If you're wanting to avoid medical pain relief, make sure you're armed with alternatives. I found hot water a great relief, as well as hitting stress balls against the wall. I also had a TENS machine, and heat packs. I had water injections which helped with the back pain. I've heard Calmbirth techniques are great too. All of my pain relief techniques helped me avoid an epidural (and, I believe, a c-section).
Oh goodness, I hated pethidine. Never again! DD1's labour was induced and I had the synto cranked up to max - dilated from fully closed to 10cm in about four minutes! And of course, there was paaaaiiiiinnnnn. I have a phobia about catheters so wouldn't let anybody come within cooee of me with the mere suggestion of an epidural, I'd rather have died than have a catheter (not afraid of the needles involved at all, just a tube stuck in my peehole. Go figure.). So, my options (seeing as I was in a regional-area base hospital where your options for birthing are 1: on the bed, 2: on the bed, 3: on the bed, and NO WATERY PLACES ARE ALLOWED, not even a 10-minute shower before your waters break!) were either pethidine, gas, or a combination of the two. I tried gas at first, it hit me like smoking weed used to, took the edge off and made me a bit dopey but nothing major. Brought out the big guns with peth - hah! Felt sick, fell asleep between contractions but when they hit (every 25-40 seconds after coming down off the one before), I woke up literally screaming in pain, it didn't do a damn thing except make me feel awful and tired and I couldn't use my body to push efficiently any more as it was too slack from the drugs to get on with things. So I was just laying there thrashing around and yelling in excruciating pain, without being able to do anything to get my baby out, I started panicking and it all went downhill from there!
Second labour, I had a couple of puffs of gas to take the edge off again, I'm a former pot-head so I can keep a totally clear head through the haziness of the gas (even though it's a different drug entirely, the feeling is so similar that I know how to take it), refused any and all suggestion of peth, and had a fully posterior birth all by myself The experience was so much better. After DD1, I had a PPH and while it was near-fatal (Dr's words, not mine!), I believe I would have handled it better had I not been drugged out of my gourd and powerless to comprehend what was happening and still panicking about the birth - DD1 was safe and sound and I was so smashed and unable to understand what was happening, I remember thinking it was okay that I was dying because DH was going to look after DD1 and be an awesome father... Ugh. The memory is horrible. You're definitely not alone in those feelings. I'd never go for it again, after my own experience and hearing so many similar stories from others, I really wonder why they even offer it as an option! :/
The experience was so much better. After DD1, I had a PPH and while it was near-fatal (Dr's words, not mine!), I believe I would have handled it better had I not been drugged out of my gourd and powerless to comprehend what was happening and still panicking about the birth - DD1 was safe and sound and I was so smashed and unable to understand what was happening, I remember thinking it was okay that I was dying because DH was going to look after DD1 and be an awesome father... Ugh. The memory is horrible. You're definitely not alone in those feelings. I'd never go for it again, after my own experience and hearing so many similar stories from others, I really wonder why they even offer it as an option! :/
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks