confused about pain relief

[lostinegypt]

Hi,
I am confused over what pain relief I want for my second child. I can only really have gas and air or an epidural I think due to a health problem that doesn't allow me to have pethidine.

With my first baby I tried gas and air but only had a few sucks and gave it back to the midwife as it made me feel sick.

My consultant had recommended having an epidural because of my health problems and on my records it says I had a single bolus epidural.

I had the epidural put in but it wasn't connected to anything as the anesthetist said he had to go and get something else as the thing he had wasn't working. By the time he came back I was pushing.

I felt everything and walked back to the labour ward.

So does this mean I has a little bit of an epidural or what? I'm sorry if this sounds stupid but I don't really understand it.

I really don't want an epidural again as I hated them putting it in. I also didn't like the gas and air but don't know if I can do it without anything!

Not sure what to do.

Thanks in advance for your help :)

[countingtotwenty]

Would a water birth be an option? Being in the pool would provide some pain relief - it is limited but maybe better than nothing if you don't like the other options.

[geekaMaxima]

My first couple of puffs of g&a made me gag - it was horrible. Then I tried breathing out through my mouth (rather than my nose as the midwife instructed) and hey presto! No nausea and g&a became my new favourite thing. I kept the mouthpiece clenched between my teeth when breathing out.

ITurns out breathing out through your nose exposes you to the full smell of the gas - it's not completely odourless - so if that's what triggered your sick feeling, it can be avoided. HTH

[VisualiseAHorse]

Maybe labour just wasn't that painful for you, and you don't actually need any pain relief?

[purplemurple1]

Sounds like you had the same as me - it was called a mobile epidural but isn't available widely in the UK. I could walk around, felt when to push (have birth stood up) I also had some gas and air but it made me feel sick.

I felt lots but did feel an initial drop in pain when it went in so it did something.

[lostinegypt]

thanks for the replies. I can't have a water birth due to health problems.
The epidural was meant to be attached to a drip but something was wrong with the drip and by the time the anesthetist came back I was pushing.

Maybe I could try nothing and then give gas and air another go if needed.

[SockQueen]

Sounds like they put the epidural in and gave the first dose but didn't have time for any more (and possibly not even time for the first dose to work if things happened that quickly!)

Nobody's going to force you to have anything you don't want. You can always just see how it goes, try G&A again, and if things get really bad and you aren't progressing fast, ask for another epidural then. Your plan doesn't have to be set in stone beforehand.