Due December 2012! Christmas Babies!

[sweetsister]

Pearl im also really tired all the time this pregnancy,i guess because im older too doesnt help
Its funny you all who had the epi want to try without,and now ive never had even gas/air,we dont have it here,and im starting to chicken out and want to do the epi after hearing all your easy labor stories Im getting too old for this now perhaps..im considering it anyways,i guess i have a while to decide.

[auroara78]

love the belly pic needagirl, you look AMAZING!! I was heavy to begin with, so in all my pics I just look chunky and not cute and preggo!

[NeedAGirl!]

I guess for me it is not so much the epidural itself but rather the cascade of necessary things that have to/usually happen after the epidural that I don't like. You cant move much - which does not at all help a baby who might not be in a good position and can slow labor, you almost always have to be given pitocin - which can stress baby and cause heart rate decelerations, you have to be on the continuous monitor - which can be wrong and has been shown to increase the risk of c/s, the epidural itself can give you a fever - which usually means antibiotics that can lead to thrush, yeast infections and nursing problems, if you get a fever your baby is likely to be given antibiotics and be monitored in the NICU just to be sure she is not infected, you have to have a catheter - again risk of bladder infection, antibiotics, etc. I have seen those women who the epidural can be a Godsend - those who are really tense, not dilating well and are exhausted but I really do believe that our bodies were made for having babies. The simple fact that we are on this planet means our moms, our grandmas, our greats and so on were really good at having babies!!

[dloui128]

I'm not positive what I will do about the epidural, I think if I get to a point were I can't handle it then I will get it and if I can deal through the pain then I won't

[Yuzu]

When it comes to epidurals, I'm all for a woman's choice. If you want one that's okay; if you don't, that's okay too. The problems come when someone else pressures you to do one or the other. I saw an episode of 'A Baby Story' in which the woman really wanted some pain relief (her first baby and she didn't anticipate how badly it would hurt) and her husband was really giving her a hard time about it. Like, yelling at her. And she was crying and saying, "Please somebody help me." It broke my heart. She finally got her epidural, but her husband called her a quitter. I wished for a moment I had been her, because I would have popped him one in the mouth. Seriously.

[dloui128]

When it comes to epidurals, I'm all for a woman's choice. If you want one that's okay; if you don't, that's okay too. The problems come when someone else pressures you to do one or the other. I saw an episode of 'A Baby Story' in which the woman really wanted some pain relief (her first baby and she didn't anticipate how badly it would hurt) and her husband was really giving her a hard time about it. Like, yelling at her. And she was crying and saying, "Please somebody help me." It broke my heart. She finally got her epidural, but her husband called her a quitter. I wished for a moment I had been her, because I would have popped him one in the mouth. Seriously.

OMG if my husband ever did that he would of found my fist in his face

[fivebabies]

Whoa, most of those complications from an epidural rarely happen. lol. But I am all for the mom chosing whatever feels right for her. I liked it both ways. Deliveries are all so different each and everytime. No one knows what is going to happen.

If men carried the babies, every family would only have one kid!

[Butterfly Spirit]

Can someone please tell me what happends after an epidural??????? I had a natural birth first time ( just gas ) it was 7 hrs but it was soooooooo painful!!! I am actually having major anxiety over labour and my ob has told me she wants me to have an epi straight away which I was happy with but whats the go after labour??? FREAKING OUT AGAIN!!!!!

It was my choice right from the start of DS#1! I was having contractions that kept getting worse and I just decided that I didn't need to prove anything to anyone! So I was done. Once they got that epidural in I was absolutely on cloud 9!!! Numb from the waist down feeling SO happy and relaxed.. and they put a catheter in because that is just what they do, but the luxury is you don't have to get up and pee! They put an oxygen mask on me to make sure I was breathing alright and that was fine. The only thing the epidural gives me each time is the chills but they always let DH hop in bed and warm me up until I stop shaking..LOL. Other than that it's fine, and it's the only way I will ever go!.. It was still A LOT of work to push out DS#1..and hour and a half of straight pushing.. I can't imagine if I would have had horrible contractions to go along with his birth. I do remember that after I pushed DS#1 out my breasts were itching pretty badly.. now I don't know if that was from the epidural or just my body pushing me to nurse immediately.
With DS#2 I was dialated to a 4 when I arrived at the hospital so they broke my water and then very soon in went the epidural. DS#2 labor was harder to deal with because I had Strep B and my labor stopped so they had to give me the devil drug pitosin..and they gave me 2 bags of Pit after my LABOR and delivery with DS#2 I will NEVER take that drug again. It's funny, they give it to you so you don't hemmorhage.. but I bled many weeks after DS#2
DS#1 no pitosin.. stopped bleeding in like 2 weeks! Oh well..

It's every woman's choice. But my choice will always be the epidural! LOL

[pinkin2011]

My ob said because I had a straight forward labour and it was pretty quick that I should be ok to have an epidural. It took me 1 hr and 15mins to push my ds out and I only had gas! Its just my pregnancy is going so so fast and I am staring to freak out a bit.. I will get the epidural because I need to experience it for myself and everyones reactions are different. When it actually comes to pushing can you feel anything down there??

[dloui128]

My ob said because I had a straight forward labour and it was pretty quick that I should be ok to have an epidural. It took me 1 hr and 15mins to push my ds out and I only had gas! Its just my pregnancy is going so so fast and I am staring to freak out a bit.. I will get the epidural because I need to experience it for myself and everyones reactions are different. When it actually comes to pushing can you feel anything down there??

I don't think you should worry about getting the epidural, if you want it you should go for it, as for me when I was pushing I didn't feel anything when I had the epidural