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I was really really keen on a med-free birth. I left myself open to the option of medication because, as you said, you never know until you're in the situation what it will be like, but I really believed that I could do it and did a lot of preparation for techniques to make it.
Well... it didn't happen. My waters broke before my labour started. Once they'd been broken for more than 24 hours I wasn't allowed to get in the water like I'd planned. Then I wasn't progressing fast enough, so 34 hours after my water broke they gave me Pitocin and made me lie in the bed for monitoring. When they told me they wanted to up my Pitocin I caved and asked for an epidural.
They said no. Because my water had been broken so long, their was a chance of paralysis. Instead they gave me a pump activated drug called Remifentanil. It was a quick in and out med that I controlled myself. By the time it was time to push, the meds ran out so I pushed without medication.
I'm positive that if I hadn't been in labour SO LONG and if I'd been allowed to move around more to manage the pain I could have done it... but oh well. It worked out fine and I was unmedicated for the pushing which was perfect. And our son is perfect and gorgeous Good luck!

I would say I was really commited to the idea of a natural birth. I read a bunch of books, took a class, and did the hypnobabies program to prepare. Even with all of that, during the transition stage of labor I asked about getting an epidural. I had planned with my husband and midwife ahead of time that they would try to talk me out of it and they did. My midwife told me that she has never had a first-time mom in a hospital setting NOT ask for the epidural during transition! I would say that if you go into it with a wait-and-see attitude, you will most likely get the epidural. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just that you need to decide ahead of time how important it is to you. I also think that the other huge determining factor is how long your labor lasts. I was lucky that I had a (relatively) short experience- 14 hours from waking up with contractions to birth. Had I gone many more hours I might have reconsidered just due to sheer exhaustion!
Giving birth to my son naturally was the most amazing thing I've ever done and I definitely plan on birthing any future children without pain meds as well. Good luck!

I wanted to go med free as well. I made to 7 cms and had to get the epidural. I also laboured really fast naturally. I went from 3 cms to 7 cms in 2 hours. At 7 cms I was already starting to push which of course is no good. Im not at all regretting getting the epidural. It made it actually enjoyable and prevented so really bad tearing!

With my first, I prepared for a natural birth. I read all the books, practiced relaxation techniques at home, did birthing exercises during my pregnancy, etc... I did research pain medications, but just so I knew what I would be comfortable with, if I had to make a choice. I think I was pretty dedicated to a natural birth.

When I actually went into labor, I did end up getting an epidural at 5 cms. What changed my mind about getting an epidural wasn't the pain; it was the sheer exhaustion of labor. From early on, I was contracting hard and fast, and it was really exhausting; add on to that the fact that I was puking with every contraction, and it made recant my position on epidurals pretty fast. Afterward, I felt some guilt and shame (almost?) for giving in; I almost felt like I wasn't strong enough or didn't do a good job. Eventually, I came to terms with it, though, and when I had my second child, I went in with a much more open mind and much more acceptance toward getting an epidural, if I needed it. With my second, I actually made it to 6 cms, before getting the epidural, so I consider that a success!

I think I actually had some false notions/fears that went into my original position against having an epidural. I thought I'd want to move around during labor, but I was so exhausted, my husband had to hold me up during each contraction and I just wanted to lie down. I thought I'd want to eat/drink during labor, but throwing up so much kinda put the kabosh on that. I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of bed or go to the bathroom on my own after labor if I had an epidural, but I was out of bed and in the bathroom on my own within 2 hours of both births. I thought avoiding meds would speed up my labor time and my recovery time, but I have had two fast, easy labors and recoveries with epidurals. I thought all non-medicated births ended with a healthy, happy, energized mom and a more complacent/calm baby, but since then I've learned that non-medicated births are just like medicated births; there's a huge range of outcomes and complications, and each birth is different.

I often heard people refer to labor as a marathon, but until I actually gave birth, I didn't really understand what that meant. Literally, your muscles are contracting and being used just like you're working out for hours on end. Physically, you need a lot of stamina and strength to endure the intensity and duration of labor, just like you would need to increase your strength and stamina prior to running a marathon. Most of the people I know who have successfully had a non-medicated birth either did not give birth at a hospital (birth center or home birth) or did a ton of preparation during their pregnancy (the Bradley method is very intense, but has a great success rate, if you're interested). I don't think just being determined will ensure a successful med-free birth; using the marathon analogy, you really have to prepare your body for that kind of work and have a lot of physical and emotional support during labor to help you through.

I wanted to go medication free as well, and with the support of my husband, nurse and midwife, I was able to have the birth that I wanted. I had only read one book to prepare for childbirth so I guess you could say that I wasn't completely committed (didn't have a doula, didn't take childbirth classes), but I was very determined in my mindset. I wanted to avoid a c-section very badly because we would love to have many children, and I didn't want to be limited by the number of c-sections. Getting an epidural doesn't mean that you will automatically have a c-section by any means, but I didn't want to personally increase my chances of having one. I was very fortunate though and only had painful contractions for 10 hours (20 in total). An epidural definitely sounded amazing toward the end (I kept thinking, "With the next one, I am just getting an epidual right away!!!"), but I am very happy that I was able to give birth to my son intervention free. Good luck!!

ETA: And now at five months postpartum, I look back on it fondly! Weird..must be how mothers have more that one child...we forget exactly how much it hurt!

I was determined to be med free and I was lucky enough to have two uncomplicated (and fairly quick) deliveries. I'm pretty stubborn, but I didn't have my resolve tested as much as some ladies do!

I didn't really have a birth plan. I just wanted a vaginal birth and a healthy baby!
I went as long as I could without pain meds, but got an epidural 8 hours into labor. 4 hours later I was holding my baby in my arms.
I'm hoping for a repeat my 2nd time around (minus 3rd degree tears!)

I went way overdue (12 days) & had a very long labor consisting of 4 nights of "false labor" from 3-7am, 1 1/2 days of consistent 10-15 min contractions in early labor, & then about 6 hours of active labor. An unmedicated birth was my ONLY option & I resolved to achieve it no matter what. I researched how I could help my labor along naturally & all possible interventions, how IF I needed them I could still obtain what I wanted. Ie. if I stalled or didn't start labor naturally how I could use natural methods first & then intermittent pitocin just to get my body going if needed & then me taking back over with walking, relaxation, etc. I know that having the resolve helped me achieve my goal. The way I figure it I wouldn't train for a marathon to line up the morning of telling myself "I'd like to finish, but I'm leaving my options open just incase I can't"... Even IF I had to stop I certainly wouldn't be starting telling myself that's an option. I took the same thinking into labor... I COULD end up transferring to the hospital for a c-section but until that moment I affirmed myself I would birth my baby unmedicated. Ultimately I did transfer to the hospital where they prepped me for surgery BUT I naturally birthed DD before they could get me back. Feeling myself deliver her & the shift in hormones, so calm, aware, & rested feeling (after not sleeping for nearly a week bc "false" prodromal labor) was amazing & made it all so worth it!

I am so torn at this point in my life. I have my 30 week sono tomorrow to see if the baby is still transverse. I've wanted a natural birth, and having a c-section definitely terrifies me. Actually, I am not sure which scares me more, having an epidural or a c-section! I know some people say it isn't bad...but for me, it's almost the recovery that scares me more than anything.

I was VERY VERY VERYYYYYYYY set on a completely natural waterbirth with no interventions in a birth center with midwives I had a skewed perception of hospitals and doctors, similar to what Mrsdaredevil said.

Then I developed pre-eclampsia and it all changed. I was induced at 38+5. I cried the whole day because I felt like everything was ruined. I was going to be induced, I had to go to a hospital. I was miserable. Then on the way to the hospital my mom told me that inductions are a lot more intense than natural onset labor, and that I should be prepared for needing pain meds and not to feel bad if I do feel I need them.

But I didn't. I stuck it out. I felt like I was going to die and it was the worst, most intense, hell-like pain I've ever encountered in my life and I hope to NEVER experience that type of searing pain again. But I did it without meds and I'm glad I did.

Pretty much for as long as I could remember, I have wanted a pain med free birth. In real life, I don't know anyone who went med free. All of my friends talked about how wonderful an epidural was. DH and I took childbirth classes that were geared toward natural childbirth, and we specifically chose our midwife knowing that she does not administer epidurals. There was no choice for me but to do it without. I did get nervous because I wound up being induced at 42 weeks and was terrified that I was going to feel like I needed something to handle contractions with pitocin. Luckily, I was only in active labor for 6 hours as the induction worked really well for me. I know that I was having strong contractions, but since it was my first, I had no clue if they were stronger than they would have been naturally (and I didn't have any contractions prior to the pitocin). Honeslty, my husband and my midwife were the best support I could ask for. Laboring in the tub was amazing and honestly, I just went somewhere else during labor. It was all very surreal, but I can't imagine doing it any other way now that I've done it with pitocin but without pain meds. I am so hopeful that I'll go into labor on my own with the next one and the contractions will feel like a piece of cake!

I had an all natural birth the first time and I really wanted a natural med free birth for the second but didn't get what I wanted at all and ended up with a c-section. Even though I was only in labor for a total of 3 hours, I was already at 6 cms only an hour and a half to two hours in and totally could have managed a natural birth if she wasn't breech.

I really did not want the epidural, but I also asked for one in transition. I was at 7cm for quite some time, and had been in labor over 17 hours. I thought it would speed things up.
I was on pitocin and had back labor.

After 5 hours on the epidural I asked them to turn it off because I had burning nerve pain my legs (worse than the contractions). They turned it down, not off, and I still had the burning pain, but also I could feel my contractions some.
I ended up on the epidural for 10 hours (no, really, it took that long to get from 7cm to pushing).

I pushed for an hour and half or so, and then needed a c-section (got chorioamnionitis due to water breaking, and fetal heart rate showed distress).

Since I was on pitocin, I was on lots of monitors and couldn't walk around.
If I did it over again, I know I would still have asked for the epidural even though I really didn't want it.
Having done it, though, I know that NEXT time I will not get an epidural because it didn't help me progress, and it didn't help with my comfort level. I also would have had more time before the c-section to process it since they would have had to start anesthesia then.

I was determined to have a medication free birth if there was any way possible to do it while preserving my and my daughter's safety.

There wasn't, I had a long series of interventions, and it sucked. I'm really hoping for a different story the next time.