Hi guys, it's Melissa.
So, welcome back to CloudMom.com.
This is the second video I'm doing in a series on "Giving birth to your baby', where were
talking about the pain of childbirth and the choices that you have in terms of whether
to have a natural childbirth or to have an epidural injection.
And I'm sharing my experiences because I had natural childbirth twice, and three times
I had an epidural injection.
So, check out my other video on natural childbirth.
But in terms of the epidural, I'll just describe a little bit what happened in terms of the
procedure at the hospital where I was, and I know that this can vary and there are different
kinds of epidurals, and I'm gonna link through to an informative piece actually from my site
in terms of explaining what happens with epidurals and what are the types of medications that
are administered.
In my case with my second baby, Lachlan, I did have time to get an epidural.
The labor was progressing much more slowly than it did with my first baby and my third
baby, Hedley and Beckett.
Those were my two natural childbirth babies, where even had I wanted an epidural, I wouldn't
have the choice because the baby was coming so quickly.
But with Lachlan, the labor was happening a little more slowly over the course of several
hours, so I opted to get one, remembering that it had been quite painful to experience
the contractions with the first baby.
And what happened is an anesthesiologist was called, he came to my room not after too long
of a time, a gown was placed over me and there was a sort of a hole in the gown on the back.
Actually, I think he separated the gown and I remember a piece of almost plastic was placed
on to my back to keep things safe and clean.
Then I was given a numbing medication, and then towards the bottom of my lower back I
was given the epidural injection.
It was painful to me, and it was a little scary to me.
And to be honest, I don't think that I was as well-informed about the benefits and risks
as I am now, and looking back I'm not sure I would've made the decision to have the epidural
again knowing what I know now.
But anyway, so that happened, and then after that point the contractions I had before the
baby was actually coming were in fact much less painful than what had happened with the
first baby when I did not have an epidural.
That is for sure because those contractions were very painful.
However, I did find that once the baby was coming and I was starting to push...
Under the doctor's instructions, you take a deep breath and then you push and they tell
you how long to do it for, it wasn't actually so different.
So, when people tell me that they felt nothing, I'm sort of always surprised because I really
felt it at that point, and I didn't think there was such a big difference between having
a natural childbirth and not having a natural childbirth.
The next day I had less pain and soreness when I had had an epidural, and I think that
was sort of the effects of the medicine that were still present in my body.
I didn't have trouble walking or any other side effects that I found to be unpleasant
the next day.
But, I did sort of in the end, ask myself, each time I had the epidural, "did I really
need it, was it really that helpful?"
Especially during the part where I was actually birthing the baby because I still found it
quite painful.
Maybe my epidural wasn't working totally properly in the right places, and that can happen,
but anyway, that was sort of my experience.
And I do think going through this that...
You know I had five different deliveries, but they were all pretty quick.
And I think that each delivery is so completely different, and only you know what it's like
to be inside your body and what your feeling.
And many people say that an epidural which can take away some of the pain can result
in a much more positive birthing experience because you're less weighted down by the pain
and you're more present to enjoy what it feels like to be giving birth to your baby.
So, I would say, just as I say with the whole breast feeding thing, that this is not an
area where any of us moms should really be judging any other mom because we don't what
it feels like inside her body, and we all have to make what we think is the best decision
for ourselves and for our babies.
So, anyway here I am.
Two times natural childbirth, three times an epidural, and in the end I'm proud of all
the deliveries, and I felt like I ended up with a healthy baby.
So, God bless.
Anyway, if you have any other questions for me about my experiences with these things,
I'm delighted to answer them and I plan on doing more shows in the future about the specifics
of what is an epidural and the medicines involved in that.
But anyway, that's today's video on my experiences with the epidural.
So, thanks so much for watching, and if you would like to share your experiences, please
comment on my site.
I would love to hear what you went through, and it would be so interesting for me because
I love reading about other moms and what they went through with their babies.
So, thanks so much for watching CloudMom, and I will see you next time.