Ok, so this is a spinoff of another thread. I totally wanted med-free and labored just so, for over 24 hours. We went to the hospital but they sent us home to labor med-free. When we entered the hospital the second time, they asked, oh do you want the labor tub room again and we said, we don't believe in that stuff anymore and got the epidural. The anaesthesiologist was wearing a do-rag of my husband's favorite team so we figured it was meant to be. Anyone want to share an 'almost but we didn't' story?
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No stories yet but I want to have a med free birth. My family is already being negative about it though so hopefully I can get over the negative vibes!
What's your husbands fav team?
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I wanted a med-free birth. At 36 weeks, I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (a heart defect I've had since birth) and they didn't have enough time to do a full work-up on me. They told me that I would need pain medication because the extra stress of the pain on my body could possibly make me have a heart attack.
I ended up being induced because my water broke and I didn't go into labor on my own. They had scared me so badly that I okayed the epidural.... which never worked. They tried 3 times and it never took effect. So, I had the epidural but didn't, if that makes sense.
My labor ended in a spinal block and a forceps delivery, so I didn't deliver med-free. The drugs were HEAVEN after laboring for 15.5 hours on the highest dose of Pitocin they could give me (my labor would stall every time they tried to turn it down). I was delirious by the end.
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@zippylef: That's awful, I'm so sorry you had to go through that! Seems kind of counter-productive for them to induce you though... wouldn't that put even MORE stress on your heart with all that Pitocin? Did they try other induction methods first that wouldn't be so tough on you?
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I labored to 10 cm before I got my epi! Not by choice though, triage didn't care to rush even though my water broke and I warned them my mom had me in a few hours! I wanted the epi all along, haha I'm so glad they were willing to give me it so late!
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@Arden: I delivered in an NHS hospital. They let me wait 24 hours after my water broke before they tried anything to induce me, to give my body the best chance to start labor on it's own. They did cervadil first and then like 6 hours later started the pitocin. It turned out that my daughter's head was crooked and she wasn't engaging my cervix properly. They were going to wait until 42 weeks to do an induction, but my water breaking didn't leave them much choice. In the end, I'm grateful I delivered here. Had I been in the states, I'm sure I would have been forced into a c/s. I was angry and traumatized for a while, but I've come to terms with it.
The good news is that when I get pregnant next time, they know the issues and I have plenty of time for the doctor's to assess me. My midwife told me that since the heart issue didn't cause problems this time that she didn't see any reason why I couldn't have my med-free natural birth next time.
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@zippylef: That's true, you would probably be an automatic c-section here.
I think you should be able to handle a med-free birth really well next time, considering you got through all those pit-induced contractions last time. It would be so much easier to handle normal, natural contractions. -
I wanted a med free birth, but I ended up getting induced at 38 and 5 due to high blood pressure. The induction ended up failing, I only dilated to a 2 with the foley balloon and no more dilation after 9 hours of pitocin, but I had horrible contractions for 2 days straight! I asked to be discharged on Friday (I was "induced" on Wednesday) and they agreed to let me go home on bedrest. By Friday night I went into labor on my own! By the time I got to the hospital I had been in pain for three days and wanted the epidural! Heaven on earth!
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I really, really wanted a med-free birth. We took Bradley classes and I read tons of books and blogs about it. I was going to a free standing birth center so I knew that there would be no epidural if I ended up delivering there.
I labored for 12 hours at home and then went to the birth center and labored for another 17 hours. I was completely effaced when I arrived but dilating slooooowly. We tried everything-- long walks, climbing stairs, nipple stim, black and blue cohosh. Finally the midwife said we should go to the hospital (they can also be providers at the the hospital down the street) so that she could safely break my water.
So after being at the hospital for about 8 hours with little progress, she convinced me to take an epidural to sleep. As much as I didn't want to, I realized that my body was just exhausted and wasn't cooperating anymore. I took it and slept for about an hour. As soon as I woke up I was ready to push!
Although the epidural helped so much with the pain, I will still try to avoid getting one again because pushing was SO difficult without mobility of my legs. For me, that was the most horrible part of the whole experience. But, everything turned out fine with DS and I didn't have any sort of complications from the epidural. In my case the midwife said I needed it to avoid a c-section, which would have been so much worse!
Sorry for the long post... it was a long labor!!
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I did. I was at 10 before I got my epi. I couldn't stop pushing, but I had a cervical lip that was close to rupturing...which terrified me. I was in the PACU because all of the rooms were full so I couldn't walk around to clear the lip. The anesthesiologist happened to be there so she was able to do it quickly.
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@c.sassy: anesthesiologist (Thanks for spelling this!)
Thanks for the stories everyone! It was cathartic.
I share the disappointment and then the eventual acceptance of doing whatever it takes to bring baby into this world!
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@anonysquire: the Bears
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@808love: I totally copied and pasted from Google
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@c.sassy: funny thing is, so did I. But it just didn't look right and I was too lazy to double check. Thanks for finding a reliable source!!
I share the disappointment and then the eventual acceptance of doing whatever it takes to bring baby into this world!
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