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It was great! I was in labor about 12 hours total. I got the epidural around midnight and went to sleep. My nurse came in every two hours to help me switch sides so the medicine wouldn't pool on one side, but I was sleeping so good it didn't really disturb me. She woke me at 6am to check me and I was complete. I labored down for an hour while I woke myself up. I pushed for 45 minutes. I could feel the pressure of each contraction, but no pain. I think I pushed pretty effectively because I could feel the pressure. I tore internally and needed a few stiches. I'm glad I couldn't feel that because I can't really imagine how I would have been given a local in that location. The only side effect I had was exhaustion and I really think that was a side effect from labor more than the epidural. I went in with a "let's see what happens" birth plan and I'm glad I got the epidural. This time around I'm going to see what happens again.

Loved both epidurals. With LO1 I got it at around 4cm and with LO2 it was 7cm. Pushed for about 20 mins each time. The only downsides were that it did make me cold with the IV fluids (I wore a huge sweatshirt and felt better), I couldn't move my legs afterwards for LO1 which was kind of scary, I couldn't feel that well to push but I managed to do it anyway, and there was a little soreness where the needle was but not bad at all. Both kids came out great and I could relax and enjoy the process.

My experience was none (two med free births with my girls as well) but I feel ya on the pushing being crazy the second time even though it was shorter. And I don't know if this helps because when I asked my friend with 4 about the pushing, she said it was worse every time even though it was shorter for her every time! Ring of Fire is no joke.

Mine was wonderful! I labored at home for about 5 hours before going to the hospital, got admitted at 4cm and had the epidural within 30 mins. I had a stress free labor from 4pm and when the nurse checked me at 10pm I was ready to go! Only had 30 mins of pushing and barely felt anything, hardly any pressure, small amount of tearing. 100% would do again.

I didn't have a bad epidural experience but it also wasn't great. I was induced with my first and had an epidural. It wore off several times over the course of five hours of labor and they had to keep adjusting it. I ended up having to have a c-section so I can't speak to the pushing. With my second, I went into labor naturally and the labor was pretty fast. There wasn't time to get an epidural so I went without and it was so much better. I felt very present and for me the pain was manageable because it was fast. I did have a tear and needed to be stitched but didn't feel a thing. I am 30 weeks with number three and really hoping to go med free again.

Mine was perfect! It was just enough to let me rest and not feel pain from contractions, but I still had some control of my legs. I recovered quickly and easily and had no lasting effects. I will definitely do it again.

I've had two epidurals and my second epidural was better than the first!

The first time I was completely numb from the waist down. I also ended up with a C-section and felt guilty that I "caused" it by choosing more intervention.

The second time, I could move my legs and I felt my contractions but they were not painful. When it was time to push, I felt the urge and I could feel my baby coming out, but I wouldn't say it was painful. Very uncomfortable? My midwife said at this hospital they do a really good job of epidurals that don't disconnect you from your body.

The second time I got the epidural before I was in true active labor which I recommend because it wasn't hard to keep still for the insertion. When you are having strong contractions on top of each other that is really hard!

I used a peanut ball to help the baby descend since you can't get out of bed and use gravity - but if you've had fast labors I bet it won't even be an issue for you.

The best part was just being able to enjoy delivering my son! I was very present when I was pushing and I felt in control and just happy! Part of that was just the healing aspect of getting my VBAC but I do think if I had been in a lot of pain it would have been a lot harder to be present and positive.

It was great! I had a reasonably quick labor (eight hours from arriving at hospital to baby being born). My only regret was not using the button to increase the epi because it basically wore off in time for pushing I pushed for less than an hour but it was...not great.

My first epidural was perfect.
My second epidural was not terrible but not wonderful. It took a while to kick in so the nurse ordered more which was too much. My blood pressure dropped too low and I almost passed out and I couldn't feel anything and had a hard time pushing. This was for my third baby and in comparison, I pushed my first out in 2 contractions and my second (unmedicated) in one! So it was crazy that I had to push for so long. I don't regret getting that epidural but I definitely feel like it would have just been over and done with hours faster without it. And it was scary having my blood pressure drop like it did. I was just fading and couldn't do anything but close my eyes.

It was great! Didn't feel any pain, and I was able to relax and get some sleep.

Mine was great! I had a fast labor (4 hours from water breaking to birth) so by the time I got my epidural I was 7 cm. It was probably another hour or so until I got to 10 cm and then they let me labor down for 30-45 minutes before I starting pushing. I was only pushing for about 15 minutes before DD was born so that wasn't an issue!

I was fine during the birth but after DD was born my blood pressure dropped very low (55/35) and I passed out cold three times in the 24 hours following. I ended up needing a blood transfusion. Not sure if it was caused by the epidural, but seems that others had blood pressure drops as well.

I've had 2... both deliveries were inductions and I got the epidural around 6-7 cm's each time. The first epidural at the time I thought was great because I couldn't feel a thing, baby was out in 3 pushes, they had to tell me when I was having a contraction. I had some bad tearing so I was very glad to not feel it.
With my 2nd the epidural was MUCH better because I could still feel the pressure, I could feel baby descend, I loved feeling everything and knowing exactly what was happening.
3 pushes that time also only because DR. had me wait. Both deliveries were less than 7 hours.
Getting the actual epidural in I don't recall hurting, at least not more than the contractions did.

Loved my first epidural. My water had broken and contractions started pretty quickly (like 1-2 min apart almost immediately). Even though I had planned for a med-free birth, I just couldn't keep up with the contractions, especially since the first 3 or so hours at the hospital, I was stuck in triage and not allowed to move or walk around. Once I had a room in L&D, I asked for the epidural and felt immediate relief. I could feel the contractions like a pressure but no pain. I relaxed, read a book for awhile, and after only an hour, I had gone from 4 to 10 and was ready to push. Pushed for maybe 25 min and she was out.

Second baby, I planned for the epidural from the beginning but it wasn't as great. My water broke again so we got to the hospital quickly, expecting contractions to come quickly again. Except my contractions were only like 5 min apart and apparently so small that they barely registered on the machine and the nurses kept telling me in a condescending way that I wasn't contracting at all. After 4 hrs in triage, they put me in L&D but immediately told me that if I didn't take pitocin, I would have to leave the room and go home due to space issues. If it had been my first baby, I would have gone home, but I didn't want my LO to see me like that when she woke up (it was like 6am at this point and my dad was at our house). So I got the pitocin. Stupidly, I waited to get the epidural until after the pitocin "kicked in" but it worked so quickly that I went from a 3 to a 10 in 30 minutes and the epidural didn't really have time to fully work. It definitely still dulled the pain but it wasn't nearly as nice as my first birth. At least it was over quickly, since I was basically ready to push like immediately, and he was out in like 10 min.

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My epidural only partially worked. It worked enough to give me the shakes but I still felt excruciating pain when pushing. I didn't realize this wasn't normal, of course, until my OB was surprised I could feel her stitching me up.

I will probably try to do without this time around, but other than it not fully doing it's job I didn't really have any negative experiences from the epidural. If I feel like I need it, I will go for it again.

I am curious to ask my OB about alternative pain management options this time, since I know they gave me a few extra things through my IV (I think?) when the epidural wasn't doing it's job.

ETA: I was induced with DD1 and I am pretty confident the epidural did speed up labor/dilaton, so that made it worth it!

@Mrs. Deer: Just wanted to come back and say, the epidural experience is so different from med free. The pain with med free was unreal---I only had 2-3 pushes and even so...it was so insanely intense that I didn't think I could do it. And I was hardly doing anything because LO was ready to come out whether I was ready or not. I remember actually screaming between pushes that the ring of fire was REAL.

With the epidural, mine wasn't perfect in terms of erasing all pain--but it lessened the pain IMMENSELY. After having the med free birth, I actually laugh at myself having LO1 because I think I complained that the epidural wasn't working well and I was feeling "everything" on one side of my body, but after *actually* feeling everything, now I know that's not true. I would say on my right side, I was totally numb. Someone could have pinched my butt or my leg and I wouldn't have felt it. My left side probably felt 50% of the pain I might normally feel. But I wasn't screaming in pain like I was when I was unmedicated. I was more like...uncomfortable. It was at most a 5-6 on the pain scale (before they topped up the epidural) compared to the full 10 of unmedicated. The pushing part with epidural was more like immense pressure and no real pain. It's a weird sensation not being able to fully feel your body parts and push effectively. Even so, it only took me about 7 rounds of pushes (maybe 15-20 min?) to push LO1.

One odd thing that happened to me was that they turned my epidural down/off (not sure medically what exactly they did) about 30 minutes before pushing so I could feel to push better. While that was a good decision and probably helped me push effectively, by the time I delivered the placenta and the doctor started stitched my tear, I could feel every single stitch and I kept telling him it hurt and I could feel it, and he said that wasn't possible (douche).

The second time, I specifically and forcefully told the OB that I wanted a shot of something numbing before being stitched up. I was worried that since it was unmedicated, he would just start stitching. My 2nd OB was so nice about it and really numbed me up and said if you feel ANYTHING, tell me and I will make it go away. So ironically, the unmedicated birth had the better stitching experience. But the pushing with epidural was less painful, more controlled, and more calm than the med free.

That's just my personal experience with both types--hope it helps!

Epidurals only work for me for short times. When they are working they feel magical! When they wear off, the pain is no fun as you already know.

Both were awesome! I was having contractions every 4 mins when we got the hospital for #2. The doctor wanted me to get fluids in me since it was 8 am (labor started at 4) and I hadn't had anything to drink before it. I couldn't wait for it. The contractions hurt ( don't remember them from my first) and then I started shaking I was so cold (just like the first time). After the epidural the cold/shakes went away. I felt nothing when I pushed both pregnancies.

My experience with it was awesome. My labor took 24 hours, but I was induced. I slept for the majority of it and only pushed for 11 minutes. Very happy I did it. I had issues with the placenta coming out and it would have been very painful if I didn't have the epi.