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Both were inductions, with LO1 contractions were very painful when I got the epi; with LO2, they weren't but figured I might as well get it while the anesthesiologist was there!
My 1st epi was way too strong, couldn't feel anything (which at the time thought was great), my 2nd was awesome b/c I could still feel what was going on, without the pain.

It's a fair concern; 1 and 2 were both induced. 3 came on his own and there were two emergency c-sections happening when I arrived so I couldn't get the epidural right away. Although an anesthesiologist did free up in time to give me an epidural, I probably had like 3 contractions that were actually medicated before I started pushing (looks like same as @pinkelephant). In retrospect, it wasn't worth the risk of even having it put in, as I dealt with the worst of it unmedicated. On the other hand, the whole thing was over quickly! Good luck!

I voted no. I was going to ask for one but the first thing they said to me at the hospital was "push". This was my second. I delivered my first unmedicated after a long labor.

DD1 was induced and I got an epidural.

A few weeks before DD2 was born I started changing my mind about an unmediated birth and decided I was ok with an epidural. My labor with her was fast and furious so while I screamed for an epidural during transition there was absolutely no time. I’m really glad I didn’t get one because it was so fast it would have been a waste since the pain was over so quickly.

I had an epidural both times, with #1 I had to wait because the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. After I got it I was still only 7cm and had plenty of time to relax before baby came.

With #2, I got the epi sooner at 4cm, but then I progressed pretty rapidly. Like I was feeling the need to push only 30 minutes after the anesthesiologist left! Needless to say it didn't feel like I had an epi and I still felt almost everything. Luckily baby was out in like two pushes (the OB came in and pretty much slid in front of me and caught him!).

@graceandjoy: I gave birth in water so I didn't really feel it that much. Just felt like intense pressure. It is your body's way of telling you to slow down so you can stretch though, so I had my hands on babies head and could feel him crown so I automatically paused and waited a beat before pushing again. I only had a minor tear.

My biggest advice to mom's for delivery now is put your hands on baby and tell everyone in the room to be quiet so you can push as you want. You're way less likely to tear that way. Even with an epi unless it's made you crazy numb you should still be able to feel to push

DW wanted one for both but only ended up getting it with DS1 which was induction after PPROM. It was great according to her!

DS2 went overdue and super fast. Went from 2-3cm to fully dilated in like 1.5 hrs. We went to the hospital at 10:30 pm, walked the halls until 11:30, got to a room at 12. In that half hour, somehow, she went from 6/7 to barely making it into the birthing suite to pushing and he was born before 1 am. I knew it was going super fast but the triage nurse wasn’t helpful and left us alone for that half hour in triage. I was panicking. She made her walk down the hall even though she could barely stand up due to the intense and fast contractions. The moment we got to the birthing room, a nurse ran in having heard DW from the nursing station and asked if she needed to push. She yelled yes and everything moved super fast from there and there wasn’t any time. It was definitely more traumatic for her and she is still upset she didn’t get her Epi. Same amount of tearing with both kids and similar recovery though.

With LO1 there was plenty of time. With LO2 he was born 9 minutes after we got to the hospital, so not so much.

I almost didn't get it with my third because I had a nurse who really didn't want me to have it. I honestly think she just wanted the baby to arrive before her shift was over. Anyway, I learned that you have to have a bag of fluid prior to getting an epidural, and at my other hospital (for #1 and #2), they would just give you that in the IV if you said you wanted an epidural so you were ready when the time came. But I didn't realize that one thing depended on another, so even though I asserted multiple times that I wanted an epidural, the nurse did not get me the fluid. She just kept cranking up the pitocin (also learned that pitocin is out of your system in 10 min, so when it got really painful, she could have given me a break but didn't...). When I absolutely demanded the epidural to the doctor, the nurse finally got the bag of fluid ready - that was miserable as well because she gave it to me as fast as possible, I could feel it going through my body, leaving me shivering - and called the anesthesiologist. Of course, he couldn't be there for about an hour. Finally, got the epidural, instant relief, started pushing right after. It was definitely worth having.

I couldn't have it for LO, and it was a sh!tshow of pain for 18 hours (plus another 6 hours that were manageable). I had a complication that was only discovered at 5cm / Hour 5 so I couldn't get it. Literally the worst day of my life besides my miscarriage.

With LO2 I got it and EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING and I only have blissful, happy memories of L&D with her.

With #2, my epidural wore off moments before I was going to start pushing. It was a calm but seriously crazy few moments and I got it working again just before starting to push. I had a 4th degree tear the first time around, so I was expecting that to occur again and wanted that epidural big time to block out that inevitable immense pain.

Yes for my first. But there was no time with my second! She was out just 20 minutes after I arrived at the hospital. It was a wild ride.

Mostly, no. I got an epidural with my first, but it only partially worked. With my second, I really wanted a fully functional epidural, but the anesthesiologist got held up and by the time he came and got everything ready, baby girl was crowning.

I'm 31weeks with LO3 and am thinking alot too about what might happen this time in L&D. LO1 was a horrible induction turned horrible csection. I did get an epidural but only after hours of maxed out pitocin and no progress. I'm pretty sure the Dr did a csection so he could go home and not hand my care off to the next shift. The whole experience was very traumatic.

LO2 I changed Drs and hospitals and went into another induction wanting as little intervention as possible trying for a VBAC. I wasn't making much progress again but more than with LO1. My Dr mentioned the possibility of csection and even with all my mental prep I was feeling discouraged and got the epi. Just prior to the epi they had given me some IV pain meds and I did a spinning babies maneuver to try to engage the baby. I'm convinced it worked and within an hour I went from 4 to 10 and had him out in a few pushes. I was super numb tho and couldn't feel anything including my contractions. They ended up cutting me and had a 3rd degree tear. I was happy that I had a successful VBAC but regretted the epi after everything happened so quickly.

Time will tell with this one but I'm going to try to roll with it as best I can. I'm slightly fearful that if this baby does actually engage and I go into labor on my own that it will be quick. I live 40 min from our hospital and am working up until I deliver. As far as an epi this time my hospital is now offering nitrous so I'm going to try to utilize that instead if I'm able to.

@annem1990: Since my 2nd came so fast, I felt like the pain was more manageable--I arrived at the hospital fully dilated and ready to push. That is, it was "easier" until the end/pushing. That was so, so, so excrutiatingly painful. 1000% worse than my first birth when I had a (poorly placed and not fully effective) epidural. I was holding the nurse's hand and literally screaming through pushes and at one point, I crushed her hand and she had to leave! It was pretty....I don't know, similar to a train wreck that you can't stop and are watching in slow motion.

So I don't know that you would have continued to have an easier experience through the end, haha.

@annem1990: just curious, was your water broken with your first and not with your second, or it broke later? I have a vague theory that labor with the water broken hurts a lot more.

Yes both times, second time baby was an elective induction which I *highly* recommend if you and your OB are open to it. Whole childbirth I literally felt no pain whatsoever except for placing the spinal tap, from start of the process to baby in arms (6 hours later). It was a dream.

@graceandjoy: yeah, I'd be interested to see a thread about inductions comparing baby #1 and subsequent babies. my anecdotal impression is that first-time inductions hardly ever go that great but second and third baby inductions almost always do, but I could be wildly off base with that

@graceandjoy: yes to modern technology! good luck and keep us posted