Epidurals

[Lewis'mummy]

I am thinking of having one and wanted to know peoples experiences, good or bad!
Does it hurt having it done and what can you still feel??

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

I love epidurals...i wanted one soo much i didn't care if it hurt or not... nothin could hurt more than labour

I could still feel when i needed to push but nothin else

 

[krystal&jack]

i wanted one but due to some complications then Jack coming quickly I didn't manage to have one - i was so scared of the thought before labour but once i felt the pain of my contractions I din't care if it was a fot long needle I just wanted that epidural

 

[Tangerinedream]

I was in that much pain I didnt even notice anything to do with the epidural being administered, except when it was done. The first time they tried it didnt work and i just remember yelling 'why isnt it working!!!!!!!' they tried again and it did work that time except for a small band of pain i could feel on the front of my bump, but to be honest i didnt care as it was a million times better than without one. When it came to push i was complaining that it was hurting again and the midwife said its pressure you can feel, not pain. When i thought about it i was like, oh yeah... lol

one thing i didnt like about it was that i was shivering uncontrolably, it was horrible. i couldnt stop myself. Also my hand hasnt been right since i had the canula in it... anyone else find that?

 

[Becksss]

I had 1 it was really good cos the contractions were SO painful as the stuff was going in my epidural was only working on 1 side so when a contraction came i half felt it
but then it was fully working and u culd even sleep through contractions
but i culdnt cos i was so hungry but wasnt allowed food
and then i had to have a section u can still feel stuff but not painfully it felt like sum1 was washing up inside me
haha n then it wore off while they had me open i demanded to be put to sleep and i was out

haha when i woke up i asked for food asap

 

[Urchin]

For my first I had an epidural and for my second I waited too long and was coping well so by the time I asked the lady got delayed and I didn't get one.

Trust me, next time I'm going to get my order in early!

 

[Redshoes]

Epidurals can have differing effects so until you have it it's hard to know, on the day you will know whether it's right for you or not, I didn't want one but after a drip induction I found the contractions too much and had an epidural. It wasn't a nice experience but it certainly took 100% of the feeling away, and that's what I wanted. Asl your MW about how exactly it's administered and how it works, and very best wishes

 

[Minxy]

Loved it and at the time couldn't care less about the needle.

No one told me to stop topping it up though and as a result was numb when it came to pushing and ended up with ventouse and episiotomy so I would think twice about having it next time.

 

[Squiglet]

I walked into the Labour ward begging for my epidural because I had been warned that if there was a shortage of anaesthetists they might not be able to give me one at short notice... So I wasn't going to risk it.. I ordered mine as a walked through the door... I had to wait two hours from 1cm to 3cm dilation before they would let me have one...

I was having irregular contractions, from 2 to 3 minutes from the moment I went into labour, so it was really exhausting, and the anaesthetist said he had never seen a woman sit so still through so many contractions...just because I wanted it in so bad... They can't put it in though seemingly unless it's between contractions ?

When they put it in it was fantastic, I had one of the modern mobile epidurals which aren't as strong as normal so you can still feel the contractions, and run off a drip so that it doesn't run out. But I was silly and was so tired, I immediately laid down on my side, so I ended up having contractions down one side and not the other, so they had to come back pull the needle out a bit and put it back in...None of this hurt or mattered though.

I believe the epidural saved my daughters life and mine too... Tia went into severe distress just all of a sudden and if it hadn't have been for the constant monitoring you have to have with the epidural they wouldn't have known until it was too late, plus I retained my placenta and started haemorrhaging badly...with the epidural in they just put another bag of a stronger solution up to give me a spinal block and rush me to surgery.

I've heard stories of people getting terrible migraines or back problems with their epidural, but I have two slipped disks in my lower lumber area and there was no problems after. Epidurals FTW...

 

[Vicki & Nathan]

i didnt feel them actually putting it in. nathan was back to back and was having really bad pains in my back so asked for a epidural straight away! the first 2 doses didnt really work it only numbed one leg and my other leg half way up so i had all my contractions on my right hip!
i was just about to have my third dose but they decided then they had to get him out.
i wont hesitate to have it again next time

 

[Beany]

Removed due to deciding too personal for public viewing

 

[bowmanzoo]

Hi

I've had two epidurals, one with my first son back in 1999 and no didnt feel a thing when they did it. I didnt like the feeling after the labour of hevey legs which you can not move because you're basically paralised from the hips down for a while after, can't tell you how long for but seemed like ages. Took away all my labour pain with son one who was a section baby and again had one with son number two and again took all pains away to the point I didnt even feel him being born and I would highly recommend a epidural. I know i'm going to ask one with number four if that ever happens.

I have suffered from sharp paralysing pains in my back since 1999 but I don't know if I can blame the epidural as I used to be a care assistant for the elderly and a stupid one at that because half the time I didnt use a hoist but instead got someone else to help me lift as I didnt like seeing the clients in a sling but that could have quite easily have caused problems in my back.

I higly recommend a epidural

 

[enn]

epidural hurt?

no way i had to have it in theatre so they could sew me up from having a tear which was totally my fault. omg people on here and on tv saying how much they hurt i had it and omg whats teh fuss all about?

i had the drip thing in my hand too when they was inserting it jordan had it with the the baby shes just and and omg she said it hurt. i had it and it didnt. maybe im just good with pain dunno but it didnt hurt me. epidural to me was jsut like an injection. the hand one just felt like someone sticking a pin in my hand and that was it. plus them people in theatre was wonderful and done nothing but talk to me the whole time and explained exactly what they was doing. was wonderful i wanted to stay there forever. but when i was leaving my oh and emily i said i hope to be back. i shed a tear but hid it well

i have to get round to writing my birth story and the leading up to it like from monday as i was in labor till fri morning so my daughter can read it when shes older

 

[Vicki & Nathan]

im usually really bad with needles but i was in so much pain i didnt care about the needle in my hand