Did your epidural deliver the results you expected?

[bada]

Did your epidural/s deliver the results you expected?

multiple choice (for those who may have had multiple) poll to follow

[Mrs Nietzsche]

First time - no, ended up only working down part of one side.

Second time - no again, because I didn't expect it to work and it ended up being brilliant.

[sockstealingpoltergeist]

First one, I was told I should have after 30 plus hours of posterior labour, I was exhausted and they gave it to me in between contractions, so they put it in and out 3 times.:eek: I think it was unethical and dangerous. It did work , before I was whisked away for an emergency c section.

I still have some back issues where it went in.

Second one, I chose a spinal for my planned C section, and I had the shakes and felt sick. After I had some numbness down my left side (butt cheeks)for two years.

[bada]

Neither of my two delivered any pain relief.

My DD arrived within 30 mins of the second one. Now I know one reason why an epi may not work, is being over 7cm dilated which I assume I would have been at that point. I wish they'd checked my dilation before the second attempt :(

[Mrs Nietzsche]

It might have just been your spine bada? That's w hat I was told, some people have a tricky spine, with a membrane between the halves of the cord or something so that the epidural fluid doesn't cross the barrier properly and you get incomplete coverage of pain relief.

I was checked just after the epi and was 6cm, was at 9cm 40 min later

[bada]

It might have just been your spine bada? That's w hat I was told, some people have a tricky spine, with a membrane between the halves of the cord or something so that the epidural fluid doesn't cross the barrier properly and you get incomplete coverage of pain relief.

I was checked just after the epi and was 6cm, was at 9cm 40 min later

Yeah they told me it was likely my spine too.

But after looking into it, I'm inclined to believe I missed the window. My labour was less than 10 hours from being induced until delivery. At around 9 hours (still need to get my records) I was only 3cm (which is why I agreed to an epi, thinking I had at least 8 hours to go), seems it was a pretty eventful hour or so that I went from 3cm to 10cm. Still don't think I'll bother with it again if I can avoid it. I still get back pain from the epidural sites, 14 months later.

[Mrs Nietzsche]

This is totally not to the point of your OP - but I have dilated that fast both times at the end.. hours of not much and then a fast finish. A midwife recently told me that I might have a difficult pelvis for the baby's head to start moving through, but once started, dilation happens fast, primed after all those hours of contractions (for me not much happens for 20 hours in regards to dilation :gloomy:)

But you know you can do it without the epidural now so you will be right.. and not to pay to much attention to internals I guess.

[Pinky81]

I said yes- fortunately I believe I had a 'text-book' epidural meaning everything went as good as you would hope.
I was induced and asked for a epi pretty early on as the contractions came on hard and fast. It worked immediately and was bliss.
It only numbed my body and not my legs so I was able to go to the toilet myself and I didn't have to have a catheter. When I began to feel the contractions again I would tell the Midwife and she would top it up.
It began to wear off just before the second stage so I had some feeling back and was able to get into an upright position to push and my DD was born in 30 minutes of pushing.:cloud9:

I couldn't complain as I think I had it pretty easy for my first labor and I hope my next goes just as smoothly:fingerscrossed:

[xkwzit]

Both times my epidurals worked really well. I could feel the pressure of contractions, but they weren't painful. I could move my legs (wouldn't have trusted them enough to walk). I could feel my babies working their way down and could push when needed.

They worked well for me.

[SorenLorensen]

i have no complaints about mine, i got it in at around 28 hours into labor and it was such a relief.
i then had it topped up for an emergency c/s and while i felt what was going on it was numb and i felt no pain. i have also been very thankful not to have any after effects.

with DD2 i had a spinal and again it was a very positive outcome for me.

[Tam-I-Am]

Umm...sort of? :laughing:

It deadened the pain (all but a 50c sized piece down my right side - that DID numb later, but it took a good hour or so...), so in that respect yes.

I had NO understanding of the cascade of interventions though, and wasn't expecting them - so didn't expect the outcome I got (which included shivering, vomiting, and running a fever that night [all common side effects of epidurals], in labour - cord traction before the placenta detached, resulting in retained placenta, uterine infection x many, 18 weeks of post-partum haemorrhage which stopped at 19 weeks, 1 week after a D+C, and breastfeeding troubles galore).

So, yes and no. (How do I reply to your poll? :laughing:)

[reAllytee]

I was offered an epidural after being in labour for 3 days ( posterior & never advised this ! ) with no relief between contractions, vomitting pretty much every 10mins & not making it past 3cms dialated.

Yes it helped in that I had no pain etc, was able to relax, get some rest & all that jazz. I was then able to dialate the next 7cms in 4hrs without much hassle iykwim.

Problem was no-one was prepared for the affect it would have on me or Boof in terms of me being unable to truly push him out especially being on my back etc. It all became such an emergency situation that Boof was yanked out of me via ventouse ( vacuum ) after 3 goes with little regard to any damage done to me.

The result being that yep wow awesome I had a great scenario of a few hours of peace & rest out of a hard long labour to end up nearly losing my own life, my son's, losing bladder control, gaining a prolapse, major tearing & internal damage that even 4.5yrs on isn't rectified.

This all also led to my body shutting down & refusing to acknowledge physically that I had a newborn to feed, so didnt make milk & psychologically affecting my ability to bond with my newborn which to some degree still lingers now.

So no, I can definitely say that the results werent what I expected :no::(:(

[bada]

Tam, you definitely sound like a fit for 'other'!

Gawd I wish I'd read more stories on here before I made such a big decision. Lucky for me my labour was relatively short and well I ended up getting the natural birth I'd planned :rolleyes:. Oh well, at least now I definitely know for next time.

[MsMummy]

Yes, in that:

- I was in so much pain that I wanted a CS, so it avoided a bigger intervention
- my induced labour (also posterior) was "failing to progress", but once I had the epidural, then turned up the syntocin and I dilated the majority of the 10cm in a couple of hours
- it allowed me to relax and rest a little after hours of pain and terror

No, in that:

- it didn't completely numb my right hip. I could still feel the contractions there, but in the end, it was useful for timing pushing. The midwife couldn't seem to get the anaethetist back to fix it.

I have mixed feelings about having an epidural. On one hand, I'm thankful because I needed it. On the other hand, I'm angry it came about from having been induced, and my body just wasn't ready to labour.

[Mathermy]

God no! It was a pain in my @ss!:laughing:

It was a welcome relief when I got it, but i was confused as to why only one side felt better..so they kept getting me to roll back and forth..and I kept expecting the other side to work and it didn't and then they kept topping it up, and it was doing stuff all at that point and I could feel everything and was sick of everyone fussing over me so I told them to bugger off!:D

and then because I had had it they wouldnt allow me to get up and shower so they washed me :barf:

i wish i hadn't had it but was told "if you want an epi you had better get one now because so and so will be unavailable :ecomcity:" and I was like :eek: well what if it gets to later and i want one? I always thought it would be an option (up until a certain point of progression of course!) available for if/when I decided i needed it-not something only available while such and such was here ..


grrrr.

[~Bec~]

I had an epi with James and it went really well. I managed to get some much needed sleep/nap during afterwards and was more comfortable than I had been in months. (I had a back injury at 5 months which prevented me from sleeping more than about 2 hours without getting up and walking out the stiffness and pain for a few mins.) I couldn't feel a thing from about my tummy downwards which meant that I had absolutely no control over my legs. I did, however, feel a distinct difference in the contractions when it came time to push and realised that it was time to push before the mws. Being on your back though is not an optimum way of birthing and most likely contributed to the 3rd degree tear I got. In that instance I was very glad of the epi and believe that it saved me from getting a cs.

However, in saying that I hope to avoid the same circumstances for any future babies and would prefer to avoid an epi.

[2girls&1boy]

I had to vote Yes, No & Other

My first (other) - the epidural only worked down one side so I was still feeling the contractions albeit a lot milder.

My 2nd (no). - My labour progressed too quickly for the pain relief to keep up so I felt the entire thing.

My 3rd (yes) - and it was glorious & a wonderful birthing experience.

[~Temet Nosce~]

It did give me 12 hours of pain free (mostly) labour yes. But.. 12 hours on my back was just too much, I believe if I had of been active that dd would have come alot sooner. Won't get doing it again.
I also believe it's the cause of alot of lower back problems I have had since dd's birth.