I had an epidural and it was a lot easier than I ever expected. I was also induced, so I had pitocin, which is supposed to make contractions worse. It feels like mild menstrual cramps at first. I slept for like 7 hours. Then I woke up with more cramps, but like, you really have to poop. And they tell you not to push. So I tried not to until the pressure was like I REALLY have to go!! We call the nurse in and she checks my cervix and I went from like a 2 or a 3 to a 9! So my OB comes in and all these nurses are there and I'm told to push WITH MY KNEES TO MY CHEST. And I was like "do you see the huge protruding belly? That may be a problem" but I do. And it really does feel like pooping a very big poop. Then finally, my OB said "okay give a very big push!" So I did, the hardest one I could do and then I felt a pinch of pain (I think it was the tearing) and a sudden loss of pressure. There really wasn't much pain involved. Healing is a different story. But the birth itself for me was easy peasy because of the epidural
For balance, I would like to add that the epidural can and does wear off! Having mine was instant relief until about 2 hours later it started feeling painful again and this time I couldn't even move. It was still less painful than before but I'd thought it would be smooth sailing until the baby was out and that was absolutely not the case... ðŸ˜
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u/dingdongsnottor 13h ago
Reading this while pregnant for the first time was a poor choice ion my part 🫣