Hellobee Boards

@LindsayInNY: do you mean no pain meds?

If you mean pain med free, then yes, I did. They used cervidil and pitocin to induce me, though. I had a med free spontaneous labor the first time around, and was induced for IUGR the second time. They said since I had delivered vaginally before, there was a good chance my body would remember what to do once prompted. That’s how it happened for me and my labor felt very similar to my first. I didn’t require a ton of pitocin though. I had been open to an epidural once I knew I was going to need pitocin, but by the time I would have even wanted it, I knew I was almost done and didn’t want to get it as I was pushing her out.

@LindsayInNY: oh ok yeah I have heard of people being induced amd not taking an epidural. In my case my induction failed so I didn't get to find out if I could do it without an epi

@LindsayInNY: Yes! I had an epidural free induction 3 months ago.

http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-accidental-epidural-free-induction

I tried both times and don't recommend it. My OB pushed me to get the epi before breaking my waters with each birth and I declined. However, particularly with DD2, the contractions after water breaking (with Pitocin) were so strong and constant I literally thought I was dying. It was actually fairly serious because they were so strong and constant they made DD2's heart rate drop and they had to turn off the pit and give me a terbutaline shot to stop the contractions so DD2 could handle it. By the time I knew I *needed* the epi, I couldn't sit to have it placed. We eventually got it placed, but our room was full of doctors and nurses trying to handle the situation and it was really scary.

On the other hand, my epi with DD1 never really worked well so I guess that was kind of a "pain med free" birth? But I didn't fully realize it at the time. I could feel everything including when they were stitching me up.

Anyway, I guess I'd just see how you do and be open to suggestions from the doctors/nurses.

Yes, it's possible. I did it. I highly DO NOT recommend it. I did it because I was afraid of the needle in my spine. For my second birth I was more afraid of the pain and screaming for hours than I was of the needle and it was an amazing birth with an epidural.

@LindsayInNY: why would you choose to feel the pain?

Yes with some caveats. I had pPROM at 36w4d so technically my labor started naturally. I arrived at the hospital at 1.5 centimeters with absolutely nothing happening, not even a twinge of contraction. 2 cervadil and 4 hours later I was 9.5 cm. No time for so much as an ibuprofen. 15 pushes and he (literally) flew out.
He was 5lb12oz so it wasn't hard. My recovery was like 10 minutes and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. I definitely hope to go med free again. But son #1s birth was a unicorn experience.
Fwiw, my midwife said when you start labor naturally (even pprom) the cervidil tends to be more effective rather than just kind of forcing the baby out when not ready.

@CatchAFallingStar: I think it'd help if we empower her during a time like this! You've had a number of posts where you've expressed anxieties about parenting and found, I think, a lot of support when you needed it. Let's lift her up!

I thought I wanted to go med-free with my first and it was awful! I finally had an epidural and wondered why I wanted to NOT have that relief. I still felt both babies come out (also had an epidural with my second) and there were no side effects. I totally understand that some mommies don’t want the drugs and I support it. I was being silly, just pointing out that if we can mask the pain, why not?!

@LindsayInNY: Well I kind of did but I was already in labor: With the twins twin A’s water broke and I had contractions but they were mild. So they started me on pictocin and they were out within minutes. I was so so so scared of the pain but really it wasn’t too bad for me at all but I am so thankful that the midwife agreed to just see what the lowest dose possible will do and thankfully it was enough for me. The pain from the contractions wasn’t worse than the transition and pushing contractions that I had had with my first and second. I didn’t have pain meds with any of my births.

I mean maybe you can try to go unmediated and if it is too bad they can still turn the pit. down and get you the epidural before they turn it back up.

Thanks, @ChiCalGoBee: !

Yep, I had a pain med-free induction for my first, and one of the main things that helped carry me through labor was that I had talked to a collleague who had a pain-med-free induction, also! So I’m hoping this will give you some strength and empowerment as you go into labor. You can do it.

I was induced on my due date for concerns about platelets and highish blood-pressure/worries about pre-eclampsia. I started at around 1-2cm, 50%, -1 station. They inserted a foley bulb around 2:15. They started pitocin around 5:15pm. Due to the high blood pressure and pitocin, I had to be hooked up to an iv and constant fetal monitoring, which I really didn't want. I still tried to walk around the hospital a lot, though, and just dragged all the monitors and stuff with me.

My first son was born at 11:29pm, so it was quick for a first labor, especially an induced one. I read a bunch of the Bradley books, and, since you took the classes and had your DD pain med-free, you have a good idea of what to expect.

Good luck!! and please feel free to message me if you have more questions or need more encouragement. Good luck!

So I had an unmedicated natural birth with my second (happened to be a vbac). With my 3rd, I was put on the lowest dosage of pitocin possible to get my labor started when DD2 was slow to come out at 41 weeks. I was already 5cm when I was induced so my doctor was convinced I only needed a little push.

Man, natural labor was so much less painful. The pitocin cramp was crazy and I asked for an epidural around 8cm. As soon as epidural was completed, I had progressed to 10 and ready to push. I'm so grateful that the epidural was in place bc she was facing up and had a hard time descending. The doctor had to get her out using forceps (ouch) and she ended up being 9lbs 3oz (double ouch). I also ended up with a 3rd degree tear and internal tearing which required quite a bit of time to stitch up. Again, so grateful that the epidural was in place otherwise I would have felt all that

So, I had an unmedicated hospital birth with my first and planned for an unmedicated birth center birth this time. I ended up having a hospital birth with pitocin and an epidural due to a combination of necessities and my own choices.

One necessity was that because there was meconium in my waters when they broke I was always going to have a hospital birth and be on continuous monitoring. The limited movement was really difficult for me both in feeling like I could get around and stay active encouraging progress and just a general annoyance with the wires and cords and IV. The meconium also meant I would have continuous IV fluids (vs. just getting my antibiotics for GBS and then taking the line out to let me move better). The IV placement was literally the most uncomfortable/painful part of my whole childbirth experience due to the positioning - I ended up unable to bend my left wrist with it in and it was torture. That wouldn’t have made a difference as far as having a line or not but it was hard to lean on my partner, move myself around, grab onto things, and support myself with that hand/arm in general.

One choice I made was to skip cytotec and opt for pitocin when I needed augmentation to get my contractions more regular and my cervix more dilated. If I’d had cytotec it’s possible my contractions would have progressed the same as they would without augmentation as far as the build up and intensity, more similarly to my last birth with no pain meds. However because of the meconium I didn’t want to “wait” to see if cytotec would work how we wanted only to end up with pitocin anyway if it did not. Time was a big factor during my labor, and with already being on the continuous monitoring pitocin was the better choice for me and trying to ensure a vaginal birth.

I was on a low dose of pitocin the whole time (2 and then 4 - I think that’s pretty low?) and I think I could have made it pain med free if I’d had better freedom of movement and more “time”. Once I had the epidural I was complete within an hour and pushed for about 15 minutes - a lot less time than my first.
Some bonuses to the epidural I didn’t expect: I was actually laughing from joy when she was crowning which was very different from my first! Another bonus was that I had a lot less discomfort during repair of my second degree tear - I had the same last time and it was really uncomfortable/painful while trying to have skin to skin.

Sending you all the good vibes for a smooth delivery however it ends up and that you get to meet your baby so soon!

@DesertDreams88: I'm going without an epi this time because I don't like any of the hospital options near me and want to give birth in water (which the hospital won't allow) I also have a heart condition that could be retriggered by the major drop in blood pressure the epi can cause. So no award here, just feel it's best for me and baby

I had two inductions and tried to go pain med free but with both, I ended up asking for the epi after about 12 hours of pitocin because by then I was done with wanting to move through the contractions and needed a break. W both, after I got the epi I was able to rest and then my body finished laboring down— w both I was still barely dilated when I got the epi, lo1 was only 37 weeks so totally happy to keep chilling even though medically she needed to come out, and the cord was partly wrapped around lo2’s head so she had been stuck. I was happy to have the chance to labor w/o the epi but I think my body needed the break, and I was still able to feel enough to push effectively when it was time (lo2 only took 5 mins of pushing!). I hope my stories aren’t discouraging— I actually love the way my births ended up even though I had wanted to avoid the epis. I felt empowered by being able to choose to get it only when I was really ready.

@LindsayInNY: A good friend of mine had a pitocen induced birth without pain meds for her first and said that while it was painful, she was glad she did it.

@DesertDreams88: Wow. I chose med-free birth because I have a real fear of needles and didn’t want the epi unless i needed a c-section. Not because I wanted to be a martyr or for the head pats.

@LindsayInNY: definitely possible!

I was induced with my second with cytotec. I was 40+10... I was only a little more than 1cm dilated... When I arrived at 7am I was having some contractions already. They placed the cytotec, I was monitored for an hour or two. Then they unhooked me, and I was free to walk around outside and go get lunch, etc....The walking helped the most to get things moving vs just lying there... I got back to my room and the contractions were getting worse and more painful, the room i was in had a big tub, so I was in the tub for the next 2-3 hours, the hot water really masked most of the pain.... My water broke while I was in the tub and I knew I was getting close so I ordered my epidural. I thought I might try to go med-free for a minute but I was freaked about how big the baby was going to be (he was 9lbs 6oz) and with my first I had to push for 4 hours. so I went for the epi... I delivered him maybe an hour and a half after getting the epi!!

Good luck - you can totally do it if that's what you want to do!