Epidural??

[Preggie_Sam]

Ok thank you to EVERYONE that filled me in on there pethadine storys....Im now kinda leaning towards an epidural ...sounds with the pethadine there is always a 50/50 that you are still going to get pain!! SO.. lol anyone thats had the epidural i have a few questions for u (wow this is better then my birthing classes) so.....(1) does both the needles hurt? (please be honest) and when its birth time do u feel any pain????

I want to no more about the needles tho as you all no im SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO scared of needles!!!

Im SUCH a wimp lol Thank you x x x x x x

[hau kola]

Needle didnt hurt as i said yesterday.I didnt feel much pain giving birth,it just feels like you`re doing the worlds biggest poo.The only pain i had was beening stitched up afterwards.

[Preggie_Sam]

why was you stitched up??? do you have to be when u have an epidural?? (im clueless) lol Im only 21 and dont no much about births lol

[Psychick]

lol next you will be asking for volunteers to give birth for you! lol

I had an epidural and did not feel a thing when it was being administered. However, they had trouble doing it and it took 7 attempts!! The anaesthetist kept apoligising for the pain....but I truely did not feel anything! Only the contractions that were coming every couple of minutes....which of course didnt help as he had to keep stopping each time a contraction came along and had to have another attempt before the next one!

If you choose to have one, dont have it too early as this can slow the labour down.........also bear in mind if you ask for too late they may have to say no if you are too close to actually giving birth.

I still felt pressue but definately no pain. And I was still able to know when I needed to push. The only real drawback is that I couldnt go home the same day simply because I had had an epidural.

This time round I am planning on a home birth so definately no epidural this time!

[Preggie_Sam]

lol lol lol thank you Psychick, how far gone are you?? If you want to come and push for me that would be great hahaha - i truely am so scared of the unknown. :(

[Psychick]

You are not stitched up from having the epidural.......as baby comes out you may tear a little, which is then stitched up. I was very lucky, although I had a tiny tear, the midwife said it wasnt worth stitching. I only had the tear because as my daughter came out, her hand suddenly popped out first!! This was because the cord was wrapped around her wrist and over her head, so as the cord got tightened, it pushed/pulled her hand out! lol

[PatriciaH]

Ist one i had was for a section, all went ok , the 2nd didnt work properly but i coped, even after a long labour, 18 hrs, youl be fine,you soon forget what went on , if you didnt women wouldnt go on to have 2,3,4 now would we , good luck in what you decide... i wouldnt have given birth without an epidural cos im a wimp regarding childbirth.. lol

[Psychick]

Im only 9 weeks gone....sooooooo long to go.........ummm.....no, I wont push for you! Sorry! lol
Trust me though.......the minute it is all over and done with and you have your little baby in your arms......you forget all about what have just been through :)

[Preggie_Sam]

Thanks Psychick, i have 13 weeks to go.... so just deciding on what to have, i think coz im soooooooooooo scared as i have now let the whole world haha i think the epidural is best for me!! I no i should think about holding my baby for the first time - but i really cant..i can only think about the birth. I no that makes me sound terrible - im just so so scared...my midwife recommend birth classes lol its 2morra night - and i have to watch my first birth, so im taking like everone with me to hold my hand (lmao) i sound so stupid - but im so scared lol

[Psychick]

lol no doubt nearer the time I will be bricking it too! By the time this one comes along it will have 7 years since I last went through it all so I feel like Im going through it for the first time!

I never went to birthing classes etc when my daughter was crowning and the midwife grabbed my hand and put it on the top of her head! I wasnt expecting her to do that and it freaked me out! lol

[Preggie_Sam]

Psychick do you have msn?? xxx

[aims1202]

Just a few words of advice, whatever pain relief you choose or don't choose it is still going to be painful even with them! If you are scared and really worried about the pain it is much more likely to be worse and a more painful experience.
If you are relaxed and except the pain, even when using pain relief, then it will be much easier to cope with. Asking others to describe how much it hurts probably wont help you much as it is such a different experience for everyone and we all feel different about pain. You might hear some stories that worry you even more!
I wish you the very best and hope your birth experience is a positive one.

[winny]

Honey you have to accept that there will be pain but there will also be a baby on the way. Please chill out and dont panic. Go with the flow. Have you no friends to chat to as birth stories can be funny as well as scary which is difficult to do on the computer. For example I asked the anethasist who he was cus he looked like he was fresh out of school!! Please dont have too many preconcieved ideas be open minded and see how it goes at the time. You may fly through and wonder what all the worry was about.

[Kaz081992]

I can honestly say that I had no intention of having an epidural as I was worried about the needle etc, but after being induced and the pain coming on very strongly I have to admit it got to a point where I was offering anyone who would listen a bottle of whiskey if they would just give me the epidural lol!!!!! I never even saw the needle and I only vaguely remember feeling a small prick as it went in and oh my god the relief when it took effect! I am so pleased I had it. As for when it was birth time, well after all that I had an emer C Section so they just topped up the epidural and away we went. Couldn't see a thing as they put a screen up and felt a bit of pressure on my tummy but no pain and no sensations.... and I would happily go through it all again for the end result is incredible.

[happyjo]

Hi
Try not to have too many expectations of how the birth will go. Everyone imagines a few pushes and groans before hand and hey presto... in reality .. this is not the case.

I had emergency section with my 1st. ( she weighed 10 pounds)

second was an elective section under a epidural... a complete dream.. no pain.. calm and lovley

third... nightmare..

but they were all amazing experiences. A new life and a complete joy.

If I were you.. get your fella to mark an 'X' on the lower part of your back....that way, the hospital will know your wishes.. ( JOKE)

PS
Every one to their own.. but.. Would you go to the dentist and .. if you needed a root filling or an extraction.. would you say.. " Please do not give me any pain relief... I want to do it naturally" ????

Jo x

[Goodsoulette]

I didnt have enough local anaesthetic when I had my epidural so the needle going in hurt like a b**ch. However, the actual epidural was excellent. I had full mobility still could move my legs but felt no pain. I only had one though cause I had been in labour for 27 hours and hadnt slept and was sooo tired.

You may find an epidural is unavailable to you as they need a midwife to stay with you all the time and an anaesthestist available to do it.

You may also find that you start with a tens, which is priceless if your contractions are predominantly in your back, then move on to gas and air, and pethidine and then an epidural. This is exactly what happened with my first.

My second though, I was super brave and went with gas and air only and was thoroughly traumatised buy the pain for many hours after lol

[pixiepie]

hi preggie sam
please dont be scared as i was 21 when i had my twins. My birth plan was about 3 pages long with what i wanted and at what time i wanted them lol. This all went to pot when my boys decided they were coming and arrived 3 hours later. I was given an injection of pethidene which was heaven. i went to sleep for 2 hours and woke when the urge to push came. Half hour later 2 beautiful boys were in my arms and my hubby couldnt believe i was pain free. with boy 3 i was offered epidural and said yes but needle man was in theatre and would be ages so just had gas and air. with my last (a girl ) i opted for pethidene but she was so quick it didnt kick in till last few minutes which was quite funny as i was trying to have a shower after id had her and felt like bambi. Only side effects from the pethidene was a sore leg from injection. You will know what is right for you. Good luck and keep us posted. gets me all broody coming on here but Mr Pixie says NO

[Katie~77]

My epidural didn't work and left me with horrendous backache to the point where I couldn't move and was crying with the pain! Wish I hadn't bothered.x

[Psychick]

Poor you Katie!

Have to say though............for some stupid reason they had my sister lying on her side when she had epidural administered so it only worked on one side!

Sam, yes I do have msn, if you dont mind posting your email address on here I'll add you

[Goodsoulette]

because then she can curl up and they can get the needle between the gaps. It extremely difficult to sit up and have curl over and stay put long enough between contractions to get the needle in. Its very common for an epidural to only help on one side.

Childbirth hurts. You certainly wont get an epidural before you are in established labour and if you think getting to three centimetres isnt going to hurt, well excuse me but bahahaha! Dont have a birth plan, other than to state things you really dont want to happen!! eg, I dont want pethidine as it will make my baby drowsy etc etc

[Preggie_Sam]

Psychick its [email protected]