Giving birth is a natural and beautiful experience, but every journey to motherhood is unique. For some, choosing to have an epidural is a personal choice that can provide comfort during labor and delivery. In this blog, I want to share my story of why I decided to have an epidural over a natural birth and the reasons why it was the best decision for me and my baby.
Years before I even became pregnant, it was my plan to have a natural birth if I was blessed to carry a child but once it was a reality it became so difficult to make the right decision. The one thing I did know was that I was deathly afraid of needles, even though my tattoo is the entire size of my thigh, and it was no way they were sticking that huge thing in my back. As my pregnancy began to progress, I started coming to the realization that I indeed would be pushing a small human out of my vagina and the pain that may follow could potentially ruin my experience of a peaceful and enjoyable birth. With that in mind I began to really research side effects, pros, and cons of getting an epidural. Click here to read the pros and cons.
Finally, we were at my induction day and I made the decision that I would not be getting an epidural but if I am in too much pain or something is happening, I would not feel guilty for doing so. Once the induction began, around 10PM, I was doing really good with my pain tolerance. My boyfriend and I was playing UNO, watching movies, making jokes, and facetiming our moms to distract me. I will say the most uncomfortable thing about that entire process was using the bathroom with the Folley ball inserted. I dilated to about 4cm-5cm before they took the Folley ball out and this is when the pain intensified to the point I could not sleep. So, from 10PM to 4:30AM I was just up looking at my boyfriend sleep and darkness(I couldn’t stand any light or tv). I also hadn’t ate since lunch time the previous day so I was starving and started to worry I would not have strength to bring my son into this world. At this point I made the decision to get an epidural. I NEEDED SLEEP!!!
The nurses will be sure to stress to you that when you feel an epidural is needed to let them know, ASAP. They say this because the anesthesiologist may have multiple patients before you and if you have dilated too far – They will not administer it to you. My nurse was so awesome and her awesome relationship with the anesthesiologist worked out in my favor. He was down in my room within 30 minutes. Let me tell you, it is so hard to sit still and in the right position while having contractions. They allowed my boyfriend to stay in the room but he was not allowed to be near me during the process so, he was on the other side of the room. The anesthesiologist was great – He talked me through every step and assured me that if something felt off to speak up so he can make sure it works properly.
DO NOT BELIEVE ALL THE BAD THINGS YOU READ!! I read that the numbing needle was going to burn like hell, that I would feel it going into my back, and that the epidural needle would be miles long (LOL). That did not apply to MY process. It was honestly pretty simple. Once he gave me the numbing medicine everything was quick and painless. The only uncomfortable feeling was after the catheter was in my back and he started sending the actual medicine through. I could feel this really cold feeling in my hips but it only lasted a few seconds. After that my legs got heavy and it was over. The nurse then had me lay flat to make sure the medicine spread evenly in my body. After about an hour I was comfortable and able to relax. I literally, only slept a few hours because by that point the sun was coming up and nurses were in periodically.
One of the downs of an epidural that isn’t talked about much is the affect it can have on you and the baby. At one point maybe 2 1/2 hours after I got the epidural, about 15 nurses rushed into the room and started asking me if I was okay and moving me into different positions. Apparently, the epidural made my levels go down, extremely low. They thought my body was going to go into shock. As they were moving, so fast, we were trying to be sure to get the names of the medicines they were giving me and asking if this is a must have. The medicine worked within 10 minutes – All my vitals went back to normal – and they all left the room together without saying anything, lol! Thank god, my son was not affected at all and his heart rate stayed the same throughout the entire thing. Also, for them to tell me my levels were so low – I did not feel bad which they were shocked. I should have felt on the verge of passing out, but I was just so high on the medicine they gave me, lol! Also, be prepared to have the shakes. My mom literally thought something was wrong because I was shaking so bad that my teeth were chattering, lol. You literally cannot control it.
As time went on and it was getting closer and closer to me having to push, my epidural stopped working on my left side and by this time my contractions were literally 1 minute or less apart. Talk about mad, lol. They gave me more meds through the catheter but it wasn’t working, and I had to go through the remainder of that experience with one side of my body being on fire.
All in all – I am 100% happy that I got the epidural and do not regret anything. We have to stop worrying about looking a certain way and do what is best for ourselves and baby. I wholeheartedly believe that I could have delivered him without the pain medicine but I am so glad I got to enjoy the process and watch him be born without being so anxious for him to just get out.
WTF MOM 