Thoughts on epidural?

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Pregnant with my first.. my ideal birth is water birth with only gas and air. (I know I'll need to come out of the pool if I decide to have one)

Is it totally unrealistic to think I won't need an epidural? I'm not completely against the idea but would love to just be able to get through on gas and air! What's everybody's experiences with epidurals?

Depends on a million things. Mine got stuck so had no choice. Just keep an open mind about... everything 😂

My first birth was managed with gas and air and water. I feel really positive about my birth experience - I've never run a marathon, but I think it matches the descriptions I have heard from others about the experience. It was hard in places but I felt such a sense of achievement. Birth is a big experience - your body is doing something completely new. For me, knowledge was power! Understanding what was happening helped so much. I went to NCT as well as my local NHS classes and I also really enjoyed pregnancy yoga - time to practice different positions and imagine what it might be like helped me feel so much more prepared and calm during labour. I'm 29 weeks pregnant with my second now and I feel really positive looking forward to my second birth and I'm enjoying being back at pregnancy yoga.

Giving birth is nothing like running a marathon

i had a completely 'natural' deliver first time. i didn't even use the gas and air as it wasn't doing anything except making my face numb. now listen, it was bloody murder, and i did ask for drugs at points but it was all quite chaotic and i never got any/i don't think i was committed enough to the intervention route so they sort of let it slide?!. but now? i can barely remember, honestly, it's ancient history. I'm about to have another and am hoping as i've done it once i'll be able to do it again. but I'm not putting any pressure on it or really even thinking about it. keep your ideas and desires loose. you can definitely survive a normal delivery without pain relief or mental scars.