Thinking of having an Epidural..

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

..Can you come and tell me your experiences of them please?
:)

[apple99]

I had an epidural when in labour with dd1. I had one because I was having all my contractions in my back and could barely stand through the pain. It was bliss once it kicked in. The only downside is it did slow things down so I had to go on a drip and ended up with a venthouse delivery but that could have happened anyway.

I know I would not have been able to cope without it and am sure it was the right choice for me at the time.

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thanks Apple :) glad to hear it worked well for you.

I have been absolutely fine up until now (21 weeks) and i think its just that the countdown is beginning and im terrfied!

What is a venthouse delivery if you dont mind me asking?

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thanks Shitmagnet (Love the name!)
So, do you still feel the contractions if you've had one then?

[KatyN]

I assume that was a typo and you meant ventouse...

basically it's when they stick a sucky cone thing to the baby's head and pull him out. he gets a bit of a cone head for a few days but I think it's gentler than forcepts.

That's my 'introduction to labour' definition.. there is probably a lot more to it!!

[apple99]

A venthouse delivery is when the baby gets stuck in the birth canal and they attach what I suppose is like a suction cup to it's head to help guide it out (sounds worse than it is).

You can have the epidural reduced for the pushing stage so you get some sensation to help with the pushing if you want, otherwise you can't feel a thing (which was the case for me).

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Oh i was quoting what Apple said i've never heard of it before.

I see what you mean though, thankyou for that :)

[apple99]

Yep that's what I meant, not a word I spell very often....

[BitzyVonMuffling]

You should keep your options open til you're actually in labour ime. With my first I needed one. I was induced and she was back to back. I think it did slow down labour, and I ended up pushing for over 2 hours. I think it slowed down my recovery too, it was very odd not to be able to get up and about. WIth my second, I really really wanted to try without one and the experience was great. I thought I might lose my resolve when labour actually kicked in, but the thought of an epidural never entered my mind, I was stood up and that made all the difference to being able to cope with the pain I think. Havign had both, I would say my non-epidural experience was better and I recovered faster. But there are no medals handed out afterwards. If you need one, ask for it as soon as you are sure as there is no guarantee you'll get it straight away. I had to wait 3 hours for the damn thing

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thanks Apple.
I suppose the question i really need to know then is, how sore is the actual injection??

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thankyou all for your replies. Its definately give me something to think about! .

I'm glad you cant feel the needle though, they look huge!!

[VelvetSnow]

I had an epidural.

I was scared of the injection - however I hardly felt it at all, just a wee prick and a little bit of pressure.

Once it kicked in it was great, it gave me a chance to get some sleep tbh.

I slept/rested/waited for approx 3 hours and then was told it was time to start pushing.

Initially, I did not feel contractions and I was amazed because they were almost off the chart

Although, I was a little worried towards pushing that I could feel something - not painful but just twinges, these were my contractions but very very dull.

The dull twinges helped me when I started pushing, because I knew when my contractions were - but dd was out in 15 minutes - she was coming out on her own!!! No stitches, no ventouse, no forceps....

I loved my experience, and glad I opted for the epidural, I would not have coped without it.

[apple99]

I didn't feel a thing, I think he sprayed the area with something first, perhaps to numb it.

[VelvetSnow]

In fact, the worst part was taking that bloody sticker thing they attached to your back to get the positioning correct off...like ripping off a big fuck off plaster

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

VelvetSnow i love your story!
Thats exactly how i want mine to go .

I do have 1 question.. i read somewhere that you have to wee through a catheter afterwards, is this true?

[Jojay]

I had one with Ds1 - it was bliss. I don't remember the needle going in - compared to contractions the pain was a drop in the ocean.

Once it was in, I had a sleep then woke up to push. Ended up with a forceps delivery though - who knows what would have happened without the epi, but I think instrumental deliveries are more common with an epi.

[VelvetSnow]

My comment above is misleading... "Initially, I did not feel contractions and I was amazed because they were almost off the chart"

What I meant to say is, I did not feel any contractions at all, until I started getting wee twinges towards the pushing stage....

[BitzyVonMuffling]

Not true at all, I had no catheter. I think that's the case if you have a C section.

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thanks for clearing that up for me BitzyVonMuffling.

[VelvetSnow]

yes, the midwife will probably empty your bladder using a catheter.

I did not feel this either.

[tinierclanger]

I had one, not by my own choice. On the positive side, I got some sleep. On the negative, the labour was long and I ended up with a ventouse delivery. I also had a problem with urinary retention (which they thought could be connected to the epidural) afterwards which ended up with me staying in hospital for 4 days.

I had a catheter in afterwards overnight btw. Perhaps it depends on the hospital/type of epidural?

[Lizcat]

After 24 hours in labour and nearly 12 hours on an oxytocin drip with contractions running into to each other I wept and cried and begged for an epidural. It was fantastic the pain was gone almost immediately. The epidural was turned down for me to feel the contractions to push, unfortunately they forgot to turn it up when they tried to turn DD. Eventually they converted to a spinal after that due to DDs mispresentation and the possiblity of a crash section, that is when they put in the urinary catheter.

[CharleneysWishWellingtons]

Thanks for sharing your story tinierclanger :)
I'm sorry you ended up having to stay in hospital, must have been awful :(