In the last few years of my life, before I was ever pregnant, I felt very strongly about having a birth that was au natural. And when B was just my boyfriend back then, we’d have “debates” over it. He’d call me c-r-a-z-y, but I always stuck to my guns, saying things like, “My mom did it. I can, too!” 


However, that quickly changed once I actually became pregnant […among other things. Remember this post?]. I soon began thinking, Well, you don’t walk out of the hospital with a 5-foot-tall trophy recognizing all your hard work. You don’t even get a Rachel Berry-worthy gold star or button that reads, “I did it naturally.” I guess you get bragging rights? But it’s not like that’s even long-lasting. You just get a “Whoa! Good for you.” Or sometimes a, “Why? She’s crazy!” behind your back.


So, for the majority of my pregnancy I’ve been thinking I’d get an epidural. I mean, why go through all the pain? Epidural or not, every woman still walks out of the hospital with a healthy baby, right?


Well… after our Labor & Coping class this weekend, I’ve since changed my mind… yet again. We had such a wonderful instructor/nurse. She was never ever pushy. But she made me realize that having a natural birth may be a lot more doable [I didn’t say easier] than I imagined.

We were told that if a woman changes her mind and asks for an epidural it’s usually when she’s about 6-7cm dilated, or between the Active and Transition stage. Our instructor also went on to say that if a woman can make it through the Active Labor stage, she is more apt to make it through labor without an epidural, since she’s basically home-free…. only about 30 to 60 minutes left! Most people think that if it took you eight hours to get to 4cm dilated, then it’s going to take you another 8+ hours to get to 10cm. But that’s not the case. The farther along you are dilated, the faster labor gets. [This is, of course, in a ‘normal’ labor.]


That got me thinking. 


If I could make it through the first two stages of labor, then surely I could make it through the rest. 


The first two are the hardest because they last the longest. Our instructor said that if you’re thinking of having an epidural during the Active Labor stage, tell yourself to wait another twenty minutes; or work through another few contractions. She said, you may realize that by the time you do so, you’re about to enter the Transition stage (~8 cm dilated!!).


So what have I decided?


I’ve decided that I’d like to try and do it naturally for as long as I can. Our instructor was very objective in her teachings, but you could tell she was pro natural childbirth (after all, she had done it FIVE TIMES herself!). She was very encouraging about ‘hanging in there’ until about 6cm because once you’re there, you only have about an hour left to go. You’ve made it that far, why have an epidural then? Again, this is of course, if everything is going smoothly with the baby. I’m not even getting into if the baby’s breached, transversed, etc. That’s a whole other story! 


But of course, if I get to say, 4 or 5 centimeters dilated and absolutely!cannot!go!on! I’m not going to feel guilty, or feel like a ‘failure’ if I choose to have an epidural. B and I have discussed it, and I told him that if I ask for an epidural, he has to tell me, “Let’s wait twenty more minutes.” [I will put it in writing, if I have to, to remind myself I really said this because I probably won’t believe I did lol] And unless I’m cursing his head off, he said he’d stick to the agreement 😉


An epidural usually (of course, not always) prolongs labor because the woman is numb and cannot feel when to push. Plus, the woman cannot get up to walk around [due to the numbness]. Getting up and walking, changing positions, rocking in a chair, bouncing/sitting on a medicine ball, or squatting helps move labor along. I want to be able–or at least have the choice–to do the above. Thinking about being confined to a bed because I can’t move my legs makes me agitated inside. (Maybe it’s the control-freak in me??)


But most importantly, I feel at peace with this decision. For me. At least for now. {lol}