Have a 3 hour natural birth with no epidural or a 12 hour medicated birth?
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I had a 5.5 hr unmedicated birth and I would do a 3 hr any day over 12 hrs. I'm too terrified to get an epidural.
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I'm having a hard time deciding. I went way longer than 3 hours with no meds but I never reached 9-10 cm without an epidural. I could probably manage the 3 hours.
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@bushelandapeck: I had a 3 hour unmedicated birth, and it was awesome that it was so quick, but super scary! I nearly had to have an emergency c-section and almost ruptured my cervix because it happened so quick. Still...I think I would do it again because I have no desire for an epi!
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@matador84: Yikes-that sounds so scary! I have had friends who have had scares with fast labors like that too. I think mine was about as long as I could have managed though! I had to push for almost 2 hours...
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I had an 11 hour unmedicated birth. It was awesome. I'm sure 3 hours would be intense, but that would be my choice, hands down.
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3!! I don't know if it wore off or what, but the epidural did jack by the end of my 18hr ordeal! They had to pump it up big time for the emergency c-section. I'd take 3 hours of non medicated over that!!
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@bushelandapeck: I'm so scared with this one I won't make it to the hospital in time!! Who knows, it could be totally different though.
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I had two medicated 12 hour births, and those were great experiences for me! With my first, I got the eidural about 7 hours in, at 5 cms; with my second, it was about 8 hours in, at 6 cms. I would totally repeat my birth experiences a third time, if only I didn't have to go through pregnancy again.
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I labored unmedicated for 17 hours, then medicated for 7 since my cervix never dilated. If I'd had her before the end of that 17 hours that would've been awesome and totally manageable!
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Hands down 12 hour medicated labor! I had 28 hours of active back labor, and I was induced (it was unplanned), so my (Pit) contractions were double, triple, and quadruple stacked. It was semi-medicated . . . I say semi, because the epi never really took (and wore off while I was laboring down for an hour) before pushing.
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3hr unmedicated, for sure! I have no plans for an epi!
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3 hour for sure!!!
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I'd take either! I had 36 hours unmedicated (12 on pit) and another 11 with an epi. Your options both sound like a walk in the park to me!
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Tough call. I went without medication for like 20 hours so I know I could do 3, but I've never pushed before and am kind of terrified of it and tearing. 12 hours is still wayyyy shorter than my labor was, but when they did end up giving m the meds my reaction was basically, "OMG why didn't I get an epi way earlier??" It wasn't scary at all like I had imagined. But if it could be guaranteed it would only take three hours, I'd still go natural.
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I guess medicated.
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I was fully dilated after 3.5 hours (start to finish, unmedicated) and they gave me the epi because I begged. I can honestly tell you I did not even *notice* them doing it. it was heaven. I then labored down and laid there for another 30ish minutes before pushing!
eta: i have no shame in saying i did not want to feel her coming out. zero. zilch. so that's why i demanded the epi
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If I knew it would be three hours and that's it - sure!
I was in labor for 23 hrs and pushed for five -- without the epidural (which I got after 11 hrs of labor) I would never have made it!
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medicated all the way.
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Medicated. I'd take a 12 hour medicated birth over a 1 hour non-medicated. I never want to feel the ring of fire! My medicated birth was a dream... I felt the pressure to push, but no pain. I'd do it again and again.
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I'm with @oliviaoblivia! I had a 45-hour unmedicated birth with pit and 4+ hours of pushing. I'd take the 3-hour course no matter how intense it was...
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I had a thirteen hour unmedicated birth! So 3 hours sounds like a breeze!
Although too fast is a little scary!
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I'd be fine with either. I had a medicated 8 hour birth (lower dose epi for the last 3 hours) and it was a great experience. If it was going to be over that quick, then 3 hours is doable for me .
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I WANT AN EPIDURAL. Mine was amazing.
My only experience is with pitocin, though. Which, no.
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12 hours isn't even that long - medicated for sure.
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I had 12 hours of labor (six without an epi, and six with) and I honestly thought childbirth was a breeze. I pick 12 hours medicated.
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short natural labor!
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Short natural labour! But really, I'd take either (44 hours of unmedicated labour, 4 hours of medicated labour. 3 or 12 hours sound incredible).
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I'm confused. Is three hours meant to be PAINFULLY short? Is twelve hours supposed to be long?
I had 51 hours of unmedicated labor. Honestly, three hours doesn't sound like nearly enough time for a first baby. I think I would choose 12 hours with epi if I had to re-do the first one. For #2 I would choose 3 hours unmedicated for sure.
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I did 11 hours active labor unmedicated with DS, so 3 hours sounds awesome!
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I can't decide... I loved my epi though - I had a 9 hour medicated labor which was perfect! It's so funny how split the comments are, and how many people very definitely want one or the other!
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We had a friend go through this over the weekend. She was planning on being induced, getting an epidural, and she was totally fine with it. Nature had something else in mind. From her water breaking/1st contraction, to baby being born, it was 3 1/2 hours. No meds. No augmentation. Her mom was the same way, but she had no idea it could be in her genes. I think she was pretty happy!!
For me, I'd rather have a natural birth no matter what ... Even a 12 hour natural labor vs. a 3 hour epi labor.
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That's hard! I'm fairly sure I would have ended up with a c-section if not for the rest my epidural gave me before I started pushing (as it was I pushed for 2 hours and heard c-sec start to be mentioned...). But it failed twice (once going into transition and again half an hour into pushing), and I definitely went more than 3 hours with back labor without it (not even counting when I was in active labor at home).
But my labor was also much, much longer than 3 hours, and I was so exhausted by the end that the epi gave me a chance to rest a little bit and get some energy back.
One hand, I know I could do it. Other hand, it might be nice to relax and enjoy my labor and build up to it...
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Definitely the 12 hour medicated labour! Once I got my epi, I didn't care how long it took for LO to arrive. I happily laid in bed reading a book, watching tv, chatting with DH and the midwife, and napping....it was great! I definitely preferred the 8 hours of medicated labour to the 8 previous hours of unmedicated early labour!
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I think 12 hrs medicated. 12 hours sort of seems like a normal-ish time to have a baby in. Most of the stories I've heard of really short labors (like 3 hrs) have been pretty traumatic and often caused some significant damage due to things not having time to happen slowly. 12 hours medicated sounds much less stressful.
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@Mae: Truth! My hospital stay was slightly longer than most c-section patients because I needed so much recovery time! It I was in for nearly 4 days.
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@matador84: Right! Scary! Also we live 20 min from the hospital in no traffic, but 40-50 in rush hour because it takes 3 highways to get there. My husband has kindly requested I do not go into labor during rush hour
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Tough call - if the three hours didn't include, trying to turn a posterior brow-out baby, vacuum, episiotomy and 100+ stitches, I'd be all about it. However, with the way DS was stuck in there, the epidural was worth it.
ETA @matador84: my hospital stay was 5 days following a vaginal birth, better luck next time?
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@rachiecakes: ditto!! I had a posterior baby, cord wrapped twice around his neck, less than 3 hour labor and delivery (a rare precipitous birth), episiotomy and vacuum assisted delivery with 3rd degree tears and a ton of stitches!
I'm more scared for LO2 based on what I know now as opposed to what I didn't know then!
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3 hour non medicated for sure!! I was 51 hours from water break to baby and had 8 hours of pit with no Epi.... I'd take 3 hours in a heartbeat!
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51 comments