First of all your grandmom and it's her choice. ;)
Personally there was no way on earth anyone was sticking a needle in my back/spine! lol I never wanted one. That said however, everything IMO comes with risk and I ended up having a peri-cervical block which from my understanding is no longer given today because of the risks however for me they worked like a charm! (or at least let me state that none of the younger women I've been around in the last 5-10 years having children have ever heard of a block like this)
When I had my babies you couldn't be too far along to have an epidural and I was always too far along by the time I got to the hospital if I had wanted one or not so they wouldn't have given it to me. Today they seem to give them whenever the woman wants one.