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I got an epidural at 7 cm, even though I was initially very opposed. At that point I had been in labor for 3 days. We had finally started pitocin to get my contractions closer together b/c they were still too far apart. I was exhausted, experiencing the horror of pitocin contractions, and the final straw was the doctor telling me that it would be *at least* another 2 hours until it was time to push. At that point I agreed to an epidural.

I got my epidural (which by the way was amazing, and only took away the painful parts of the labor sensations). 30 minutes later I was pushing the baby out. If I had known I would progress from 7 to 10 cm so quickly I would not have asked for the epidural, but that is just how the cookie crumbles. I am still hoping to have my fully natural birth experience next time around.

I did pretty good until I had some things happen that discouraged me.

1. I got checked at 7cm & felt I should've been farther along (I won't have cv checks after 5/6 cm next time).
2. I had an anterior lip at 9.5cm

When I was told my cervix was swollen I pretty much asked to be transferred (homebirth). The only time I asked for anything was upon arrival to the hospital bc I was an automatic repeat cesarean.... I told them "I don't need to feel these anymore, give me something for pain". Otherwise this birth went as planned.... Only intervention I received was getting an IV & fetal monitoring upon arrival & pitocin after birth ONLY because I wasn't able to immediately bf (P had a temp) & I had a very tired uterus (loooong labor).

ETA: My first was a planned unmedicated hospital birth that ended in "emergency" cesarean after lots of interventions (pretty much all unnecessary). My first experience is why I went a completely different route for my second.

@JoJoGirl: I did! It was pretty intense but I am really happy with my decision. Luckily my labor was relatively short (I guess? It was like 6 hours before I pushed) so that helped. If it had gone on much longer, who knows!

I voted other.

I went into labour naturally then failed to progress beyond 5cm after twelve hours so my labour was augmented with Syntocinin (pitocin equivalent). I had an epidural to cope with contractions and help me get some rest and I had several doses of antibiotics as my waters had broken about five hours before I went into established labour.

When it came to delivery, Baby wasn't quite in the right position so I was given an episiotomy and she was delivered by ventouse after two hours of pushing.

Although we were aiming for unmedicated, I'm ok with how it all turned out as I know my midwife wouldn't have suggested or administered the interventions if they weren't necessary and my recovery was excellent

I planned for natural by hiring a doula and followed her advice about having the "I can do this" mind set. Baring any emergencies, it's mind over matter and you CAN do it because so many women have done it before us without drugs. Try to remain calm, confident, and focused! Doing those things really helped me, but having my doula cheerleader was also essential in not asking for the drugs.

I wanted natural and ended up with a failed epidural, induction, spinal block, episiotomy and forceps.

Hey, at least I got to deliver vaginally.

I planned for natural, but requested an epidural around 5cm. I wasn't progressing and LO was posterior so I was having such intense back labor that I was screaming and throwing up. When the nurse checked me after a while and I was still 5cm, I decided to get it (I'd also been laboring over 24 hours at that point). I think being able to sleep and relax helped a lot- I quickly progressed to 8cm. I later ended up needing a c-section because I had a cervical lip at 9.5cm which I couldn't push past. My doctors and nurse were very supportive and gave me plenty of time and help, but in the end I couldn't do it- my cervix became more swollen and I needed the c-section.

I ended up almost 48 hours after my water broke getting Pit to keep my contractions regular but coped without any pain meds as planned. It is possible to labour through synthetic contractions without pain meds, my doula was a big help with that.

I had to be induced due to low fluid and baby distress at 41 weeks. My daughter was very not ready to be born, though, and suffered some complications from my difficult induction. I had an epidural after a while because of all the interventions they wanted to do. I managed to deliver vaginally, which was about the only good part of it.

I will certainly be attempting a natural birth again. Hopefully next time I'll go into labor earlier.

After 3 failed epidurals and a 24 hour labor with my first (despite going into labor on my own and being on pitocin the whole time) I approached my second birth with a different mindset... I knew I'd be induced at 39 weeks due to GD, so I planned on going as far as I could before asking for an epidural since I knew it would give me pain relief for at least a few hours before it failed again, and hopefully I could deliver in that time. I got to 6 cm on pitocin contractions (and after they broke my water), then got the epidural (which turned into a spinal), and an hour later I pushed my baby out completely pain-free.