Question for mamas who did not get an epidural during labor

I am currently 27+6 weeks pregnant with my first baby... I have done a lot of thinking throughout my pregnancy and I have decided I DO NOT want an epidural when I give birth... I feel as though child birth is natural and women have given birth for many many years without the pain medication... Anyways, I just want to hear some stories from people who did not receive an epidural and if it was as bad as people are making it out to seem....

Yes. The contractions were just as bad as they look, but the crowning and pushing out was not painful at all in my experience. I was ready for horrible pain when I was pushing, but it was just a feeling of relief actually.

Every woman and labor is different. With my second I told myself I didnt want the epi but I ended up getting it. I was having a hard and fast labor I went from nothing to contractions back to back and spiking off the paper in about 10 minutes. She also dropped from nothing to right there in an hour. I wouldn't rule out the idea but know your options and take a birthing class that focuses on natural birth.

Im not going to sugarcoat it. It does hurt but the main thing you have to concentrate on is your breathing bc if you tense up it hurts more. Have you thought about taking lamaze classes. They helped me alot.

It hurts. But I did all four of mine naturally. You just keep in mind it will end. Plus once you get to pushing it feels good. IDK Plus right after I was like omg I have NO pain.

I def think I will look into some type of class for natural birth.... and I figured it would hurt... I just wanted some opinions cause everyone I know has looked at me like I was crazy for not wanting an epidural....

It's intense, but you forget about it immediately. I truly said 'that wasn't that bad' after the birth of my first (completely intervention free). I am having another birth center birth this time.

My mom had all 3 of her kids naturally. She made it sound terrifying. I was dialated to at least 7 with all my kids before getting an epi and I didn't think it was THAT bad. Exhausting? Yes. I would have gone natural with my last but I had been in labor for 3 weeks and just didn't have it in me anymore at that point.

I knew I fI had a hospital birth my chances of getting one would be a lot greater. So I did a home birth.

It was worth every second of it.

I have a great recollection of my birth and it has boosted my self esteem tremendously.

I personally have had epidurals with all 3 kids but my SIL didn't. She is really tiny and she pushed out two 9lbers and a 10lber without any drug intervention whatsoever. I'm pretty sure she would do it again if she had another kid too.

That sounds like it was a looooong 3 weeks.... My mom had myself and my twin sisters without an epidural and she told me to just remember that our bodies where made to give birth... I am getting very anxious about labor and delivery since this is my first baby.....

If I we're you I would keep my mind open. I didn't want it with my first eithe but my first labor lasted 42 hours. By 30 hours I was only at 3 cm and i was so exhausted and tense from all the pain that I really NEEDED the relief of the epi to rest enough to be able to push, and my body needed to relax so it could progress. My hospital gives you a button to control how much medicine you're getting. I kept myself numb for a few hours so I could sleep then I let wear off enough so I knew when I needed to push and could feel what I was doing. It still took 3 1/2 hours of pushing and help from the vacuum to get him out but I don't think I could have done it without the rest the epi provided me.
With my second I went in with a very open mind, if I felt like I needed I was going to ask for it. Turns out I never felt like I needed it. My labor was 12 hours start to finish and YES IT WAS PAINFUL. It was barable right up until my water broke then it went from zero to hero. The contractions got 100x stronger and dilation picked up as well. For me pushing, crowning, and the ring of fire were the worst part. You can literally feel every cm that your vagina is opening, you can feel things getting ready to tear, you can feel the burning and stretching from front to back. It was incredibly painful. Thankfully, pushing was fast for me with my second, 18 minutes total and as soon as she was out all the pain disappeared and I felt perfectly fine.

I have now had two labor and deliveries with no medication.

The contractions are extremely painful.

My labor with Addison was just over 72 hours, with the first 65 hours being at home. She was born after 30 minutes of pushing, and was 9lbs, 21inches, with a 14 1/2 inch head. After they cut me a bit, her head popped right out.

My labor with Asher was about 6 hours, most at home, it was about 3am when we started calling someone to come stay with Addison since she was sleeping, by time we got ahold of my sister and got to the hospital, my body starting cleaning itself out, when I was done, I laid down to be checked at was at 8cm, he was born 30 minutes later. Asher was 8.4 with a 13 inch head, and I ripped just a tiny bit on the inside of my vagina with him.

After Addisons' hubby and I were so tired, and I ended up falling asleep about 10 minutes after she was born, but with Asher, it was alot less tiring.

For me focusing on my breathing also helped with contractions I was completely natural with my first dd. with dd2 I did recieve if pain med because the nurse freaked me out by rushing in and putting oxygen on me and not saying why of course I couldn't focus on breathing through them anymore.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Kayyjoo:</b>" I am currently 27+6 weeks pregnant with my first baby... I have done a lot of thinking throughout my ... [snip!] ... to hear some stories from people who did not receive an epidural and if it was as bad as people are making it out to seem...."</blockquote>




I have had 2 births no epi. Hurt like hell at 9 and 10 but that was only about 15min.. each delivery. . But the scary stories ive heard about side effects of epi even on BG made me tolerate it knowing I was doing the safest thing for my LO