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well with my daughter, my first, i wanted to go natural but it didn;t work out. let see from start of labor in till she came out was 22 hours long. i went two about 6 or so when they gave me pitocin and it sucked and hurt. then i got stuck at 9cm and couldn't relax so the doctor made the disction to get the eprural done at 9 cm. so i couldn;t feel anything for the pushing

Do you know how dialated you need to be before they give you epidural?

The birth of my 1st... My forewaters broke at 10.30pm Friday so we went to the hospital and waited for 4 hrs for a bed. Tried to get some sleep while hubby went home to sleep after being awake since 1am. Lunch time the next day and still nothing happening. Dr said I would be induced on sunday morning (my birthday) if nothing happened. At 1.05pm still nothing. I waddled off to the toilet and when I sat down I had an almighty cramp across my stomach. I remember thinking that if this is the start of labour... give me a ceasar right now!!! I buzzed for the midwife to come and she examined me and said 'your fully dialated' just as my hindwaters burst. I tried to waddle to the labour ward but they put me in a wheel chair as I only made it about 5 steps. Mum called hubby on the mobile, lucky we lived only a few blocks away. He arrived just to see our daughter being born at 1.27pm. 22 minutes from the first pain!!!

You have to be at least 4 cm dilated before you get the epidural. I'm 35 weeks and 3.5 cm dilated right now. Can't do anything until I hit the 4 and then gotta hope labor isn't fast because it takes a bit to kick in. If this is your first, you probably won't have to worry about that, but since it's my 4th, I do...lol. Hope everything goes well for you!

i was 9cm when i got the epidural

I just had my first baby on March 9. I had to be induced and I was in labor for 21 hours. I was able to get my epidural as soon as I wanted it but my doctor said that she likes to wait until you are atleast 3 cm. I felt my contractions for probably 2 hours because I wanted to see how long I could hold off. When I was 4 cm I asked for it and got it right away. When I finally got to 10 and started pushing I pushed for 4 hours and nothing was happening. My doctor then tried to use a vacuum to get him out and that would not work. His head was stuck under my pelvic bone and they had to call in another dr. and he had to use forceps to get him out. Although my mom and fiance think that it was awful I did not think that it was that bad. I did not feel anything and I will gladly have more children. It is the best thing in the entire world! The epidural works wonderful. hopefully you have better luck than I did though!

Hello I have just had my first little girl, and I asked the same questions when I was pregnant, but no one could tell me, its a pain that you just cannot explain. They only way I can explain it, is, its like you have been winded but you can breath, there isnt the loss of breath. I am a big baby so I couldnt stand the pain and was making quite a fuss at 2 cm, so they gave me the epidural then, however it may be different for other people as I had a bacteria infection, GBS, and had to stay in as soon as I went into labour so I could have antibotics, I think they send normal people home until they are more dilated, have the epidual tho, its fab, its a really nice, calm, chilled atmosphere and I think its rubbed off on my daughter as she is so chilled. She wasnt brought into the world hearing me scream and stressed out etc. good luck, its a fab experiance, I wish I could have it all back again. It was the best day of my life, enjoy every moment

I think most doctors and hospitals want to wait until your 3 or 4 cm. I was told on my tour of the hospital that as soon as im in labor and committed to staying they will give the epi. but it can slow down labor so really early isn't always a good thing.

I had my first baby last November and all I had for the pain was gas and a little Fentanyl in my IV. All that did was relax me for 15 minutes or so. The gas was my bestfriend. I could still feel the pain but my mind was somewhere else. It definitely made it more bearable and time went faster. I went into labor at 2 am. I tried going back to sleep because I thought it was just early pains. It wasn't! Dh got me to the hospital at 6am and by 8am my doctor checked me. I was in horrible pain then and she declared me at 5-6 cm. From then on I clung to that gas mask and didn't let go of it until my last st_tch was finished. So really I was in bad labor from 8am-12 noon when I was fully dilated. Noah was born after an hour of pushing. It was the greatest most empowering day of my life and I can't imagine feeling as much joy as I did that day. I can't wait to do it again and I plan on just using gas, no epidural for me. I think the needle scares me more than the contractions!

I was only 2 cm dialated when I got the epidural. I had been in labour for 14 1/2 hours and nothing was happening (after 3 hours of Pitocin). Once I got the epidural, 2 hours later I was 9cm and 4 hours after that I had my little one. You heal much faster if you do it naturally, but I would not hesitate to get the epidural again....made my experience (and my hubby's) much better. jmo!!