To Epi or not to Epi?

My entire pregnancy, Ryan and I have talked about how great a natural, drug-free birth would be. But always in the back of my mind lingered doubts that I could handle it. I talked myself out of it long before I had information to make an educated choice in either direction.

After this class I know that I want to try to have a natural birth with no Epidural! Jo-Nell did her darndest to not steer us in either direction based on her personal feelings. But when there are so many risks and possibilities of problems, it isn't a hard choice to make!

Based on what I have learned, here are the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

• Very Effective Pain Relief
• Gives Mom a chance to rest
  (I'm sure there are more, but this is pretty much all the book views as advantages)
  

Disadvantages:

• Numbness in legs for up to 8 hours after your baby is born
• Often will offer areas of incomplete relief - I have been reading so many stories of only half of the woman's body going numb but being able to feel everything on the other half.
• May cause fever (which will require more medication), itching & nausea
• May lower your blood pressure (which will require more medication and constant monitoring of baby's heart rate)
• IV fluids are required to try and help maintain blood pressure - these fluids may cause shivering
• May cause a slower labor which could lead to pitocin (more medication!) to speed up the process.
• May decrease ability to push effectively which could lead to assisted delivery (C-Section)
• Backaches/headaches for days or even months/years after birth
• May interfere with a baby's attempts at breastfeeding because the baby is woozy from the medication.
  

The video of Epidural Placement gave me the shivers! The needle goes into a membrane in your spinal column, and a catheter is inserted and is left in your back the entire labor process. The tube is taped to your back and is attached to a machine that pumps morphine into your body. (I've had morphine in the hospital before...it's great! But if you are like me and you have been avoiding taking even a baby aspirin your entire pregnancy, the thought of my baby having morphine before its even born really freaks me out!)

This video is not the one we got to watch in class, but it shows the process of getting an Epidural.




The risks, in my eyes, outweigh the advantages. However, I have never experienced the pain of childbirth - I have nothing but the utmost respect for women who have endured this blessed event no matter how their birth process took place!

I will have an Anesthesiologist on standby if I feel I have made a decision I can't stick with. Also, because I have tested positive for Group B Strep, once my water breaks I have a window of approximately 2 hours to have the baby without mandatory induction. After that a possibility of Pitocin might have to be discussed. I have read that the contractions from being induced with Pitocin are close to unbearable - another reason an Epi might be welcomed. Heck, if this (not so) little one ends up truly being 10 pounds I might even have to have a C-Section. But I'm staying positive and praying for a healthy baby no matter how it happens.
There are so many possibilities, but for the first time in my pregnancy I have a very strong will to give it everything I've got and try with no medication! With my Husband holding my hand and guiding me through the pain, I think I can do it! Thank you for the kind words of encouragement, Moms, Grandma, family & friends....I appreciate you being such great cheerleaders and supporting me no matter what!