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Thank you all for your responses. I am planning on getting one! Did any of you get sick from the Epidural?

Hi.My baby girl is 6 wks old and I had an epidural with her even though I said I wouldn't.I have a 10 yr old and 12 yr old and I had them both natural with no pain relief so I thought I would do it with her, but the contractions were so intense and being sent home from the hosp.at the peak of my contractions b/c they said I wasn't in labor, then going to the dr.then back to the hosp all while still having these painful contractions didn't help at all b/c I had no energy left.I am glad that I decided to get the epi.It really wasn't that bad.I didn't feel any pain while pushing only pressure and my legs were not completely numb,I still had a little feeling.The only thing is after I got the epi,I started itching like crazy,the nurse said it was the meds from the catheter that they put in your back.It went away though some time after I was moved into my room.Also now,I sometimes feel this dull ache in the area where I got the epi.Other than that,everything went fine.Btw,I had pitocin after I was already dilated about 4-5 cm so I only pushed for about 15 minutes and Heaven was born.Good Luck.

I have had 2 children and am expecting my 3rd in a few weeks, and I would definitely reccommend the epidural. I couldn't feel any of the contractions, but I still could feel when to push. It made the experience so much better. P.S. My husband says "get it... I was there, get it!

I have had 36 hours of false labour now(contractions at their peak were three times every 10 minutes and incredibly painful yet still no dilation whatsoever!) and am being induced tonight at 41 weeks and 4 days. Throughout this pregnancy I have said I wouldn't have the epidural and I read a lovely book about drug free natural active childbirth that did make it sound fantastic, but having had this experience over the last few days and knowing that induction will make things even more intense, I am definitely having the epidural now!!!

the best thing ever! i will definately get it again next time. fell asleep, woke up at 6am and midwife said i was fully dialated so she turned it off so i knew when to push then about 12ish the doctor told me i was not fully dialated. i was screaming for them to turn it back on that whole time then when they finally did the doc had to cut me and use forcepts cos i was way too tired to push. that was 8 days ago : ) i hardly felt the needle.

OK. I know I will get yellled at, but I feel like I need to say something here. jmarshall69_87, I would hardly call an episiotomy and forcept delivery the best thing ever. And annie4444, I am sorry that things got so tough for you. But under normal circ_mstances a drug free birth is amazing. I pushed my son out in seven minutes because I was in complete control of my body and got three tiny st_tches b/c luckily the doctor just let me tear. I am not saying that a natural birth is right in every situation (induced labor is much more painful), but it is something to consider. With natural birth labor often progresses quicker. I am fully aware that everyone has a completely different pain level and tolerance. For me labor wasn't like someone was cutting my arm off or something. It hurt, but if was very manageable using relaxation (Bradley method). I felt 100% better during and after than my friends who got epidurals and had to push for hours. rosaki, its funny that you mentioned your husband. Because mine is now a HUGE supported of natural birth even though he thought I'm crazy at first. OK. I'm done now :) Hope no body gets offended.

COMPLETELY worth it! I had one, but my baby was so big (9lbs 4 oz) the epidural wasnt giving me the sensation to push, so i had to have it off for the pushing stage, and id do it again, i had 18hours of pain free labor! Fallowed by 2 painful hours of pushing!

I had it with my first baby in my 20th hour of labor (my only labor- other two were scheduled c-sections) and it was SOOOO worth it. I later found out that I have scarring of the cervix and can't dilate, but didn't know it at the time. So, there I was thinking I was having a normal labor, but in reality a v____al birth was never going to happen... so I'm glad I didn't sit around in pain any longer (I had for long enough already!). I was indescribably exhausted already, so I guess it saved what little energy I had left, not having to feel the pain, because I needed it to heal from my eventual c-section. I didn't have any complications from the epi and once I had it, I felt nothing... AHHHH!

the only reason i had to be cut and use forcepts is beacuse the midwife stuffed up. she had turned the epi off so i knew when to push but i wasn't even fully dialated yet, i had to go through all that un-necesary pain and when i fianlly got the epi turned back on it was the best thing ever. i know im not that great at explaining things that well. plus my baby was posterior so there was even more pain.

I loved the epidural!! I wasn't progressing very fast, decieded to get it at 2 cm (which I had been all day) and poof, 2 hours later 9cm....3 hours after that I was pushing, 20 mintues later beautiful baby girl! (and no pain until after!) The only thing was I lost control of my bladder function,and they had to reisert a catheter ehich was quite painful. But the next day I was back to normal, and they sent me home! i wouldn't hesitate to do it again!! Good Luck!

Great experience! Even if you are numb in your pelvic area, you still find a way to know how to push the baby out. I could feel the contractions in my uterus (barely) and knew when to push. You just work with your body and grab hold of your legs and push the baby out w/ each forward thrust. And they gave me mine after they broke my water and kept administering it even when I was at 9 cm.

I will never again have an epidural. With my daughter, it only took on one side, but the anesthesiologist didn't believe me that I could still feel everything on half my body, and that I could still use my legs, etc. So I wasn't allowed to get up and walk around, I had to labor on my back. Guess what happened next...baby got stuck, and I had to have a c-section. No way in hell am I doing that again. The contractions I felt were nothing compared to the weeks of recovering from the c-section. Not worth the risk, IMO.

hi, i loved my epidural.i found it slowed things down though.i was in labour for about 16 hours before i had it (4 & half cm) & then it was still another 15 hours till i gave birth,with 2 & a half hours pushing.But for me the epidural was great.i was determend not to have drugs but with all that pain i couldn't take it.i'm not very tough though.

EPIDURAL GOOD. It was amazing. It took the pain away, without numbing any of the experience. I could feel the pressure when I needed to push and I was completely coherent and could follow instructions to do exactly what I needed to do....without the desperation of getting the baby out. I would recommend it to ANYONE. The only pain I felt was when my son came out his shoulder caught, and I yelped--but it was so quick. It didn't hurt when they put it in, because they did it right when I was having a contraction.

oh I just read the post again, and should add that I had the epidural pretty late. I recall the nurse saying "Are you sure you want it? You're almost there--you're almost 8 cm". That might have been part of the reason why it didn't hurt at all to put it in, and/or the rest of the experience being so smooth ie. not slowing anything down, being able to feel the pressure..etc.

My epidrual experience was GREAT! All I felt was the numbing shot and that was NOTHING... and the epidural worked great, I felt no pain even during the pushing part...it was AMAZING! I could still move my legs even when I did have it, but I know that's not usual. It wore off after I had her and everything was fine. I did throw up, but I'm not sure if it was from the epidural or the demerol I had before the epidural. I would definitely recommend it, I know it doesn't work the same for everyone but I would at least give it a try!