Apple, I loved Bonnie's birth story.

In some ways it reminded me a lot of Aidan's, particularly:

"I thought about what to do in my head for a good 15 minutes, and then asked if I could “try something else.” In my head I meant an epidural, but knew they would want me to try pethidine first!"

I remember doing exactly the same thing, thinking I wanted an epidural sooo bad but was scared of feeling "beat" and knowing that they would offer the pethidine anyway. I also had gas and pethidine so maybe I will try the TENS machine next time, it sounds like it worked really well for you.