I was in labor for 16 hours because the epidural would not work and so in the midst of all the time, my bladder dropped. Since had to have it tied up; still have some problems. 61 years old now. Suggest you get an epidural as soon as doctor says it is okay.

I have had two c-sections, one with epidural, so I could remain awake - I had placenta praevia and my baby was delivered 1 month early....Both of us did beautifully. The second I had under anaesthetic...delivered a healthy baby and though I missed "the action" bonded with him straight away and no problems there either.

Each birth is different, some people find it easy, others not....I don't think there's any right or wrong way. You have to look at the options and pick the one that is right for you and your baby.

Luckily, this is not one for us to decide. It's between your daughter and her doctor. Of course, these days she will surely read all the pros and cons on the Internet before she decides. They won't give it to her right away, and she does need to understand that, so she can cope with whatever labor she will experience. I had an epidural for my first, after many hours of labor, and it was a relief, but I did not like losing control. Baby was vigorously alert. My two later babies were less complicated births and an epidural would have been overkill in those situations, in my opinion.

Lots of judgement here. This is a personal decision between mom-to-be and her doctor. Should we go back to the old days, when mom was alone in labor and delivery, dad in the waiting room? Forced to be shaved and have enema while contracting? As an L&D nurse I can say that we do nothing to hurt the baby, IV drugs are only given early in labor and they wear off quickly, long before baby is born and needs to breathe. Epidural drugs are injected into the epidural space. They never get into the bloodstream, and do not make either mom or baby sleepy. Trust your daughter and her doctor to make the right decision for her.

I took lamaze with my first, did not want an epidural. Had to have a C-Section and thus an epidural. Planned the C-Section with my 2nd & 3rd, had the epidural with the 2nd, had a Saddleblock with the 3rd.(Dr. suggested it) I was sick afterwards with the epidurals, but the Saddleblock left me feeling paralyzed from the belly down for many hours after delivery. I did not like that.

3 kids all natural, but my longest labor was 5 hours, last one in 1 hour.

[quote=amandasgramma]I had natural childbirth --- if I were to do it again -- I'd have an epidural......and a Mai Tai.......and morphine........and and and............ :)

I'm with you. I had five and I say "Give me all you got and wake me when it's over!" LOL

My doctor had one with her babies and so did I. She will have to wait till she is dialated to a certain point but for me it sped up my delivery - my nurse told us when I wanted to be checked that because of my epidural it would be a few more hours. To her surprise she ran out yelling to call Dr. I was having my baby now! Also my baby was VERY alert when he was born! Let your granddaughter decide.

Never had one. Having listened to horror stories about how bad labor was from my grandmother I decided to have drugs with the first one.They gave me Demoral then yelled at me when I finally woke up because I didnt help get myself into bed. Bed? What bed? I didn't even know what I had for 24 hours after giving birth. And I felt like c**p for weeks afterward.
2 more natural all the way. I was fine . I was relaxed maybe because I didn't go to the hospital until I absolutely had to, had my kids quickly. Ready to go home a few hours later.
I was offered an epidural and I thought about it until they told me where the needle was going.NOPE I am doing fine.

Had first son at hospital with all the bells, cords and moniter's and drugs. DR believed in Demerol but not epidural.
Had second son at home with a midwife, no drugs and I given a choice I would do the midwife option.

As an RN,they are safe and I think better for both mom and baby than a general anesthesia.Let her make the choice. Of course use a good reputable Physician.

I am an OB/GYN nurse, retired, and there is no reason not to have an epidural! Makes the whole birth process wonderfully normal. I just wish they had it 57 years ago. It is usually not given until 4 cm. dilation, so you will have the early feelings of contractions. Once in a while they do not work as well on some women, but as a whole, unless you are a want to be super woman, get the drugs.

That is fine if it works for you. I once worked with a woman who had a really easy delivery with her 10lb 2oz baby. I also know someone who had such a tough time with her normal sized baby that she had her doctor tie her tubes immediately after the delivery! Every woman is different and needs to make the decision for herself without being made to feel guilty about her choice.

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.

A "spinal" and an "epidural" are not the same!!! I would not have a spinal, as I think this is injected through the spinal covering, while epidual just go into the space next to the nerve..someone with more medical knowledge than me can explain it!! I know severe headaches may result from spinals as well as other dangerous complications. I had 2 c-sections and 2 epidurals and hours and hours of labor before hand. Its a really personal decision, but there's no need to fear an epidural. Thay can turn a very negative experince into something very joyful. It all depends on the person having the baby!!

I had one with my first, because I was being induced and then they had problems with her position and had to re-position her. I didn't have time with my second-she came (start to finish) in under two hours. Personal choice I think as far as my DD and DIL were given, they both had them, although the DD second child came after 24 hours of labor, so she really needed it by the time the baby came.

I had an epidural and it was wonderful. That was over 40 years ago, but looking back I'd do it again. My son is 6'1" and healthy as can be; giving birth was absolutely the most wonderful thing that I've ever done. Being pregnant was one of the happiest times in my life. We had been told we couldn't have children and after being married five years I went to the doctor with what I thought was a kidney infection. Nine months later we were the parents of an 8 lb 15 3/4 oz "kidney infection." Unfortunately we were never able to get pregnant again. Well that certainly was more information than you wanted, sorry.

i have had 3... in all 3 cases my dr decided if and when it was necessary. i would think that is a question between your daughter and her doctor...not really grandma and the quilt forum. as far as safety...with all medical procedures there are risks. the doctor will explain those before it is determined if the procedure is needed/or wanted

well i learned something here. good. it's always good to learn. thanks ladies.

i forgot to add that my DIL had an epidural and she had a long labor - when it came time to "push" b/c of epidural she had trouble feeling to push - tried for 1.5 hours and finally they had to do a "C" section. Baby was nearly 9#'s

Agreed!! Thanks I knew there would be varied opinions. Nope this is HER decision, just trying to stay in tuned with the times. I suggested she take a Lamaze class just to learn how to manage/distract the pain while at home waiting for the hospital trip then go for what seems right for her. My first was induced whoa what an experience. Wish I has thought about Mai Tais. :lol:

piney

I had such fast labors with the first two that they said it was too late! Not so bad with the first, but the second was face up. I thought I was going to be ripped in two. And drugs would have been great for that one. So with #3 I told them to give it to me as soon as possible! I wasn't going through that again. It was heaven! But #4 was a planned c-section because he turned sideways the week before he was due. Since my placenta was in front, Doc was scared to try to turn him. We didn't want an emergency section. It wouldn't have worked anyway since Ben had three full wraps of the cord around his neck. It could have been tragic. So, if she wants one, I hope they give it to her in time. Things don't always go as we have planned.

I had my first two children natural and my last two with an epidural. I enjoyed the last two births much better than the first two and saw no differences in babies health. I certainly was in much better shape to take care of my baby and myself after not being subject to so much pain. I didn't experience any up side to the natural process.

i had one with both my boys. the first one they wouldn't give me until 7 cm dilated. that was almost too late cause i couldn't hardly hold still. such a rude bunch at that hospital. my second had to be induced. doc asked me how many pains i wanted to feel and i asked him how many i HAD to feel. so i didn't feel any. different hospital for him. such a difference. i don't want to imagine doing without an epidural. i'm just not as tough as those old time ladies.

good for pain but the needle pulled out easily and by accident on both my DD's and we didn't know it till the pain got too bad. Had to be reinserted.

My first was with an epidural and labor was induce. When they said, "Push" I was so numb it was like, "Push what?" They finally took the baby with forcepts. The rest of my babes were delivered without drugs. Much better experiences.

I had one no problems.

I chose not to get the epidural because I was a high risk pregnancy with a high risk baby. It will slow the labor process, but I guess if it doesn't hurt you won't mind the time. Fortunatley I only had about 8 hour labor. I guess I am the sort of person who wants to get things over with quickly so I didn't want to do anything to delay the delivery. And it was nice to be able to walk to the bathroom right after delivery, but I guess it was pretty unusual way to go because when I was being wheeled back to the room I heard the nurses at the desk saying "she's in a chair." I later asked the nurse why they were commenting and was I supposed to be walking back... she said most women come back on a gurney because of the epidural.

Each person, each delivery is different. I don't think there is one right method.

Every pregnancy is different. Each person is different. Please support your daughter in whatever decision she makes.

i had 5 kids and 5 epidrals and didnt think twice about when they asked if i wanted one!!!

They are safe for mom and baby, but like others have said are done at a specific point during labor and cannot be done too late into it, either. It can delay delivery, because mom loses the sensation of urge to push. I delivered natural with both of mine, but then I only labored 1 hour with each-don't hate me!!

Epidurals are safe these days. They've come a long way.

As a retired nurse I can verify a few of your questions.
1. You must be dilated two at least 2 fingers before they will consider giving your DIL an epidural. For the reasons Amma stated.
2. If your DIL she dilates too rapidly she will not be able to have the epidural because the delivery will come too quickly for it to take effect
3. It will not hurt the baby since the drugs deaded the nerve pain of the mother and it's injected into the facet joints of the spine. It does not go into her blood stream and effect the baby.

I hope this answers your questions and lessens everyones misgivings. If you have any other questions just PM me.

Best wishes to all

i would leave that to the doctors to say.all you can do really is be there with her and watch her who knows maybe your daugther will have a fast and easy delivery every woman is different in child birth only they can really say for sure whats best for her and baby.

Most of all I think each woman needs to be comfortable with her own process so I try not to comment.

I had my babies at home with a midwife. I always knew that would be my choice however DH was in the Navy with our first pregnancy. The hospital had some pretty midevil mandatory practices that I could not agree with. Homebirth got us around that. My personal belief is that birth is a natural process that doctors have made a medical one. If a woman needs medical assistance then whatever she needs is okay but if a pregnancy is natural and normal then let it progress that way. I also had a high school friend who was permanently paralyzed from a botched epidural. After that I knew that I could never sit still and allow someone to stick a needle in my spine. Both babies were born at home, neither had needless drops put in their eyes, neither were ever away from DH or I, DH was the first human touch they felt at birth. DS slept through the night at 2 weeks old and DD slept through the nigh at 3 weeks. They were peaceful, happy babies.

I agree...I would wait to see if it's really necessary.
I think a lot of first time mothers are amazed at how soon they "forget" labor pain. I wouldn't recommend it early in labor as it sometimes stops the process. But whatever she is comfortable with should be the guage.

I am another who went through over 20 hours of pretty good labor with a pitocin drip added on to find out that my son was transvers with his head wedged in my hip. Finally got the epidural and my son was delivered with forceps ... yes I do know that they are not used now, but I knew my doctor was experienced with them with no problems and my son is just fine. I'm sure today I would have been whisked off for a c-section.

Yes, I agree. She is in Denver and I am in NH, just trying to stay up with the time. This is her show and the medical team will do what is best.

piney

On another note...when our second child was born, her birth was a c-section because she had sommer-saulted and stuck in a transverse lie (sideways position) and there was no way she'd turn back. One of my brothers-in-law told me I "took the easy way out"....Then his wife had the rest of their children by c-section...My SIL agreed...NOT easy, but safer!

The spinal canal is covered by 3 layers, called the meninges. The arachnoid, the Dural and the epidural. (Sorry if I misspelled). A spinal block puts the anesthetics directly into the spinal canal after the needle has gone through all 3 meninges. The epidural puts the anesthetic in the epidural space before it reaches the canal, in the epidural space. The difference here is minimal, but the epidural goes not as deep. In any event, at the lumbar level the spinal cord is almost finished.