to take care of my baby. So many people told me to stay away from the c-section, I should have listened. Well, good luck for you delivery and remember...PUUUUSH

Chantelle - thank you for taking the time to tell me your story. I think my choice is clear - find a surrogate to deliver - just kidding! I'll opt for a v____al delivery (yikes!) Thank you again and good luck to you!

ESol... sorry I didn't respond. I read right through your question to me somehow! Anyway, there were a few reasons I didn't get an epi for so long. I received Stadol first, which makes you sort of drift in and out of sleep... you still fell all the ctxns, but fall asleep or just get drowsy b/w each ctxn... to me I felt out of control and like I was getting amnesia every 30 seconds or so. Some people love it, though, so don't go by just my opinion if you are offered that ;-) Anyway, that didn't wear off for about an hour. And then, I guess the docs were beginning to think c-section because they did a complete blood workup on me and it came back that my platelets were extrememly low... when they told me that I was at the point of asking for a c-section and they said that an epidural and/or c-section were out for me because it was too dangerous with my low platelets!! Also, my entire labor I only dilated to 1/2 cm, so that was probably a factor, too. Then, I got to a point where I was pushing... I couldn't help it, my body just was!... there was sooooo much pressure and pain!! I was certain I was 10 cm and ready to go, but I was still only 1/2 cm. Then the nurse and doc talked it over and decided an epidural was the lesser of two evils... I think they were still trying to avoid a c-section because of my platelets, but at the same time, as my nurse put it..."We have to get you to stop that pushing, you are going to seriously injure yourself!", so I got the epi despite what they had said earlier. I was sooo happy. I would have asked for the epi myself, except I was in too much pain to speak! Then it took another hour or so until the anesthesiologist was able to get to me... and when he did I was immediately in love with him lol. So, they gave me the epi and it relaxed me and took the pain away. I was exhausted... but at least pain free!!... for the next 4 hours until my water broke and there was meconium in it (pre-birth poo... usually from the baby being in distress) and his heart rate was decelerating, so once again they did what they said they didn't want to and performed a c-section on me!! Looking back I'm really surprised they didn't put me to sleep for the c-section because I had the same platelet issue with my youngest, and I went in for my scheduled c-section that day and they told me I was going to have to be put to slep because it was too dangerous to safely do a spinal on me... then again the epi was alredy placed from when I was in labor, so I guess that danger was already past. I'm also really surprised that I didn't end up with a blood transfusion... I think I needed one, but now that it's long over with I'm glad I didn't have one. Anyway, that's what happened that caused the emergency c-section. I found out in my next pregnancy, at my 20 week u/s (which I had not had one with my son or else this would have been found BEFORE all that) that I have thick scarring of the cervix from a D&C fora m/c and I can't dilate. Oh well, at least it was found before I tried a VBAC!!

Sahmof3 - Wow, you went through Hell!! Thank you for your story. It sounds so scary, exhausting, scary! It just doesn't make sense to me how some people are so lucky that they barely have any labor pains and the baby "pops out" in less than 5 hours and then there are some who have to go through what you and these other ladies had to go through. Thank you again for your time!

Well I had a pretty candid talk with my OB yesterday about methods of childbirth. Given that she has never had kids and she is 39 (a year younger than me) I figured she had ideas about what her own birthplan would be if she became pregnant. Her choice? Planned c section. When asked why her response was "Why would I want to tear from end to end...have my bladder possibly wind up damaged...and go through all that pain?" She has done tons and tons of c sections on her pts and seems to feel that even despite the risks of surgery, c section is more the way to go. She also qualified her response with the fact that MOST OBs would choose c section over vag births if they were being honest with their pts. Very interesting. Think she made up my mind for me....given that I don't want to damage my pelvic floor muscles more than they were already damaged from having my daughter.

ESol... I know! I have 2 SILs who BARELY made it to the hospital they delivered so fast! When I was pregnant with Nathan I was soooo worried about delivering in the car... or at home... or worse yet, at work- yikes!... my boss (a man who had never had children) only compounded my fears by loooking at me like I was a ticking time bomb for the last few weeks that I came to work. I know he thought he was going to end up having to deliver my baby... he always went a little pale when I came in to work LOL. I was scared of not making it to the hospital on time. Haha! I had nothing to worry about there ;-) Anyway, given the choice I would have liked to have had a v____al delivery, but I'm glad c-sections are available 'cause that's the only way mine were getting out into the world :-D I do like your idea of the surrogate... I think that's the best option LOL.

Well... I had a c-section and let me tell you it was a lot of pain afterwards for me. It's very painful to be cut open compared to v____al birth. The actual process is not painful, but let me tell you when that numbness goes away. Oh it was not fun.

Think of a c-section as abdominal surgery. To get to the uterus, all the muscles are cut. I can explain my experience in the hospital. I got to b___st feed my baby about an hour after he was born. Once the numbing went away, I felt very tired and thirsty. I was not aloud to even drink water until I pa__sed gas. The first day, I could not walk at all. I couldn't even move my body to sit up. My bf had to change babies first diaper. I had a thing to collect urine because there was no way I was going to go to the washroom. The next ay, the nurse told me I have to walk now. She helped me sit up which was very painful. I had to push my iv thing around with me. She made me walk to the washroom where she pulled out the thing that you pee in. I cried when she did it. I was in so much pain. I felt like I was learning how to walk again, which I sort of was because I couldn't walk like I did before. I also had a bit of a cold which is the worst. coughing is the most painful thing ever, since there are no muscles. It took a along time before I was able to walk normally. Showering was so hard at first because I couldn't stand for a long period of time. Going do the washroom for number one and two was very uncomfortable. The bleeding afterwards was a drag because I constantly had to go change my pad which was very hard to do because I was given a bottle that I had to fill up with water and it was like a squirtey thing. I had to clean myself off every time I went to the washroom to prevent infection. Oh let me tel you I think natural birth would have been much nicer. My c-section was an emergency because my son turned while I was in labor. I dilated 10cm. His bum was going to come out which could cause me to bleed to death. So c-section it was. I was ready to push. The labor was long and painful but I think the aftermath would have been a lot less painful if I was able to give a natural birth. You heal allot faster from natural birth. Also, you can hold your baby right away and do things at home right away. I had to do laundry a week after I came home because everyone had to work. What I did not know, I got a bladder infection and didn't catch it until it was really bad. It just hit me and I couldn't even get up so I was taken to the hospital. I hope you go for the natural. I don't wish what I went through for anyone. Good luck.

BUt! I also did not take my pain meds because I honestly think that any medication is un natural for a baby. I was b___st feeding and regardless of what the doctor said, I still didn't take the pain meds.