Have you ever had a "natural" labor/delivery?

I was terrified when I had my 1st baby to get an epidural so I said I would have a natural labor, but after 14 hours of labor I changed my mind. My water broke when I was just 2centimeters dialated so they had to use pittosan to dialate me (sorry spelling bad). I did the stadol that wore off and made my labor longer my baby fell asleep. My 2nd labor was so much easier it was a breeze I did not even know I was in labor. I had steady little cramps and the day before I was only 2 centimeters dialated so I was hesitant in going to the hospital. The contractions were faint I was hooked up to a monitor and it only showed little bumps so the nurse offered me ginger ale because the monitor did not look like a person in labors monitor usually look it wasnt until I was examined the Dr said I was 7 centimeters dialated I couldnt believe it I had natural birth with my 2nd baby because it was so fast.

I had normal delivery and opted not to have an epidural. I've always known that I have a very high pain threshold, that's why I was confident that I will be able to stand the pain. Also, I feel that having an epidural is quite dangerous for me. A wrong move of the one administering it and I can be a vegetable for life. So I had a lot of worries about it. Anyways, I didn't feel any pain when I'm having my contractions, and it just came when my bag of water broke. The labor was painful but tolerable. It just felt like being badly constipated (don't you think?). They just injected anaesthesia when it was time to do the stitches and then I fell asleep. I guess, bottomline is, women decide what they think suit them best. Others have very low pain thresholds that's why they easily opt for an epidural. Personally, I felt more the essence of being a mother the way I gave birth to my daughter. She's worth all the pain that I've gone through, and would do it all again if I have to.

i had natural but it took me 12 hours in labor, i had epidural too, and im 5 months pregnant right now for my second child so hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as before.

Only for the miscarriages and the still born children. however, even though the others were c-section and not considered natural - the woman still goes through labor pains, only it is after the birth instead of before, and now she suffers them with a fresh incision in both her abdomen and her womb. So, I guess I can answer yes that I have had natural labor, just perhaps not natural birthing.

My first happend so fast that i didnt have time for any meds but my second I had an epiduaral and I was very grateful for it cause it lasted 11 hours.

I've done it 6 times with no medication, but I also minimized other interventions. Labor on its own does hurt, most of the time (there's always the one woman who never knew she was in labor until the baby was on the way out, but most of us aren't her). Labor in bed, with monitor straps and IVs and exams every hour or so and someone breaking your water-all of those things make it more painful as well as more risky. If you want to avoid the side effects of pain medications, there are three things that will really help. First, learn as much as you can about intervention in birth and when it is necessary. Avoiding interventions that you don't need not only makes your birth safer, it makes it less painful. Second, learn and practice some other ways of managing the pain of labor. Third, line up people to help with your birth who believe you can do it and who are willing/able to encourage you. Everyone gets to a stage of "I can't handle this" and almost every time, it's the very end of labor. Having someone who can encourage you through this short but difficult part of labor can help you reach your goal. Another thing that helps is to decide in what situation you will consider an epidural. For me, it would be induction, labor over 24 hours, or being confined to bed.

My OB jokingly told me that maybe I could deliver my baby without medicine and I merely replied "we'll see but ready the epidural just in case". In turned out that I couldn't handle the pain so I received two shots of epidural at 2 hours interval, the first one was given when I was 7cm dilated and the next when I was 9cm dilated. I think women like you who had natural labor & delivery without any medication are very brave and strong. I just couldn't imagine the pain you felt.

I am one of the lucky mom who experienced an easy labor and child bearing.. I was thankful to the LORD because he answered my prayers. It was March 19, 2006, during dinner time, I can remember eating a lot, by 8pm, I was able to get a nap and by almost 9pm , I feel some slight pain in my belly area, because I am one week ahead of my duedate, I called my OB-Gyne and she told me to go to the hospital, by 10:30pm, I am in the hospital already, I walk through the delivery table,get myself ready, as I feel that my contractions are getting sharper. my OB arrived at 10:40 Pm and by 11:15 pm I can hear my baby crying. .. It was a miracle for me and success to for all the wonderful nurses and my doctor as well. All the time, I was praying, and in my mind, I believe that the pains will soon shall pass....

I was induced when I had my son. They gave me some kind of pain medication, too, because it's pretty standard here when you get induced. I didn't even realize that I was getting it, until I start feeling weird. It made me puke and feel like I was going to puke even when there was nothing left in me. It was awful and I hated it. I will not be doing that again! Even if I have to be induced again, next time I will tell them that I will not accept the pain medication. They stopped giving it to me pretty quickly, though, when I told them I was going to yank the IV out of my hand if they didn't. By the time my baby was born, it was pretty much worn off. I didn't have an epidural with him, and don't ever plan on it, unless I have to. My son was born 8 lbs 10 oz with a head that was completely off the growth charts. It really wasn't all that bad, though.

I think it all depends on the person. I had natural labor/delivery with bot my kids and I am glad I did. I had heard so many things about having a baby, it was scary, specially because apparently people only had awful stories to tell. SO I was a bit worried, but since the only thing I fear more than pain is needles I really didn't want to have an epidural. In the end I was quite glad I did. It was not even close to the horror stories I heard and I avoided the big needle :)

My delivery of my daughter was natural. The only thing they gave me was a local at the end that they said they give to everybody. I didn't want an epidural, I was determined to have her natural if possible and I was thankful I got to. When I was in labor with my son I had been sick with bronchitis and my doctor was concerned about me pushing so hard and the affect it could have on my son. So he suggested having an epidural and, even though I didn't want to, I did because I wanted my son to be safe. That was absolutely awful because it didn't take the first time and they had to give me a second shot. Oh well, the main thing was that my son was born healthy.

Mine was,as they say, really very painful because hours before I gave brith, my bag was already ruptured hence I have to push the baby out without any help. so they induced me, making my muscles contract by itself and each contraction was really a hell!!! and i think I had not undergone what they called episiotomy wherein they slice a bit of skin to allow easy passing of the child. So i pushed the 7.9lb baby all the way from my womb!!!

When I was pregnant with my son I wanted the birth to be natural, I didn't want pain killers to interfer with the amazing experience I was going to have. He was suppose to be born on the 13th of July and instead was born on the 14th. That night that I went into labor, I didn't realy realize that I was experiencing labor pains since he is my first child. I didn't even feel my water break, I was in the shower most of the time because I thought I was just having cramps. By 4 in the morning I was talling my fiance' to take me to the hospital because the baby was ready to come out. By the time I got to the hospital he was ready to come out, there was no time for any sort of pain killers. The nurse was telling me not to push and thats all I wanted to do. My doctor wasn't at the hospital yet and I was in pain because I was suppose to hold this baby in when he was coming out, I told them to just get me another doctor because I cannot not push him out. The doctor finally got there and delivered my baby, 3 pushes and he was out. I don't think I would want an epidural because then I wouldn't experience everything, and when you get the whole experience its very rewarding in the end. Also although I am not afraid of needles I wouldn't want one in my back, that sounds like it hurts. If I had the choice to have a natural birth again I would.

I think that it is your choice. I had an epidural with both of my kids and everything went fine. I tried to hold on as long as I could, but decided that I was not going to suffer any longer. I wanted my childbirth to be somewhat enjoyable without my memories of their birth to be about the pain. My mom had both my brother and me without anything and she told me not to be a hero. I think whatever works best for you and your body is the way to go.

My first I had only the gas and the second it was totally natural, nothing at all. I live an hour away from the hospital so it was too late. Boy did it hurt, but worth every second.

I'm the first to admit that when it came to delivering my children I was so very blessed. I've heard some stories that make me just cringe. All three of my deliveries where fast and easy. My biggest baby was my son (the middle child) and he was only 5 pounds 10 ounces. My girls were both very tiny at birth. Thankfully, I've never had to go through the whole epidural situation. I'm not sure that I could have done it. I'm like the world's biggest chicken.. especially when it comes to medical issues. Even now if I have to go for a simple blood test, I need ativan to stay calm enough, the cream that freezes the skin and the nurses get me to lay down before they attempt to draw blood because they all know that just the site of the needle makes me queasy and faint. I couldn't even begin to imagine the epidural needle.

I had pitocin, stadol and an epidural with my first. I had a HORRID doc which led to a lot of problems when she was born - 45 minutes of reconstruction with NO pain meds. Not good. New doc for #2. Water broke at 330am [had been in labor for 2 days but nothing steady]. She was born at 526 am - we were at the hospital for about 45 minutes. So fast I had no choice but natural. Same wonderful doc for #3. Water broke about 9am, didn't go into labor. They started pitocin about 1230. Did the stadol, epidural route again and LOVED it. Much better doc [and 1.5lb lighter baby] helped. That's the route I plan on going with this one as well. The stadol sends you to the 'happy place' and not a problem to hold still while they do the epidural. JMHO :). Carol