would you do it again?
I had a medfree labor/delivery and my pp recovery was/is amazing! For that reason I'd want to do it again if we had a third.
However, the intense pain (albeit a short amount of time)... makes me cringe at the thought of another medfree labor/delivery... though labor/delivery with DS1 was painful for me too (with an epi).
If you had a medfree l&d, did/do you want to do it again?
36 votes
pomelo / 5607 posts
I'm not sure what to vote since we're one and done, but I would go med-free if that were to somehow change (though with out history that 100% won't change).
apricot / 422 posts
The worst thing was I thought my labor would be like my mom's first labor (20+hours). So I thought the pain was going to last all night long (went to the hospital at 2pm) but he was born just before 6p!
Knowing that second labors are usually faster, I'll probably do it Med free again. However, even now I don't think it would have been a big deal to have meds.
I definitely WILL get the lidocaine shots for stitching up next time. I was an idiot for turning those down. I don't know what I was thinking.
eggplant / 11716 posts
I'm not having more kids, and I didn't have a med free birth by choice (there just wasn't time for an epi) AND I had a great epi experience the first time...so I would probably preferto have an epi if I were doing it again.
nectarine / 2086 posts
Part of me is curious what the epidural experience would be. But yes I think I would end up doing it naturally again. I wanted a natural birth and was successful and I keep thinking "Hey this didn't kill me, it hurt but obviously I made it through, so why wouldn't I do it again?" Plus the biggest reason I chose natural was to avoid the epidural/pitocin/cesarean spiral, and I would still want to try to avoid that next time too. Also my recovery was a breeze!
pineapple / 12053 posts
I've done it twice now. I've been lucky to have pretty straight forward l&d experiences, but that being said, DD2's l&d was only 4 hours start to finish and it was crazy. There was no time to get an epi, but if I felt that pain for more than a couple hours, I would have folded so fast! For our next, I just hope I have enough time to get to the hospital.
pear / 1737 posts
I did it without drugs, but after pushing for two hours I ended up with a c-section which they gave me a spinal for...so I guess in the end I had drugs and didn't go med-free? I was induced too at 42 weeks and there were some periods where the contractions were intense and they had to turn down the hormone drip a bit. I hope next time to not need to be induced and have a vbac without any pain meds again. I remember wanting something when I was at about a 7, but now I barely remember having any pain.
clementine / 756 posts
We're probably one and done, but I've thought about it. Labor wasn't too bad but pushing was excrutiatingly painful for three hours and at that point I couldn't get the epidural. So, yeah, I wouldn't mind missing the pain at pushing. But they say pushing is a lot easier the second time, so I don't know. I don't regret going med free the first time, but it might be interesting to have the epidural experience as well.
pomelo / 5678 posts
Yes and no. I labored unmedicated for 16 hours. I started vomiting during contractions and we decided to get a low dose epi so that I could finish my antibiotics and relax before pushing. It was amazing! She was out an hour after the epi and I only pushed 3 times. I now have a positive memory from the horror I went through, so yeah- I plan to do the same, wait as long as possible, labor at home, and hopefully get an epi at the last minute if I want to!
It was a walking epi, could still feel everything, but took the horror of my back labor off. I walked right after!
pomegranate / 3113 posts
I'd probably try to do med-free again with the option to change my mind, which was my plan the first time around, too. I lucked out with a fast L&D so by the time I thought "hmm, I guess this is why people get meds" it was time to start pushing anyway. But if labor had been prolonged, I might have gotten meds at some point.
nectarine / 2994 posts
I'm not allowed epidurals but wanted med-free anyway (well no pain relief since I had to have meds for my bleeding disorder).
Lo1 I was induced with pit, had back labor, no epidural which was super intense and painful but had an easy delivery (only pushed once!) and easy recovery.
Lo2 was natural, no epidural and labor was only 4 hours, easy pushing and easy recovery. I'll go without pain meds when we have a third child.
nectarine / 2987 posts
Yep. First labor was three days and I had a shot of a narcotic at night, plus magnesium and other labor stopping drugs. Second labor nothing at all. If we weren't two and through I'd do it just the same.
papaya / 10560 posts
Yes two med-free deliveries. I would def do it again mainly because I probably wouldn't have a choice with my history of fast deliveries. 
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Yes, that's plan. I'm open to an epidural if needed but I did it the first time and have ovehelmingly positive feelings about my birth experience, and the high after was incredible.
The only downside (aside from the pain- ha) was at the end I felt pretty out of control with pushing and everything. I suppose with an epi I may have felt more in control? But I was happy for my body to take over.
pomegranate / 3392 posts
Yes because it went well for me, and I'm deathly afraid of the epidural which is why I decided to forgo it the first time!
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
I had an unintended med free birth for DD2. I went in wanting that epi so bad (it's the first thing I told the nurse), but there was no time. The pain was honestly so awful I didn't think I would get through it. The recovery was amazing thoug and I felt kinda proud of myself. I had an epi with Dd1 and the pain was more manageable, but the recovery was a bitch. I think if I had a third I would still get an epi again.
pomelo / 5093 posts
Really similar to you - one epidural birth that still hurt like hell, then a second natural birth. Which hurt like hell. Absolute, miserable hell. I'm all done with babies, but to be honest, I'm not sure I'd have another natural birth if I got pregnant again. I hated my epidural, but damn, that was hell. It was only tolerable because it went very quickly.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
Having another home birth would be my plan, so yes, I'd need to go med-free to acheive this. Thankfully, my first labor/birth were "textbook", and I had a very short labor.
It still hurt. A LOT.
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