Anyone else didn't have epidural during the labor? How did you deal with pain?

[kusumat]

I went on labor last week and didn't get the epidural this time. The labor was not long but it was totally painful right after the water broke. It didn't break before I got to the hospital. The pain was managable before then.

Luckily, it was only 15 mins of the most painful experience. I wonder how others deal with it.

[beansprout13]

My labor with DS2 progressed so fast that there was no time for an epidural. My contractions went from 10 min. apart and not painful at all and then all the sudden jumped to 3 min. apart with intense pain. We raced to the hospital and I was 10cm when we got to the hospital (only about 1/2 hour after the intense contractions started). DS2 was born about 15 min after we got to the hospital.

I think I just dealt with the pain by making myself realize that the faster this went, the sooner it would all be over and that I could survive 1/2 hour of this. Well, at first, I was asking every person that was within my eyesight for an epidural - well, not so much asking as begging. However, when my doctor looked me in the eyes and said that I was 10cm and that DS2 would be born well before any epidural could be administered, I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a short lived experience and worth it in the end!

[AngelaS]

I went drug free w/G. I was in labor for 9 hours and dealt with it by lounging in the tub and saying HUUUUUM/moaning for the 3? hours of painful contractions. I just pictured my body as limp and relaxed and that really helped.

I tried to go drug free with M as well, but after about 17 hours w/out drugs and several hours of Pit, I just couldn't deal with it and got the epi. She was born w/in an hour. :P

[brittone2]

I've gone without drugs for both kids. With DS, I'd say 90% of my labor was mild discomfort or painless. With DD I'd say 95%. With DS, transition made me feel shaky, hot, etc. but not necessarily pain. With DD, I didn't have a pronounced period of transition (not hot/shaky, etc.)

What worked for me:
Staying mobile. With DS, the only time I had major discomfort (other than shakiness/nausea/hotness during transition) was when I was on the EFM. Our doula advocated for getting the nurse to hook me up so I could at least be on all 4s, sit on the birth ball, etc. while on EFM. With DD, I was at a freestanding birth center so we didn't do EFM (did intermittent doppler checks).

With DS I used a tub (hospital birth attended by midwife). I was in it once things got intense and it was very helpful. I got out during transition. With DD, the birth center had a tub, but I didn't need it (I showed up 10 cm dilated but no urge to push as my water hadn't broken yet).

With DS we had a doula. I didn't really need her (labor was 6 hours, 20 mins from the time my water broke and contractions started immediately after) until transition, when she had the perfect calming touch to keep my shaking legs calm. That alone was worth it :) She was also helpful with getting BFing going.

Above all, what helped me the most was hypnobirthing. With my pg'cy with DS we took a Mongan Hypnobirthing course in a private instructor's home. I wasn't sure initially I wanted to do hypnobirthing, but my midwife steered me away from the hospital class because it was highly intervention focused. She recommended this woman that taught out of her home. In the timeframe I needed she was offering Hypnobirthing but not a more "traditional" class. I read up on it and thought it was worth a try. It worked beautifully. The nurses were astounded because we were talking and walking through most of my labor, including my contractions. You are fully awake, alert, and able to actively participate in the birth. It doesn't feel "weird" or anything. (during my class I kept thinking...I can't *really* be in hypnosis can I? I just feel relaxed. I expected to feel some weird feeling, kwim? But when it came time to labor, it worked like a charm. It just left me deeply relaxed). My instructor did make us a CD with additional "scripts" on it for some variety, which I appreciated (Mongan's Hypnobirthing CD doesn't have much variety)

With DD I did a Hypnobabies supplemental homestudy (CDs). That gave me extra scripts to listen to. It worked extremely well to relax me, but I didn't even use the CDs for DD's birth. I just did the relaxed breathing, breathing the baby down, etc. I just didn't feel the need for the CDs.

My midwife for DD's birth was incredible and I didn't tear at all that time (pushed in sidelying. With DS I ended up pushing semi-reclined and the midwife/nurse insisted on counting/coaching my pushing, which I had specified I didn't want. I had a small tear (2-3 stitches). With DD I felt strongly about avoiding any coached pushing and avoiding pushing on my back, as I think those things impacted my pushing phase with DS negatively.) While the tearing was very minor w/ DS's birth, no tearing was even better, especially with an older DC to chase around. The recovery was much easier. We went home 4 hours after DD's birth, and I was packing our bags while DH napped (it was the middle of the night). I felt fine and wanted to go home ;)

[buddyleebaby]

I just wanted to say congratulations!!

[lizajane]

it is such a hard thing to talk about labor pain. we all experience it so differently. to hear PP say that 90-95% of her labor wasn't painful is beyond imcomprehensible to me!! what a great thing- to be able to use hypnobabies and work through any pain. it isn't that i don't believe it works, i do! but i just can't get my head around having 95% of my labor be pain-free.

if you are famililar with the book "the highly sensitive child" then you might better understand when i say that i am HIGHLY sensitive. i feel cold, hot, pain, sound, etc etc more intensly than your average person. so does my son. when i get into my DH's shower, it BURNS me. my skin feels like it is BURNING and will have welts and blisters. DH thinks it feels great.

so when i went into labor, starting at -1 station with a 9.5lb baby, the pain was horrifying. and i was moving. and i was breathing. and i was moaning. but i was also vomiting. i was also doubled over. i couldn't talk. i couldn't walk. i could hardly take in oxygen! yes, the breathing helped a lot when i went into labor with dylan and got to the hospital at 5cm. the nurse was amazing and breathed with me and it was helpful. it did NOTHING to mask the pain. NOT ONE THING. i had no idea how i was going to sit up, much less sit up and push a person outta me! i was terrified. and i 1) had already have a baby before 2) was educated 3) did the breathing. i could not move around. i could not walk. i had contractions every 2 minutes that were 1 minute long. my knees buckled from the pain. i had to kneel in the registration area because if i hadn't, i would have falled on the floor. so while i think lamaze and bradley and hypnobabies and water birthing are WONDERFUL choices, i just can't possible imagine going from vomiting and buckled knees while doing lamaze breathing to "95% pain free."

so my answer to how did i deal with the pain is: i didn't. it was the most horrible thing i have ever felt. but my babies were the most amazing things i have ever felt. so i still remember that joy, and just push aside the memory of the pain.

(i got my epidural with dylan with 1 hour to go. it was amazing. i went from completely out of my head to completely engaged in my labor process. i felt him when i pushed, but as pressure not pain.)

[pb&j]

I was at 8-9 cm before I got an epidural w/DS. Honestly, it was painful but not that bad. I was lucky, because it all happened very fast. I didn't feel any contractions at all until after my water was broken (at 4cm) after which the cntx were coming fast and furious, w/no breaks in between. Even that wasn't so awful, partly because I knew that things were happening very quickly (went from 4 to 8cm in about an hour). I just did yoga breathing, and kept my eyes closed. Yes, it was painful, but I knew it was temporary, and it was for a good reason. That made it very tolerable. I can do anything as long as it's only temporary!

By the time the anes. showed up for the epidural, no one was sure if it was worth doing b/c I was so close to being completely dilated. However, by this time I was vomiting and my labor had slowed a little, so I went ahead and got the epi. Honestly, it was great, if for no other reason than I quit vomiting. How weird is it that intense contractions were just kind of "meh" for me on the tolerability scale but a little puking just sent me over the edge. :D

[KrisM]

Well, I've had 3 Cesarean births, but with the first two, my goal was no epidural. I did about 28 hours that way with DS and maybe 22 with DD. I did Bradley birth with DS and Hypnobabies with DD. I still felt pain, but I could manage it. The tub was fantastic. Certain positions helped a ton. Massage helped a lot.

[nupe]

I used the home study course for hypnobabies. I think the techniques helped me a lot. I did have a lot of pain for about an hour or so.

[missym]

I screamed a lot. :ROTFLMAO: It helped, though I scared the other mothers in the unit.

Congratulations!

[ThreeofUs]

Congratulations!

I went 30 hours without pain meds, during a pitocin labor that was *quite* hard, by focusing inward as hard as I could. DH and the doula both said I was unresponsive to them, but obviously aware and coping because I made them get rid of a nurse who was bothering me. At 30 hours, however, I was sure we were in a c-section situation, and I got the epi.

[brittone2]

it is such a hard thing to talk about labor pain. we all experience it so differently. to hear PP say that 90-95% of her labor wasn't painful is beyond imcomprehensible to me!! what a great thing- to be able to use hypnobabies and work through any pain. it isn't that i don't believe it works, i do! but i just can't get my head around having 95% of my labor be pain-free.



You know what is weird though? If I stub my toe, I freak out :32: DH and I laugh about it all of the time because labor is relatively painless for me, but something like stubbing my toe makes me swear like a sailor :ROTFLMAO: Seriously.

I honestly have no idea if I have a freakish tolerance for pain (I was a hard-core long distance runner back in the day, maybe that is part of it?) or what, but labor for me is more discomfort than pain (with DD I wasn't even convinced I was in active labor and I was already at 10 cm). I'm almost always able to talk through contractions (which always throws my midwives off. I have to let them know that talking to me on the phone in labor is not a good indication of whether I need to come in or not). For me, it feels like strong cramping but not pain per se.

I also remember w/ my labor with DS that I did a lot of reflecting beforehand on the emotional pain we went through with IF, and I knew that labor couldn't touch that type of pain. I was just so excited to meet DS. I'm not sure if that was a factor or not, but I do think it helped my mindset.

[pb&j]

I also remember w/ my labor with DS that I did a lot of reflecting beforehand on the emotional pain we went through with IF, and I knew that labor couldn't touch that type of pain. I was just so excited to meet DS. I'm not sure if that was a factor or not, but I do think it helped my mindset.

I hear you on that one. My first child was stillborn at 24 wks; I did not have an epidural, but had nubain and similar, which I hated for many reasons, but mostly because it took me completely out of the moment. Feeling the pain of labor with DS and being completely conscious for it was a happy thing for me. The pain wasn't trauma, it was a good thing (even though it hurt). His labor was far less painful emotionally than everything we had endured with the loss of his sister. The physical pain was nothing compared to the joy and relief of being in labor with a healthy baby!

[sarahsthreads]

I don't feel like I dealt with it very well - I believe I said more than once, in the 30 or so seconds I had between contractions, "What was I thinking?!? I want another c-section!" DH and my doula assured me later I was not *that* bad...

I woke up at 12:50 AM, pretty much immediately started having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, arrived at the hospital at 3 AM (only) at 4cm...and then 10 minutes later I was at 8cm...and 20 minutes later I was pushing...and DD arrived at 4:27 AM. So, the only way I could deal with it was that every part of it was short. (It sure didn't feel that way at the time, though!)

Actually, the hour and a half between when I woke up and when we left for the hospital were really manageable, but I couldn't stay on top of the contractions in the car and by the time we got there I didn't ever manage to catch my breath long enough to get back into a groove.

And I'm totally with a PP, I'm sure I scared the other moms in L&D! Looking back, though, I wouldn't change it, and I actually think I could do it again.

Sarah :)

[marit]

I had the exact same delivery like you describes with my second child. Only it took 14 minutes.

I dealt with the pain by screaming really hard.

Seriously. Count your blessings. Mazal Tov!!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

ETA- Congratulations!!!!

One thing was chosing not to have my water broken with ds2. I knew that would speed things up at the point we were considering it (7cm) and would make things more painful. I knew I could cope with what was going on but not much more. I finally did consent just b/c I wanted to be done. After that I had about 5-10 intense contractions that were really hard but then it was time to push. Transition is like that though. Just when you think you can't do it anymore that usually means you are almost done. :)

With both boys I just did whatever got me through the contraction. I used a lot of deep breathing and relaxation with ds2. Other things that helped were toning, water, position change, heat pad, back rubs, and music. Hearing kind words and positive, reassuring thoughts helped too.

I just knew I would do it so I did it. I had told myself before ds1 that I could do anything for a day- any more than that and I may rethink things.

Like others, I am a major wuss when it comes to pain but I could handle labor differently than stubbing my toe, getting a bee sting or something else like that. There is just something different about labor. I do know that even when it was really hard with ds1 I didn't choose pain meds because I was still concerned with the risks of the interventions.

Beth

[Georgia]

(i got my epidural with dylan with 1 hour to go. it was amazing. i went from completely out of my head to completely engaged in my labor process. i felt him when i pushed, but as pressure not pain.)

Thanks so much for saying this. :) I find the idea that you need to feel every pain to be truly engaged in a birth contrary to nearly every other life experience I can think of. Like you it was pain relief that helped me focus on the process. Remember that Maslow hierarchy of needs pyramid in all the intro psych books? Pain relief is definitely at the bottom of that pyramid for me! and makes the good stuff at the top possible.

[brittone2]

I hear you on that one. My first child was stillborn at 24 wks; I did not have an epidural, but had nubain and similar, which I hated for many reasons, but mostly because it took me completely out of the moment. Feeling the pain of labor with DS and being completely conscious for it was a happy thing for me. The pain wasn't trauma, it was a good thing (even though it hurt). His labor was far less painful emotionally than everything we had endured with the loss of his sister. The physical pain was nothing compared to the joy and relief of being in labor with a healthy baby!

I can't even imagine. :hug:

[SnuggleBuggles]

Thanks so much for saying this. :) I find the idea that you need to feel every pain to be truly engaged in a birth contrary to nearly every other life experience I can think of. Like you it was pain relief that helped me focus on the process. Remember that Maslow hierarchy of needs pyramid in all the intro psych books? Pain relief is definitely at the bottom of that pyramid for me! and makes the good stuff at the top possible.

I know that everyone has their own POV and thoughts on ideal birth experiences. I just wanted to explain why I wanted to go through labor without meds. I only plan to have 1-2 kids and I knew I would only be going through birth that many times. I wanted to experience it, for better or worse. I wanted to do it. It's not like running a marathon or climbing a mountain, something you could just decide to do or do repeatedly, you only get so many chances at it. I figured why not do it. Pain wasn't going to kill me. To me the pain was the process. Luckily it really was somthing that I could cope with and I found out a lot about myself by going through the whole experience. Wouldn't trade it for the world. :)

Beth

[Ceepa]

I was in so much labor pain that I was nauseated and mute. I seriously stopped talking because I was out of my head with discomfort. The meds made it possible for me to focus on the birth of DC.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

I was in labor 37 hours total. 18 hours of pit, no epi. DD was vacuum extracted, as she got stuck and came out sideways! It was horrible pain, and I hadn't slept for hours, but I would do it all over again!

[LGMmomma]

I had a home waterbirth which makes everything 100 times easier I think. My whole labor I could just 100% focus on myself-- no need to think about getting to the hospital, no need to worry about fighting with nurses about what interventions I did or didn't want, I could do whatever felt right at the time, and I could eat and drink whatever I wanted.

I just did what my body told me-- continued on with daily life all during early labor, then once transition hit I craved the darkness of the bathroom so I just labored on the toilet alone till my birth tub was filled up. For me, laboring in and out of the water was like night and day. In the water I didn't even have to focus on my breathing and I was TOTALLY relaxed. In the water I felt like I could labor like that for another 12 hours! I couldn't imagine having a baby without being in water.

I also took the Bradley Childbirth classes that were a great preparation.

[lizajane]

I was in so much labor pain that I was nauseated and mute. I seriously stopped talking because I was out of my head with discomfort. The meds made it possible for me to focus on the birth of DC.

:yeahthat:
except i was actually vomiting, not just nauseated. when i got to 3-4 min apart with schuyler, i literally thought i was going to die and wanted to go to the hospital right away. and i did not even SEE my L&D nurse for dylan until after the epi. i spent an hour with her and didn't even know if she was young or old or had purple hair... my head was buried so far into the mattress that you can see that one side of my face is covered in sweat in the photos and the other is not.

[lizajane]

You know what is weird though? If I stub my toe, I freak out :32: DH and I laugh about it all of the time because labor is relatively painless for me, but something like stubbing my toe makes me swear like a sailor :ROTFLMAO: Seriously.

I honestly have no idea if I have a freakish tolerance for pain (I was a hard-core long distance runner back in the day, maybe that is part of it?) or what, but labor for me is more discomfort than pain (with DD I wasn't even convinced I was in active labor and I was already at 10 cm). I'm almost always able to talk through contractions (which always throws my midwives off. I have to let them know that talking to me on the phone in labor is not a good indication of whether I need to come in or not). For me, it feels like strong cramping but not pain per se.

I also remember w/ my labor with DS that I did a lot of reflecting beforehand on the emotional pain we went through with IF, and I knew that labor couldn't touch that type of pain. I was just so excited to meet DS. I'm not sure if that was a factor or not, but I do think it helped my mindset.

when my mom first started to "witness" natural childbirth to me, i reminded her of the time i passed out in the mall when she took me to have my ears pierced. i never heard another word about it from her. i passed out and threw up when i got my mirena IUD!!!! so talk about freakish tolerance for pain... i have a freakishly LOW tolerance for pain. i have NO tolerance for pain. NONE. ZERO. and the funny thing is that i was always an athlete, have run a marathon, have played a basketball game with a broken finger... tough? yes. tolerance for pain? no. very visceral for me. not psychological.

[mudder17]

First, congratulations!!!

Second, I had two different experiences. With Kaya, I labored until 6 cm and then found out I had 3 hours of back labor left to go and opted for the epi. I was induced with her and so I was hooked up to the bed and basically couldn't do much in terms of alternative positions or anything like that. I also had your basic lamaze course, but it never prepared me to deal with the back labor. The epi was absolutely wonderful, except I didn't feel much at all and had trouble figuring out when the contractions were coming (I looked at the monitor and sort of went with the nurse's advice) and ended up with 4th degree tears--so very significant. I also ended up blacking out after the birth, because of low blood pressure, probably due to both the epidural and the blood loss, I think. Still, despite all that, I thought I had a positive experience with her because the epi came at just the right moment and because in the end, we had a healthy mom and baby AND she nursed well with no issues at all. If I were to go back and do it all again, I probably would have done it the same way because I just wasn't as educated about alternatives.

With my second, I read a lot more and decided to try hypnobabies and did all I could to avoid an induction (I was able to this time) and I walked through the entire hospital and up the stairs to the cafeteria to have a last meal while I was probably starting transition (hot/cold sweats, etc.). I had a doula with me and she told me to just follow my body and do what I thought it was saying. I was hungry, so I decided to walk up there with her and in the middle of my walk up the 3 flights of stairs, I think I probably hit transition, though I didn't realize what it was until she said something. But she said if I was still hungry to go for it. So we continued taking the steps one at a time and stopping at each landing to breathe through each contraction with a little counterpressure from her. After the meal, we made our way back down and they admitted me officially in the L&D room. They gave me the heplock and my atbx but let me move around freely in between the doses of the atbx. I drank water as I needed and I don't think it started to get bad until maybe 2 hours later? As it turned out, #2 was also sunny side up, so yeah, I had the back labor (it also explains why she wasn't progressing anywhere and I was at 5-6 cm for a week!). But we had a nurse practitioner who was a former midwife and she figured out she was turned the wrong way and helped me find positions to get into so that we could turn her. I remember at times I would need to sit on the toilet because it was more comfortable and other times wanting to get on my hands and knees on the bed at a slant, etc. It was kind of a surreal experience at times and I remember my doula just saying to take it one at a time and concentrate on my breathing and getting my body to "let go" and that really helped. Once we got her turned, I went from 6-8 in moments and the OB said at this point that breaking my water would probably get her out in 30 minutes, so we opted for that. Sure enough, 30 minutes later I felt the urge to push and she was out in 2 pushes with 1 contraction in between that was not quite good enough to push.

So no, hypnobabies did not take away any of the pain. But it made it manageable and in fact probably made it so that it wasn't worse (I was able to unclench each time).

[elephantmeg]

I did 18 hours of labor without an epidural (and pitocin) before having a c-section. I only made it to 5 cm though. Lets see, rocking in the chair, sitting on the birthing ball and stool, holding on to the bed (raised) while rocking back and forth, massage and the DOULA! The begining wasn't bad, even though it was an induction and I had to stay plugged into the monitor (no tub, no shower), I listened to soothing music, we talked etc. The last 10 hours, actually whizzed by but it really was one contraction at a time.