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I plan on going natural. I do not want to be induced, nor do I want an epidural or any sort of pain killer. My biggest fear is having to get a C-section for some reason.
For those of you who did it natural, would you do it again? Was it as "bad" as you thought? I know it is horrendously painful, but I am just wondering if the ending experience made the pain worth it.
I think if it's your first child I woud say it probably will be long. The pissiest part about it all is the prolongation of it all. Maybe your water won't break on its own, mine didn't with my second and it just drug out!! I eventually got induced and still it was like omg what the heck. I had an epidural and couldn't feel to push, so the drs were getting a little anxious with me cuz it was hard to push.
My third I did have an epidural but she wanted to come and come fast! So epidural was a no go! She came pretty fast and yes it hurt a LOT when she was stuck there and they said okay now wait. That was the only moment I thought I would die! The blood vessels in my face broke from pushing. I say that if that was how my first was that I wouldn't have gotten pregnant again, but I say no matter how things pan out it is ALL worth every bit of anything you have to go through! I had a planned c-section with #1 and I woud never do that again. That was horrible!
You will know what choice to make while going through it. I did it and I was only 17 with my first. Good luck. I hope my jibberish helped a little.
I had nothing two times, so I say,yes...in a heartbeat I'd do it again. I was up and about and home in a day.
My mum went gas and air for me and my brothers, who are twins, even though they are fraternal and 57 minutes apart. But she does have a high pain threshold.
@Carolyn72: would you mind talking about what was horrible about the C-section? i have my own thoughts/fears about C-sections, but would like to hear your experience!
I went natural with my first two sons my third son i went natural up until 20 mins before ugggh i would not advise anyone to get an epi but that is your decision i wiish i had never done it i have back pain 7 yrs later. bedsides i loved how you felt everything without the drugs
I have not yet had children, but it is really important to me to go natural. My mom did with all three of us. If we have children, I will definitely be asking a lot of questions, so... just listening in. My reason is that I fundamentally believe the drugs can harm the baby. I hope no one jumps on me for that, just what I believe. I hope I can do it!
I had a natural birth at a hospital with a doula and my husband present. I would definitely do it again, but I would need my doula with me. She had some amazing techniquest that helped minimize the pain for me.
@cbee: i am one of five children, and my mom had the first four natural. with the first, she was in labor for 24 hours. with me, only 9 hours. with my younger sister, 6 hours, and with the fourth, only 3 hours!
she got an epidural with the youngest because they gave her pitocin, and she said that the pitocin made the contractions feel like nothing she had ever experienced in her life and she had to get an epidural. she regrets it now, because she has constant back pain from the epidural.
I went 17 hrs at home without any pain meds with DS and did just fine until I got to the hospital and they started pushing pitocin... and then the gosh darn nurse asked me 6 times (literally with every step she took to the door) if I was "sure" I didn't want anything.... I finally gave in just to get her off my back.
They gave me stadol until I was 8 cm... which I totally regret having ever gotten.. and then they prepped me for a c-section b/c DS didn't like the pitocin they had been giving me over the last 12 hours.
The thing about the stadol or any med they give you through the IV to dull the pain is that they cut you off when you're at 7-8 cm so baby isn't groggy. What I learned from this is going from dull contractions to intense 8cm contractions is NO fun, and I would've much rather worked up to them then going from one extreme to the other. As I've since said... you wouldn't go out and try and run a marathon without training first... all the shorter runs you go on lead up to that full intense 26 mile run.
I'm having a home-birth this time and would definitely advise to go totally natural if that's what you're hoping for.. Get a GOOD support system that can remind you of this when you go through transition and just stick with it. =)
@MissDareDevil: Wow. Thanks for sharing. It seems like back pain is a reccuring theme after epis. I have casual observed and heard that. Interesting. My mom had me and my sisters 100% natural, but I have a half sister ... who is half my age (different dad) and she was in breech, my mom was 42 at the time- so she had to have a C-section. I don't know too much about it other than she was really sick from whatever they gave her and she was barfing through the entire thing.
Going natural was the absolute, hands down, best experience of my life. I felt like if I could do that, I could do anything. I re-live it every day and look forward to doing it again.
I got pitocin with both of my labors I had a epidural with the first and pushed for almost 2 hours but didnt feel the pain. with the second I ended up with the highest amount of pitocin they can legaly give someone with a cracked rib and had no pain meds what so ever and I would never do that again the pain was so bad.
I know they say you forget about the pain after you hold the baby but I will never forget that pain I felt like my VaJayJay was on fire and while i only had to push for 5 minutes I would rather to the 2 hours with the epidural.
Not to scare anyone but I would never do that again if i had the choice.
I had an epidural with my first and it was horrible and I swore I would never do it again and with 3 more babies, I didn't. Recovery was sooooo much easier after my natural births.
I went natural with my first and had a pretty fast labor. Only 3-4 hours of painful contractions. 2 hours of the INTENSE. Had my labor been longer I don't know how I would have done - cause DAMN IT HURT.
What keeps me from wanting an epidural is 2 fears: 1. The chance that an epidural would slow labor and instigate additional intventions and lead to a c-section. (I really didn't want one of those if I could avoid it!) 2. The chance that something goes wrong and I end up with lifelong back pain.
I have the same game plan for any future births... though my husband jokes he won't be around if I go natural again :) I do feel that I'm better prepared for the next time and will hpoefully have more tactics to get through the contractions. I tend to focus on the pain rather than going to a 'happy place' :) If I can convince my husband to try a home birth I'd like to have a water birth.
i know LOTS of people that have wonderful births with epidurals with no extra issues and they makes me open to the idea... but my 2 fears win out. Or at least have so far. But I know I won't have such a stubborn attitude against them next time. If that makes sense.
@firsttimemom: stories like that make me want nothing more than to go natural. i get goosebumps just thinking about it!
@MissDareDevil: Oosition changes at optimal times, use of vocalizations and breath work, massage, along with coaching that helped me relax in between contractions.
When the PP's talked about back pain, was that like their moms having epidurals? Or have they changed, become better in recent times?
I like the idea of natural birth, but it scares the crap out of me.
Acutally FI and I won't be TTC for... at least 6 years, so I don't know why I am asking questions.. just curious haha
I didn't go natural with my daughter. But if I get pregnant again, I will try to go natural.
With my daughter, an epidural wasn't an option for me for health reasons, so we were trying like crazy to avoid a c-section, since that would have meant general anesthesia for me. My daughter was measuring big on ultrasound (9 lb), so my team was concerned about my ability to vaginally deliver a 9-lb baby. So, we induced a day after my due date. I had pitocin and stadol and my daughter ended up being 8.5 lb.
If I had to do it again, I would probably go without the stadol for as long as possible.
My advice? Get as much information as you can about all of the possible options: completely natural, minimal meds, full meds, and c-section. I never thought I'd be induced, so at the last minute I found myself scrambling for information. I always knew that I would want a healthy baby by no matter what means, and if that meant a c-section, then so be it. If you feel the same way, then the best way to get there is to educate yourself about all of your possible options so that you're truly prepared.
Best wishes!
@MissHighHeel: That's what I'm wondering too - I know when my mom had an epidural (30+ years ago), it was just a shot in the back. Now I'm pretty sure it's a catheter in the spinal column where the medication is adjusted as necessary.... I wonder if that makes a difference.
I love the idea of a natural birth but based on the cramps I've already experienced the first few weeks of this pregnancy, I am 100% committed to an epidural. But I give massive props to all of you who are able to do it au natural!
For those who said that they recovered much quicker from a natural birth, can you please elaborate on that a bit? I'm just curious as to how receiving an epidural (or other pain meds) affects your recovery after the fact. Thanks!
I went natural both times (well they did break my water but that was it). Would I do it again? Absolutely! Two minutes after having my youngest daughter I asked the doctor if we could do this again next week. It was super duper easy. He laughed. I am so looking forward to doing it again!
I will tell you this. The first baby is the worst because you are afraid. I was so tensed up and miserable because of all the horror stories people told me. The second one was a breeze. Make sure you walk til you are 8.5 cm. Do not let them strap you down. They didn't monitor me because I said if they messed with me I was leaving and doing this on my own. I meant it so they backed off. Keeping mobile is the key. That and avoiding that evil pitocin. I delivered a 9+lb baby naturally and she was born with her fist in her mouth, elbow out. If I can do that you should be fine! My youngest daughter I had no pain UNTIL I laid down. I was uncomfortable crampy periody feeling but nothing real bad until I laid down. So keep moving. Walk thru any pain. It really helps!
@secondchances:thank you! i am going tobe VERY adamant that i do not want any intervention unless the baby's health is at risk. i do not want pitocin, no matter how long i am pushing.i love your story...so encouraging!
@Ree723:i have had very bad cramps as well throughout my entire pregnancy. i havent gotten any answers as to what could be making them so severe. how far along are you?
I was very into natural wih my first baby. When I was 1 week past my due date, I was induced. I did no pain meds for 16 hours and I was still only a 4, and I went in as a 2! I got the epi because the Dr. thought it would help me relax a bit. It did give me a chance to sleep! I ended up with a c-section and it turns out he was slightly crooked, and the poor thing had ridges on his head from trying to get in the birth canal. C-sections have a hard recovery, and I would prefer natural, but I have 3 healthy babies, so I won't complain!
@MissDareDevil: Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that. I'm 7w 2d and they seem to be tapering off a bit now. The intensity has definitely decreased but the frequency seems to be increasing a bit - I'm really hoping that they're on their way out. You're about 12/13 weeks aren't you? I was hoping that they would go away for good but hearing that you're still experiencing them makes me a bit nervous. My doctor did tell me I have a tipped uterus and I've been trying to figure out if that has anything to do with it - so far, no answers. Fingers crossed yours go away really soon!
@Ree723:As far as recovering "quicker"I think it's more so because those of us who went medication free were less likely to have other interventions (c-section [obviously], vaccuum / forcept extraction, episiotomy, etc), therefore making the recovery "easy."
I had an epidural baby #1, no regrets I had a looong labor and I was grateful to be able to sleep for a few hours before pushing. I had a fast recovery too, so that was cool. But this time I want to go medication free, purely to see if I observe a difference in babies. We'll see!
I tried to go natural with my son lol. I had a doula and a midwife, but unfortunately my son pooped inside of me. After several hours of contractions I had only dialated 1cm so they sent in a surgeon and gave me no choice. I still remember crying and crying because it wasn't in my birth plan, but I didn't want my son to get sick either. The C-section went extremely well, and most importantly my son was born healthy and I was okay. It took me a couple days to recover.
The main thing that upsets me about my C-section was that while the nurse and my husband had my son I was still being sewn back up - they let everyone from our family hold him first.....they still shove it in my face today, but it is something that really really really upsets me - that was my bonding time, and they took it away.
We are thinking about having another in the next year or so and I am going to try natural again, although I was already told chances are I won't dialate again, but I am still going to try :)
@MissDareDevil: yes i did and i'd do it again!
i didn't have grand plans of going the natural route. i figured i'd go as far as i could make it without an epidural but take it if i needed one. my labor ended up going so quickly and i got to the hospital already 7 cms dilated, so I figured if I could make it that far without meds, I could go all the way. the pain wasn't that bad, to be honest. you know how when you're lifting weights or doing push ups, you have to push and grunt yourself though the final rep? well, that's what the contractions felt like to me. and contractions do only last for a minute or so and i felt totally fine in between. and because i didn't have an epidural, i was able to recover a little bit faster. so yes, i'm glad i went the natural route and i'd like to see if i could do it again.
I had a natural home waterbirth for my son and I will do it again. We had an amazing doula that made all the difference for me in getting through it. I will say that being at home helped me get through it med-free too...by about 18 hours of labor, I would have absolutely begged for something at the hospital, but at home it wasn't an option so it wasn't a temptation, and I'm glad.
I had a medication free birth (my only intervention was some castor oil to move things along), and I would definitely do it again. The hardest part for me was mental. The physical feelings were intense, but "vocalizing" (ie yelling and screaming) actually helped me feel better. If I ever do it again, I would try to have a doula there, it would have been great to have the extra support.
My mother had demoral with my sister and she said it was horrible, she would be feeling fine then BAM contraction. She said going natural was better because she got to ease into the contraction. Plus I think she was glad to be able to bond instead of being all groggy. Personally I'd rather do what my body is made for than have a needle in my spine then not be able to feel my legs. That sounds like my worst nightmare...
This is a wonderful thread, but a little intimidating! Thank you all for sharing, I definitely need to do my research to mentally prepare.
@Moja Milosc: She said going natural was better because she got to ease into the contraction.
THIS! I felt the exact same way about having been given stadol until I was 8 cm... I regretted not working up to the more intense contractions.
I went 10 days late and was induced with pitocin. Don't get me wrong I wanted her o-u-t OUT, but my contractions were ridiculously painful, and they came on quickly with an intensity I wasn't expecting. It was one right after another after another, I had no chance to regroup in between. This go around I am going to specify that I'd rather try other alternatives before going right to pitocin.
@KatyElle: my SIL who was just induced went through that... this was her 4th and she said it was by far the worst b/c of the way the contractions came on from the pitocin they were giving her... and they kept uping it b/c the doctor was leaving by a certain time so they were trying to make it go even faster. =/
I went natural with my DD and absoutely plan to for any future children. I will say that I sort of winged it with her, I knew I wanted to do all natural and managed but I will be preparing myself more for the next baby! I think doing massage, kegles, etc would have helped, so I plan to do those things and the Bradley way.
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