I have talked to countless friends about what they have chosen to do. Some have only had an epidural and would not have a baby any other way, some have gone natural and had an epidural and say that I should just go for it again. I am very confused and most of this is caused by guilt. I have always felt that if I didn't have a natural birth I was short-changing my baby. My biggest concern with an epidural is that the baby will be drugged and not breastfeed as easily. I also worry about slowing down labor too much.
I am honestly terrified about going natural again. I was so angry last time that I couldn't even be happy when they put Oliver on my chest and I don't want that feeling again. I would love to hear from some other women and what their choices have been. So what have you done? Epidural or no epidural and whatever your choice has been, what kind of side effects did you experience?
3 comments:
Ease up on yourself w/ that guilt.
I've had an epidural w/ both of my boys. For what it's worth, it never interfered w/ our breastfeeding. Aidan nursed for about a year successfully, and Brennan 22 months. I nursed mine exclusively, no pacifiers, etc.
I planned to go natural w/ Brennan, even had a doula, but then had kidney stones during his pregnancy. I was on pain pills for so long because of that, by labor, I figured "why not", I had already been on Vicodin, Percocet, and Demerol/ He nursed like a champ from the get-go, despite all that.
I say do what YOU feel will make it nest for you. There is no guilt in going natural and no guilt in having some relief. Especially if you had those feelings after Oliver was born.
Have you talked to your dr about this?
Prayers for you. Ease up on yourself, though. Nothing is set in stone and you don't HAVE to decide right now.
I had an epidural with all three of my babies, I don't have a high pain tolerance.... and I don't feel that if you choose natural, you will love your child any more or that you are cheating your child out of anything. Having an epidural doesn't necessarily slow your delivery, it didn't with any of mine, with Jace I had the epidural and within 45 minutes he was born - but I have fast deliveries. As for the nursing, I never had a problem with that either, with Jace I feed him right away, the nurse came in to tell me I need to try and nurse him and I already had.... what did she think I was, a newbie?? :)
Another to consider is that with an epidural and being a little bit easier on your body, you might not be so exhausted since you have 3 others to also care for. With the Jace I felt great and went home after 24 hours, I didn't want to stay in the hospital any longer than needed. I am with Sharon, you can't beat yourself up with this, make a list of all the wonderful things you do for your children, I can bet that it will be pages long. :)
ps I just got my photobook from Shutterfly and it is awesome, the pages are thick and picture quality is really nice.
Angela
I did my first 3 natural and the fourth and fifth with epidurals. I choose and epidural with Aidan b/c I was induced and my third left me with nightmares after her delivery. So, in order to maintain some composure and keep labor under control I chose drugs. I also used one with Peter but it did not really work all that well but at least I was pain free for an hour, labor was only 3 hours total from start of one contraction to delivery. So, pick what you want and feel good about it. Lena
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