natural after drugs

[levi'smum]

hello has any one gone all natural after a first pregnacy with drugs?? i had them all pethadine made me slack and tired and was horrible, gas made me sick and dizzy and epidural was dreadful i was stuck in bed for like 7 hours unable to move or feel any thing. so this time i plan to go all natural i feel i will be more in control. will i manage or will the pain be unbearable?? any one done this???

[DoulaRelle]

Levis mum, I had the whole lot with No 1 including a forcep delivery with n epidural that did not work properly amoung other things.

DS2 I was induced and did it with just the gas, but I tend to lose concept of time etc and I don't really like it.

This time I am planning to go all natural including letting the cord pulsate and no injection, so if you want it, I think you can do it!

Goodluck!

[MrsBump]

Hi Levismum,
I had the gas for my DD, i nearly sucked it out of the wall!!
With DS i had 2 puffs of it and threw the thing across the room.
With this one i am not planning on having anything. Let us see how well i go!!
But i did feel better after DDs birth as it was a spontanious labour whereas DSs was induced.

[Fi]

#1 I had the works. Almost fully dialated without any drugs after being induced, then had: gas, epidural, syntocin, scalp monitor, catheter, episiotomy and finally a forceps delivery
#2 daughter - only 20m after the first child was completely natural, no drugs whatsoever.
It was brilliant, only a couple of times felt I wasn't going to make it, but it was a totally different labour and birth. All good

[Snacks]

Levis mum, you can do it if that's what you really want. Get some support for yourself and believe in your decision. All the best for your birth!

[BellyBelly]

Its absolutely possible. First I had an epidural, second I had nothing. First births often involve pain relief, big learning curve

[chickenlittle]

I had gas (useless for me) and epidural for 1st.
This time I'm going to try to go natural.
Have a hypno-birthing course to help me this time... fingers crossed.

[levi'smum]

thanks nice to know a lot of you have done it was just wondering was the pain worse with no pain relief or did you feel more in controll ??? i only have 15 days am so excited and scared thanks again.

[mooshie]

levi's mum

with #1, i had gas (made me chuck) and pethidene made me worse, (i was to scared to have an epidural and just battled through) in the end i had a forceps delivery after around nearly 2 1/2 hrs of pushing

#2, i was determined to do it with any drugs, the lovely midwife burnt clary sage and another oil in a burner, put on some relaxation music and brought in the gas, i said no way to the gas (she said it was there for just in case) i spent the majority of my labour in the shower using the hot water as pain relief and i coped so well, i was amazed. afterwards i swear i could have got up and run a marathon.

#3 well she was a bit to quick to have anything (1 hour) however i did ask for an epidural just as she was crowning pmsl. i did want to labour in the bath but she was born before the bath was even filled lol

you can do it, you can do anything. good luck

[Aranah]

Levi's mum - When I was pg with my first, I read too many bad things about drugs and had a phobia of them, I was mainly scared of them causing a migraine more than anything, and also hindering BFing, so I resolved to not have them.

With my first, I had no drugs and even no gas (as I was afraid of the gas causing a migraine, I'm very prone to migraines). I had a posterior labour and it was induced at 37 weeks. Ds was born with a few problems which would have been way worse if I had have had an epi or peth. This strenghtened my resolve to never have drugs. Total 'heavy' labour time was 8 hours.

With my second, same deal. I went into spontaneous labour, although 6 hours in did require a membrane rupture. I had a posterior labour and birth, and refused all drugs. Total time was 10 hours.

The way I handled it was concentrating during the contraction on the end of the contraction. I counted very slowly through each one, picturing the numbers in my head and everytime I saw this number zoom away it was a victory as it was one second closer to the end of the contraction. I don't know if that makes sense lol.

Transition stage with both was very hard to get through. For me it helped to be on my knees, leaning on a big gym ball with the shower on my back. Also a lot of pressure applied to my back helped, but I had a posterior labour and the back pain is much worse than contractions (that's how it felt anyway). Also having a rolled up hand towel clamped in my mouth to bite on when the pain was really bad really really helped, I'm not sure why.

I found with both births, I felt really spaced out and in the last 2 hours like I was on the roof looking down at myself. The midwives explained to me this was my endorphins, one big plus to not having pain relief is that the natural endorphins take over and kind of separate you from the pain....I think it's like adrenalin, a hormone of sorts? It only happens if you don't have drugs.

Big thing too is that I was totally mobile after both births, walked back to the ward, was very very alert and on a 'high' of sorts.

This time around I'm planning on doing natural again and I'm just requesting my big ball and a shower. Also I want to try a big bath this time as apparently they have one in the birth centre, and I'm hoping to be allowed to deliver there instead of the delivery suite.

Definately worth it. I was aged just turned 19 with my first, and just turned 21 with my second. If I could do it then, anyone can give it a whack.