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Home > Posts > The Secret Reason I Didn’t Have an Epidural
maia on birth ball

The Secret Reason I Didn’t Have an Epidural

July 8, 2013 | BY Maia James
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure page.

I recently gave birth without the use of any pain medications for the second time. While recovering and getting to know my new son, Wolf, I’ve been reading over the journal entries I penned right after Felix’s birth nearly four years ago. Here is that birth story, with an admission of the real reason I went drug-free.

At the hospital, during a short break between contractions.

At the hospital, during a short break between contractions.

I am a delicate flower, otherwise known as a massive wimp with no tolerance for pain. The common cold inevitably knocks me out for days, I need nine or so hours of sleep a night to be a truly functional human being, and I am so unathletic that I blanch when people suggest a friendly game of kadmina at the beach.

Iʼve always been in awe of people who do things like run marathons, so much so that I often have to discretely end my friendship with them (much like I do with people who turn down cocktails at brunch–I just realize we have nothing in common).

So, on the one hand, my decision to have an epidural-free childbirth was insane. On the other hand, I was raised in Vermont. Most of my friends were born at home. None of the boys were circumcised. My brother and I actually HAD the mumps in early childhood, not being immunized against it, or anything else. So, there was some part of me—the same part that stops shaving my legs in the winter—that really loved the idea of a natural birth. I was too terrified to do the whole thing at home, so I went the hospital route, but with a doula—a woman named Amy who we paid nearly $5,000 to fight off the anesthesiologist (someone I came to picture as a nefarious needle wielder).

As my birth plan dictated, we did the first part of the labor at home, where I squatted in various rooms of my apartment and made noises that can only be described as lowing (the exact noises, incidentally, that I SWORE Iʼd never make). Now, two weeks later, Iʼve already managed to forget what, exactly, contractions feel like. (My pregnant girlfriend keeps asking me, “Are they like especially bad period cramps?” No. “Diarrhea pains?” No. “A horrible side stitch while exercising?” Certainly not.) All I can say is that I remember thinking it must have been what William Wallace felt like in the disembowelment scene of Braveheart.

After about seven hours of this (during which I spent pretty much the entire time asking Amy, “How many more contractions do you think Iʼll have?”), I decided I simply couldnʼt take it any more and that I needed the drugs. So we walked to the hospital (itʼs only about 6 blocks away, and anyone who has been in labor can attest that sitting in a cab would be unendurable).

Friv being weighedUpon arrival, I was told that I was fully dilated, and Amy convinced me that I didnʼt need the epidural. But I remained tempted. Even as the baby was crowning, I asked, “What would the epidural do for me now?” Shortly after this, when he was supposedly still crowning but had failed to emerge, I switched tactics and demanded a C-section, which I was also denied.

In any event, I officially gave birth without drugs, and my baby was 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Most people probably feel like they did their kids a huge favor by bringing them into the world epidural-free. And yes, I am proud that Felix, the absolute love of my life, had as clean and natural a beginning as I could have given him. But in my heart of hearts, do I REALLY believe the epidural would have caused him lasting harm? No. What I do love is the look on peopleʼs faces when I tell them that I—the same girl who walks in stilettos for a maximum of three blocks before complaining of blisters and hailing a cab—pushed a 9-plus-pounder and felt every second of it.

Stay sane,

Maia_signature

 

 

 


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Filed Under: Posts, Pregnancy, Childbirth, & Postpartum Tagged With: natural birth

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Comments

  1. Sara says

    July 17, 2013 at 8:33 PM

    Congratulations on the new baby! I am going to attempt natural childbirth again-glad to hear someone lived through it. My second is due in a couple of months. I tried to go natural with my first but gave in and had an epidural after eight or so hours.

    Reply
  2. maia says

    July 19, 2013 at 3:45 PM

    Hi Sara!
    I wish I hadn’t spent my entire second pregnancy worried about the labor! I know it’s not a guarantee, but it really seems like for most people second labors are way easier and quicker. Felix took 11 or 12 hours, and Wolfie was out 2 hours after I felt my first contraction! Best of luck to you and congratulations.

    Reply
  3. Sara says

    October 3, 2013 at 7:47 PM

    Just had the second baby this past weekend and did in fact do it without any drugs! And yes, it did turn out to go way faster than the first. About two hours of regular contractions, the last 45 minutes of which were awful. I actually had requested an epidural at the very end because I thought I couldn’t take the contractions anymore, but just as they finished preparing it, the baby was right there, and there was no time to actually administer it. She was out in one push, if you would even call it that. So I’m glad they didn’t have time to give me anything and I got my natural birth after all (even though it was kind of by default) 🙂

    Reply
    • Maia says

      October 4, 2013 at 12:40 AM

      I’m so glad for you, Sara! Congratulations! I don’t know anyone who didn’t waver on the desire for a natural birth–just because a second labor is faster certainly doesn’t mean it’s not as painful. I don’t know if I will have another baby, but if I do, I have promised myself that I will not spend the pregnancy worried about the delivery. Congratulations again on the new little one!

      Reply
  4. Sara says

    October 4, 2013 at 10:14 PM

    Thanks Maia! I’m not sure if I will have a third either, so it is nice to have experienced it naturally at least once. By the way, your product guides have been useful to me-they have saved me some time and narrowed down my options for me. It is nice to not have to pore through as many items on EWG and go through all the trials and errors myself. You should get some sponsors or something similar for your blog so you can get something out of people visiting! Unless you already do and I am just not seeing them. Anyway, talk to you later-Sara

    Reply

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Here is yesterday’s cocktail recipe, as promised:
Mix one packet of @piquetea hibiscus beauty elixir with 1/2 cup of gin (@barrhillgin is my favorite for this because it’s honey-infused), the juice of one lemon, and two tablespoons of honey syrup (to make this, just mix a tablespoon of honey with a tablespoon of hot water). Pour over ice, and top with plain seltzer. The gin and hibiscus are a perfect pairing, and I can’t wait to drink this in the summer. Also I totally didn’t take a photo of the finished product, but swipe for what it looked like😋. You can learn more about Pique in my bio—-code GIMME5 will get you $5 your first order. You could also brew any hibiscus tea or even seep a teabag in the gin to extract the flavor. You could also skip the gin for a refreshing mocktail. 🌺🍯🍋🍹
#healthiercocktails #mocktails #retoxing

Here is yesterday’s cocktail recipe, as promised:
Mix one packet of @piquetea hibiscus beauty elixir with 1/2 cup of gin (@barrhillgin is my favorite for this because it’s honey-infused), the juice of one lemon, and two tablespoons of honey syrup (to make this, just mix a tablespoon of honey with a tablespoon of hot water). Pour over ice, and top with plain seltzer. The gin and hibiscus are a perfect pairing, and I can’t wait to drink this in the summer. Also I totally didn’t take a photo of the finished product, but swipe for what it looked like😋. You can learn more about Pique in my bio—-code GIMME5 will get you $5 your first order. You could also brew any hibiscus tea or even seep a teabag in the gin to extract the flavor. You could also skip the gin for a refreshing mocktail. 🌺🍯🍋🍹
#healthiercocktails #mocktails #retoxing
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