What was your pain relief of choice?

After a baby shower where the talk turned to pain relief choices, Sarah looks at options.

Read the full blog post: What was your pain relief of choice?

Posted 07 April 2011 - 03:37 AM

My labour was for 27 hours so got the joy of trying everything! I started with gas, then tried morphine and lastly had the epidural. But near the end the epidural started to wear of so i started to feel the contractions again but least everything else was still numb wink

Posted 07 April 2011 - 04:59 AM

my labour was pretty short for my fist child and i had the gas which made me feel worse and slightly angry because i couldnt suck it out so i had pethadine it was fantastic although they relised that the reason i was in so much pain was because my son was ready to come out haha but i still enjoyed my drug smile my patner enjoyed the gas though lol.

Posted 09 April 2011 - 07:24 PM

For my first I had gas -this definitely helped and was enough.
When doing the birthing plan for my twin's I was thinking that I would need to have something a little more stronger as I was delivering 2 babies, -labor was so fast that by the time I made it to the hospital when I asked for gas or something I was told there was no time and they were born not long after with no pain relief.
Having no pain relief for twins got me thinking on my last DS -we planned a home birth, and once again I had a short labor (but a 9pound 10 baby!!) -I loved having a home birth and really feel I was a lot more relaxed being in my own surroundings.

Posted 09 April 2011 - 08:18 PM

I started with the TENS machine which helped in the beginning but then became not enough so i tried the gas. That just succeeded in making me feel ill so i gave up on that. So I ended up having nothing for the last few hours of labour and im so glad i did. Even tho it hurt to buggery! smile Next time i wouldnt mind trying nothing at all!

Posted 09 April 2011 - 08:39 PM

I went into early labour the night before i was going to be induced which was at 11.30pm so my midwife decided that we would let labour happen by itself and not be induced. By 12 mid day the next day i was still in early labour and they contractions had started slowing down again so my midwife decided that, yes, i will be induced. That day at 3pm i was induced, hard labour started straight away and lasted for 5hours. I was in such pain and it was all in my lower back (having a bad back to start with didn't help) in my birthing plan i decided on gas only. Whilst in labour i tried the gas but couldn't suck it in properly, 5min later, my water breaks so it's too late for anything else so i ended up doing it all naturally with an 8lb 2oz baby FOR MY FIRST!!! I am so happy i didn't have drugs though.

Posted 10 April 2011 - 07:30 AM

i went into labour at 37 weeks my waters broke at 3pm on a friday and i gave birth to my baby boy at 6 23pm on saturday so my labour was 27 hrs and 23 mins sad i tryed the gas but it made me feel heaps sick so i decided to have an epidural but by the time i was ready to push i was feeling everything but its all worth it in the end smile

Posted 16 April 2011 - 12:15 AM

Hi, Ive had 3 labours and approaching my 4th. My first I had gas and tens as she was posterior and I got alot of back pain. At the time it didnt seem like the gas was doing much and ended up being sick. The tens was good to a point. After 6hrs labour and immense back pain I decided for a epidural - but after advice that she would be born and not wanting the drugs to effect my DD I decided against it. At this stage they didnt realise her head was on an angle - finally tho 3hrs later she was born with the help of vacumm suction.

My 2nd was an extremely quick labour - 3hrs and again had gas and was sick.

My 3rd I had a waterbirth which was nice as I found it really relaxing - I decided not to have any pain relief as the thought of being sick again didnt appeal to me. I realise now that the gas didnt take the pain way but did take the edge of - I swear I could feel her moving down the birth canal and it was quite intense. 5 hour labour for her so I cant complain.

Now expecting 4th in bit over 6wks and I think I will try the gas again. Im not a fan of needles and the thought of one being put in your spinal cord really doesnt sit well with me. I guess as a last resort I would have it but hoping I wont need to.

Posted 18 April 2011 - 08:54 AM

I had the gas and it made me very ill, my mother could hardly keep up the supply of empty containers! I then had pethadine. Im sure it helped with the pain but i really dont remember much after having it as i was so detached and spaced out. I hated not being in control.
Im 23wks pregnant now with my 2nd and i feel my options are and epi or nothing at all....hrrrmmmmm unsure

Posted 19 April 2011 - 05:55 AM

I am currently 25w3d pregnant with my first and I have already spoken with the hospital about whether or not I would have an epidural - I decided that I would try without it, but I will be trying the tens machine and gas. I am hoping that's enough, but we'll have to wait and see - some of these stories are making me very nervous! I don't think I should read birth stories anymore lol

Posted 20 April 2011 - 11:58 PM

With the Birth of the second child I had everything (gas, Pethadine and Epidural). I was not planning on having a Epidural but in the end I had it. I had a difficult labour. I end up having 2 extra tops. The Gas made my head spin. Pethidine did not do any any thing but the Epidural was great due to level of pain.

Posted 21 April 2011 - 01:21 AM

My labour was nearly 22 hours and my littleman was back to back with me so they gave me pethadine to start with I had 2 shots of that and then decided I wanted an epidural as the pethidine wasnt helping and it was making me physically ill near the end of my labour the epidural was starting to wear off but they still delivered him without it hurting me

Posted 21 April 2011 - 01:43 AM

i was a tricky case, i had dialted 2 days b4 i actually gave birth but i was put off having my water broken because i had 2 seizures, and because of the seizures i was naturally very very tired and didnt hav much energy. my waters were broken at 5pm, and she was born my 8pm so three hrs is fantastic. i only had one mouthful of gas but because i was already abit out of it, it didnt help at all, so apart from one breath of gas i had nothing. heaps of ppl tell me getting induced is horrible, yeah its is but in my case its gr8, and im hoping to hav it again this time round. reason behind it is, well, i miss out on the painful build up of labour and even tho the slap in the face contractions, start hard and fast, my labour was over very quickly and i was off the bed in 10 minutes after having her. they told me if i get induced again it will b down to about 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hours labour. so im prayin for induction this time, loll

Posted 21 April 2011 - 05:43 AM

went the first 9 hours with nothing, then tried the gas which also did nothing (i found out AFTER giving birth that it had been on the lowest setting the entire time and once i turned the setting up and had a mouthful i was spacey AS so im annoyed that no one told me i could adjust it LOL)

i then had pethedine which did nothing.

Posted 21 April 2011 - 11:43 PM

I had an 8 1/2 hour labour with no drugs, the only thing I was offered was water injections in my spine which is a nature pain relief that stopped the contractions in your back for a short period of time. Recommend these to stop back pain.

Posted 07 May 2011 - 11:37 AM

I had 2 panadol at home (haha) and a little bit of gas just at the height of my contractions before I started pushing. Was adoment not to have pethadine due to the effects it has on baby..PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE GOING INTO LABOUR!!! I had an 8hr labour with 2 hours of pushing. The gas diddnt really do much I dont think, except make me really tired. Hoping to have nothing this time, fingers crossed!!

Posted 09 May 2011 - 07:00 AM

i didnt want pain relief when i made my birth plan nor did i want a cesa but unfortunatly i was 2 weeks over an had to be induced i had epidural shot at 9am an every hour until my daughter was born by emergency cesa at 11.11pm that night(i had panadol from 2am til the epidural at 9am)i also tryed the gas but it made me dizzy!

Posted 13 May 2011 - 01:20 AM

i didnt want pain relief when i made my birth plan nor did i want a cesa but unfortunatly i was 2 weeks over an had to be induced i had epidural shot at 9am an every hour until my daughter was born by emergency cesa at 11.11pm that night(i had panadol from 2am til the epidural at 9am)i also tryed the gas but it made me dizzy!

Posted 13 May 2011 - 01:20 AM

i wos only in layba for 2 hours nd i think 2mines i went 2 the hospatill at 1.30am nd i had my baby gurl at 2.32am i only had the gass it helped me alot

Posted 14 May 2011 - 09:55 AM

What was your pain relief of choice?

SCREAM! Worked a treat too! lol

#1 was drugfree (2890g, 1hr 30min labour) he was born a few minutes after arriving in the delivery suite, so no time for pain relief

#2 used gas and scream, (4460g, 7hr labour) much more in control with this labour, it progressed nicely, wasn't intense, this was the best labour of all of mine

#3 used gas and scream, (4600g, 1hr 13min labour) his heart rate dropped, I was rolled on my side during contraction - not fun, and he was born 2 contractions later

#4 drugfree and scream , (4040g, 50min labour) bub arrived in caul, a few minutes after arriving in the delivery suite - no time for pain relief - she was nearly born in the emergency department.

#5 drugfree, (4880g, 18min labour) with a few choice "sh *t" swear words thrown in, no actual screaming.. Intense, extremely painful, and caused a heap of damage to my body during and afterwards. Not something I would wish on anyone....

Posted 16 May 2011 - 04:10 AM

I had four normal births and no pain relief. smile

Posted 16 May 2011 - 05:07 AM

i never really had a plan of what to go with - went with the flow....
ended up on gas only - loved the feeling, and took the edge off the contractions. i am pregnant now with #2 not sure wat to do, will go in with the same view n see wat happens.

Posted 18 May 2011 - 04:45 AM

With DS I was already 8cm when I got to the Hospital. I couldn't push him out so I had a vacuum extraction, without drugs. (I had pethadine and gas when I got there, but had worn off well before delivery).

So I swore I would never have anymore children. I would rather die than go through that again. But as the story goes I ended up with 3 children.

DD1 - Epidural straight up 2.25 hour labour

DD2 - Epidural straight up 1.45 hour labour.

With my first epidural they only gave me a partial, so I could still walk and feel the contractions, but they didn't hurt. With my 2nd I ask them to soup the drugs up so I couldn't feel anything. They gave me the good stuff, and oh my god it was bliss. Could not feel a darn thing, watched tele with hubby, middy came in and head was almost hanging out. Delievered in less than a minute. Awesome.

Posted 21 May 2011 - 01:29 AM

With #1 I was so sure I would be fine without any drugs... laugh
How wrong I was!!
I begged for a c-section just to end it all, but got an epidural instead smile

Best thing ever!!!!

With #2 as soon as it got a bit much, went straight for the epi and loved it..

#3 Asked for epi as soon as I got to the hospital, Dr couldn't get it in and/or working, so they gave me a 'new' morphine-based drug. can't remember the name, but they said they only gave it to me because the epi failed... It was really nice smile
Not as nice as an epidural, but I was off my chops and it was ok:)
Tried gas but it didn't do a lot...

Epidural all the way!!! grin

Posted 21 May 2011 - 09:28 AM

I requested for nothing with both.

#1 I had contractions all afternoon, was given Panadol and tranquillizers to get back to sleep until I was fully dilated. Then after I woke up, I had a shower in a lot of pain and sucked on gas until DD8 was born.

#2 After realising that I didn't know enough about birth the first time, I got books from the library, the most helpful one being about Hypnobirthing and I was not only totally without drugs - although I did use a heat pack on my back for about a week prior - but I had a good time, it all ended with a lot of grunting, but Mr. Men actually seemed funny. So did everything else.

I totally recommend at least reading about Hypnobirthing and practicing it at home because everything is explained so you feel in control. Only if I had the classes do I think it would have gone better.

Posted 22 May 2011 - 12:37 PM

I had the gas which made me feel a bit tipsy but i didn't find it helped with the pain at all. I skipped the pethidine because it can have an affect on the babys breathing after its born and opted for an epidural. Im glad i did. The only problem i found with it is that the midwife had to tell me when to push because i couldn't feel the contractions and it was hard to tell if i was pushing or not. Next time round id prob opt for an epidural again

Posted 02 June 2011 - 11:34 PM

i only had gas with all 3 of mine and problery only have gas this time 2

Posted 03 June 2011 - 12:44 AM

#1 Pethadine...I had contractions at home for two days without sleep and finally went to the hospital and was only 2cm dilated. Got a sleeping pill and went back home...then back to the hospital and tried the gas but I found it too hard to breathe it in with my contractions so went for the pethadine. I was pretty spacey and still used the gas some times but I just laid in the bath for 3 hours until she was ready to come. It was great. I was so exhausted and really needed the break. I got a good rest before the final hour of pushing!

Posted 06 June 2011 - 11:08 AM

We are two days from due date (June 2011). My partner and myself attended Hypnobirthing classes in Annandale, Sydney (four classes of 3 hours each). The delivery of the lessons was very unprofessional and badly prepared. My partner obviously wanted a method to face fears and the pain, but the workshops were almost 2 hours and a half of random talking, close to chatting, and maybe 20 minutes of very basic breathing exercises at the end. We didn't bother to go to the last session. Close to 500 dollars wasted, money that the baby could have enjoyed in some useful way. All the breathing techniques and meditation shown are more carefully taught in Yoga, where one can learn in the first class than the BODY needs to be comfortable to breathe well. All Hypnobirthing classes were delivered in a dark office with chairs. No cushions, no mats, so the body cannot simply relax. Naturally, I am a man, so I will never know the pain and fears of giving birth, but I can see that those classes mostly look for profit and use worn-out commonsensical phrases to attempt to somewhat hypnotise. We wanted to believe in the system, there were no prejudices, maybe the teacher in Annandale could have played a role. But the book and CDs were not that different. I am sorry to say all this for those who want to believe in the system, but the truth is the truth and a birth needs the truth.

Posted 08 June 2011 - 02:19 AM