# My epidural wore off!?!



## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

I haven't posted my birth story yet, mainly because I am still processing everything that happened. My peaceful homebirth was disrupted and we ended up at the hospital, but all's well that ends well, right?









Here's some background:

I planned a homebirth, and was totally confident I could do it naturally. However, my water broke and labor did not start. My midwife informed me that, by law, she cannot attend me once my water has been broken for 24 hours and the baby still isn't born. I think this is crap, but she could lose her license, so I understand her position. I take castor oil to start contractions, but as we approach the 20-hour mark, I am still only dilated 1 cm. She wants to transfer me to the hospital because she thinks the baby won't be born by the 24-hour mark.

We get to the hospital, they hook me up to every machine possible: IV drip w/abx, blood pressure cuff, internal monitor, oxygen mask, and insert a tube into my womb to pump sterile fluid to replace all the amniotic fluid (I think this was to prevent cord prolapse). I cannot move, and the pain is excruciating. They call in the epidural guy, and I can't protest at this point - I am barely dilated and I don't think I can handle many hours of labor flat on my back unable to move.

Getting the epi hurt a lot, but once it was in, the pain subsided and I fell asleep. I woke up 2 hours later in HORRENDOUS pain. The catheter felt like a knife, and the contractions were so painful that I was screaming. My husband called the nurse in, and she turned up the epi, but it didn't help. She checked me and I was 6.5 cm dilated now (yay).

The pain just got stronger and stronger - intense contractions, lots of pressure, and I could feel the entire catheter. It was hellish. I started to feel like I had to have a BM, on top of everything. Finally, 30 minutes later, my husband called the nurse again, because I was in so much pain. She checked me again, and started laughing. "You're in pain because you're having a baby!" she said. I was like, I know that! Then she told me I was complete, and the pain was from the baby's head pressing on the catheter. Thankfully she removed it right after that, and I started pushing. I could feel EVERYTHING during pushing and the birth - I could even move my legs and everything.

So my question is this: did my epidural wear off after 2 hours? Why was I still able to feel every contraction, every muscle during pushing, the pressure and burning of crowning and birth? And my final question, did I have a natural birth? I guess not, because of the sheer amount of wires and tubes I was connected to, but I sure experienced all the sensations!

Has this happened to anyone else?

ps- Meadow was born 25 hours after my water broke. No pitocin either.


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## sofysmommy (Feb 15, 2005)

Congratulations







I do not have an answer to your question.


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

Yes congratulations to you and your family







:
I don't have an answer but just wanted to say with DS I had an epi(one dose)at 9 cm. I started pushing about 2 hours later. I felt everything, so I think mine wore off. Also I had DD without an epi, no pit and honestly felt no difference with the pushing stage. Of course my labor was totally natural that time and was completely different then a pit. induction. I would say yes??


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## Isarma (Apr 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Birdie B.* 
did my epidural wear off after 2 hours? Why was I still able to feel every contraction, every muscle during pushing, the pressure and burning of crowning and birth?

It's possible. Epidural dosing is wonky. Sometimes it doesn't take at all. Sometimes it takes on only one side. Sometimes something goes wrong and there are bad side effects. For instance, I have a back injury 8 years later that probably started with a misplaced epidural. It's hard to tell.

Quote:

And my final question, did I have a natural birth? I guess not, because of the sheer amount of wires and tubes I was connected to, but I sure experienced all the sensations!
In the way that you had a vaginal birth and many people call that natural, but other than that, no. Keep in mind that the word natural isn't a synonym for best. Sometimes interventions are needed and only you can decide how happy you are with your birth, whatever anyone else says.

Congrats!







:


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

In the way that you had a vaginal birth and many people call that natural, but other than that, no. Keep in mind that the word natural isn't a synonym for best. Sometimes interventions are needed and only you can decide how happy you are with your birth, whatever anyone else says.

That got me thinking...... I think there is no "real" correct question as to what a "natural' birth is. Does it mean without medications?Is it natural if your are given an induction?Is it natural if you have an IV? Is it natural if you are in a hospital? Think about what "natural" means to you personally and how you would incorporate that into the aspects of your birth experience. I think everyone can walk away with something "natural"! I agree with PP stating natural isn't a synonym for best!


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Isarma* 
It's possible. Epidural dosing is wonky. Sometimes it doesn't take at all. Sometimes it takes on only one side. Sometimes something goes wrong and there are bad side effects. For instance, I have a back injury 8 years later that probably started with a misplaced epidural. It's hard to tell.

In the way that you had a vaginal birth and many people call that natural, but other than that, no. Keep in mind that the word natural isn't a synonym for best. Sometimes interventions are needed and only you can decide how happy you are with your birth, whatever anyone else says.

Congrats!







:

OOPS! I didn't quote right!!


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## Mbella (Apr 5, 2007)

I had an epidural with both dc. I wanted to have a drug-free birth with both, but there were multiple complications with dd's birth and the pain got too intense with ds that I couldn't see straight. With both I got it when I was past I think 6 cm. With dd it lasted the whole time and didn't feel much. With ds the anesthesiologist told me that it won't work when I started pushing and he was right, I could feel everything.

I always wonder how natural I can consider my dc's births. They were both delivered vaginally, but I had many interventions with dd and very little with ds.


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## Isarma (Apr 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *columbusmomma* 
That got me thinking...... I think there is no "real" correct question as to what a "natural' birth is. Does it mean without medications?Is it natural if your are given an induction?Is it natural if you have an IV? Is it natural if you are in a hospital? Think about what "natural" means to you personally and how you would incorporate that into the aspects of your birth experience.

Well, we definitely disagree here. The only strong debate I've heard on the subject is regarding whether you can have a truly natural birth at a hospital. I think it seems pretty clear that if you have pain meds, inductions, or any other manner of intervention that prevents things from progressing, well, naturally, then it's not. I think the problem is that many people think natural birth is some sort of validation. I've heard one woman argue her section was natural because it was seriously needed and it's natural to want to save your baby. No, interventions aren't really natural


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

I don't think I wrote well what I was thinking. Basically I don't use the word natural to mean ONLY medication free, I was trying to think of a bigger picture. Like if you don't have an epi, but still say had an induction, or forceps used, does that mean "natural". Basically what does "natural" mean? Most people equate it with meaning not using pain meds during birth. I think the whole thought of natural birth can go beyone whether or not pain meds are used. When I see in your siggy that you had a UC IMO that is more "natural" then my birth and I didn't use an epi,have induction, etc. with DD. Sorry for the confusion of my post!!


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

One of 3 things happened, 1. Your epidural slipped. If the anesthesia doesn't actually go into the epidural space it doesn't work. 2. Your epidural ran out. Either you had a 2 hour dose when they thought you had a 4 hour (they have different size doses depending on how long they think you're going to need it because otherwise they throw away unused medication.) Or your pump was set at a higher than normal rate for the size dose you had. 3. You had breakthrough sensation. Sometimes the human body resists anesthesia.

I think 1 or 2 are more likely than 3.

As far as whether or not you had a natural birth, I think the only person whose definition matters is yours.


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## NaturalMindedMomma (Feb 5, 2007)

I had what they called a "light" Epi, after 36 hours at home and not dialating more than a 4. I DECIDED to transfer for a sleeping pill, when I got there, I decided to get PIT and soon decided I had enough of this and got my epi. I got stadol first then an hour later at 5 AM I had an EPI.

after my water broke I was in extreme pain and felt every contrax and all the pressure. I was allowed to move freely and didn't have to be on a monitor at all.

Out of a 41.5 hour labor I had an epi for about 4 of those hours.

I did have horrific back pain after it. I had a hard time standing actually for weeks.

This time a homebirth it WILL be. I know what I did wrong and what went wrong.


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## georgiegirl1974 (Sep 20, 2006)

With DD, I got an epi when I was dilated to 4. By the time, I was dilated to 5 (less than an hour later), I was in excruciating pain. They kept turning up the epi pump, but the pain kept getting worse and worse. Finally when I was 8 cm, DH (who is a doctor) realized they forgot to hook up the epi pump to the tube coming out of my back. When they give you the epi, you get a does that lasts about 45 minutes, and then they hook you up to a pump. They forgot that part. The syringe was still hanging off the tube in my back. The anesthesiologist felt so bad, she pumped me so full of drugs that I couldn't feel anything to push when I was fully dialted 1.5 hours later. The experience was miserable since I was on my back with an internal monitor and a painful IV.

This time, I'm going to do it naturally.


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## layla983 (Oct 8, 2007)

Sounds like what kinda happened in my case. After so long, I started feeling pain. The anesthesiologist looked at it & said it was fine, but that was as I was sitting up. When I laid back down, it wouldn't flush right. So even though it was still in & pumping, there was a kink somewhere & I wasn't getting the correct dose of the medication. Sounds like they should have got the anesthesiologist back instead of the nurse just attempting to mess with it.


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## bella99 (Sep 25, 2008)

I had a drug free birth in a birth center. No IV, intermittent monitoring, moving around, etc. My SIL, who is an MD (as is her husband), chose an elective c-section (I know, very unpopular around here, but she was educated and it was her choice). Her birth was medicated, mine was not. Her birth was surgical, mine was vaginal.

And I still think that both were natural. Birth, to me, is a natural process, however it happens. Some are medicated, some are non-medicated, some are vaginal, some are surgical, some happen at home, some in the hospital. And no choice or experience is anymore valid than the other.

What is important to us as individuals is different. And we all come away with the same prize no matter how we got there.

What matters here is how you feel about your own experience, not whether someone else thinks your birth was "natural" or not.


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

I'm sorry, but I can't not respond to this. If c-sections were natural our bodies would do it themselves. We wouldn't need surgeons, anethesia, etc. Surgery, no matter what it's for, is NOT natural.

Having a baby is always a wonderful thing. But the way they come into the world is NOT always natural.


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## gemasita (Jul 1, 2005)

I've had probably 3 client who had great pain relief for a few hours and then all the sensations came back. The thing was, the all passed the "ice test" so the epi was working but they were in a ton of pain. The nurses couldn't explain it any of the three times so I am still at a loss as to why this happens. Seems like it might actually be fairly common. Two of those three clients had c-sections because they were in so much pain and didn't feel like they could go on. So congrats on not having to recover from surgery after all of that but that must have been so disappointing to get it and have it not work and cause so much pain.


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## Right of Passage (Jul 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bella99* 
And I still think that both were natural. Birth, to me, is a natural process, however it happens. Some are medicated, some are non-medicated, some are vaginal, some are surgical, some happen at home, some in the hospital. And no choice or experience is anymore valid than the other.

Not flaming, and I hate how snarky I sound but how can surgery be natural? Isn't being natural being the way nature intended?







Our man made interventions that take the natural out of birth are incredible and some rediculous but for those that nature would have taken from us they are blessings. (ie, emergency c-section for placental abruption) Choosing a c-section isn't natural as in it's what your body is made to do.

ETA: IMO "natural" childbirth has become synonomous with "vaginal" childbirth when it comes to mainstream america. I remember after DS1 was born "was it natural or c-section?" was a common question I heard. For the OP it does happen.







I was one of those who got the one side of my body for it to work on but really it was only one leg. BLEH! And ITA with those who say natural is up to you, it is in the eye of the birther.


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## SquishyBuggles (Dec 19, 2008)

I had an epidural with dd1, but it never took. I don't know if it slipped or if it just didn't work on me for whatever reason, but I don't think I'll ever get one again. Not worth it. I didn't have one with dd2 at all and it wasn't a big deal. Labor was much easier the 2nd time around.

You had a natural birth in that it was vaginal, but you were medicated even though it wore off.


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## Isarma (Apr 28, 2007)

Yeah, I don't think c-sections are even remotely natural. A woman's choice? Sure. Sometimes necessary? Yup. They aren't natural, though.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Congratulations on your little Meadow - she's gorgeous!

You might want to check out the birth trauma forum here on MDC, if you think you need it. A tough birth can take a LOT of processing and talking through.

As for the 'natural' debate, I'd say that your birth sounded pretty intervention-heavy. I wouldn't call my vaginal birth natural either (induced with prostoglandin gel, but no other interventions except for intermittent external monitoring). But I don't think of it as 'failing to achieve the golden goal of natural' or anything like that. What needed to happen happened, natural or not.


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the input, and I'm glad to get some answers. I wanted to know if anyone else had had that experience or not.

As far as natural, what I meant was pain med-free. I know it wasn't natural b/c of all the interventions they used. But I had been planning to go without pain relief, and for all intents and purposes, I feel that I did. Yes I had about 2 hours of relief, but it didn't last.

I still need to write out my birth story to process how things happened, and I'll check out the birth trauma forum. But overall I feel good about Meadow's birth. Birth is _hard_, and really intense. I'm glad I got to give birth vaginally (when we arrived at the hospital the ob said 'c-section' 10 seconds after checking me







) and I feel things happened that way for a reason. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse.

Thanks again!


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## raving_liberal (Jul 7, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Isarma* 
Well, we definitely disagree here. The only strong debate I've heard on the subject is regarding whether you can have a truly natural birth at a hospital. I think it seems pretty clear that if you have pain meds, inductions, or any other manner of intervention that prevents things from progressing, well, naturally, then it's not. I think the problem is that many people think natural birth is some sort of validation. I've heard one woman argue her section was natural because it was seriously needed and it's natural to want to save your baby. No, interventions aren't really natural










I agree completely. Drugs wearing off does not make a birth experience natural. It just makes it a birth with interventions where the drugs wore off.


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## bella99 (Sep 25, 2008)

I wasn't expecting, well anyone really, to agree with me. I simply feel that the birth of a child is a natural process, regardless of whether the mechanism to bring about that birth is "natural".

I prefer medicated vs. non-medicated anyway.


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bella99* 
And we all come away with the same prize no matter how we got there.

I have a really really hard time with this statement for several reasons:

1) not everyone is blessed enough to come away with their "prize." I was, but tragedies do happen and opting for a birth with interventions (when they aren't medically necessary) increases the risk of those tragedies happening.

2) Many women, like myself, end up with a surgical birth when what we wanted was a natural birth (a birth that occurs the way nature intended it to), and while we do come away with our "prize" we also come away with significant emotional issues surrounding what happened at our birth, and the idea of "well at least you have a healthy baby" is very hurtful to someone who is grieving the loss of the birth experience they were hoping for.


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## AmieV (Mar 31, 2005)

congratulations! I think you have a healthy outlook on your birth and what happened.

I've had 2 "natural" births, out of hospital, unmedicated, etc, and my most recent was not "natural" in that it began at home and ended in a hospital transfer with one dose of narcotics. My homebirth midwife caught the baby. Now, I labored for 9.5 hours total, and the narcotic gave me about 15 minutes of relief before she was born. So yeah...I did a heck of a lot of natural laboring! But was the birth itself "natural?" Nah. Do I remotely care? Nah. Birth isn't about bragging rights. I feel strong and proud of myself that I knew when to pack it in and accept some help. The pain I experienced this time was unlike anything else I ever had in my other births and I have no doubt if I'd stayed home I probably would have passed out from exhaustion and risked not even having a vaginal birth because I'd have been too tired to push her out.

the other thing I have seen is that if labor is progressing very quicky, the epi doesn't work. The pain receptors get too flooded for it to be effective.


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## KK'sMommy (Apr 13, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rhiandmoi* 
As far as whether or not you had a natural birth, I think the only person whose definition matters is yours.

I 100% agree with this. Every person makes choices and we all have to do what is best for ourselves and our children. It doesn't matter if someone else squats over a pile of rags and gives birth, we all accomplish the same thing in the end. I had two c-sections and I don't regret a minute of how I gave birth.


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## tireesix (Apr 27, 2006)

I had something similar, the epidural had slipped out of place, I went from zero pain to extreme pain, luckily, some one checked it eventually and I got a spinal and the epi replaced.


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## laohaire (Nov 2, 2005)

I don't have anything to add on what everybody else has commented on, but I was so ... disappointed, I guess ... to read the circumstances of your transfer.

You were forced to transfer because of a totally arbitrary and ridiculous law (or regulation, or insurance policy) and not at all because you needed medical care.

And thus were forced to receive medical "care" that ended up causing you great pain.

I'm very sorry to hear that. In my state, CNMs cannot attend homebirths - but DEMs are alegal. I guess this loophole is a real blessing. I had a DEM and she was not subject to any laws like that (though naturally she had to cover her butt against lawsuits). My water broke and labor didn't pick up for at least 48 hours. And then it took another 18 hours to actually have the baby. My baby was fine; she scored 9 and 10 apgars. Pushing her out took a long time because of a nuchal hand presentation (and I did tear).

Seems to me like first time births take almost 24 hours (maybe 20 hours) on AVERAGE. Which of course means that a great deal of first-timers take LONGER than the average. So you had to transfer because you had hit the PEAK of the bell curve - not because you were out on the edges.

That makes me very angry. I'm sorry.


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## bella99 (Sep 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *shanniesue2* 
I have a really really hard time with this statement for several reasons:

1) not everyone is blessed enough to come away with their "prize." I was, but tragedies do happen and opting for a birth with interventions (when they aren't medically necessary) increases the risk of those tragedies happening.

2) Many women, like myself, end up with a surgical birth when what we wanted was a natural birth (a birth that occurs the way nature intended it to), and while we do come away with our "prize" we also come away with significant emotional issues surrounding what happened at our birth, and the idea of "well at least you have a healthy baby" is very hurtful to someone who is grieving the loss of the birth experience they were hoping for.

I think you may have misunderstood me. When I said a "prize" I didn't actually mean the baby as a prize, I meant the process of birth. However, I also have to say that as someone who has experienced pregnancy loss and underwent infertility treatments to become a mother, sometimes it's awfully tempting to tell someone "well at least you have a healthy baby" when they are grieving over the loss of the birth experience they wanted. That's doesn't mean it isn't valid to me, but for me, all I wanted really was a healthy baby, no matter how she came to me. The fact that I had an amazing (and profound) birth experience along the way, that only made things better.

My point was this: we don't get a special prize for birthing without medication or for doing it at home, or for undergoing major surgery. We get our own satisfaction and our own feelings of accomplishment and peace (or not), but to the world at large, well, they aren't handing out any prizes. To any casual observater, no matter how you birth, the end result is the same: a baby (and yes, tragedies do happen, regardless of how people choose to birth, but I'm speaking of a birth that results in a live baby) That's why the question the OP posed, isn't one for us to answer, because the only definition that matters in all this is her own.


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bella99* 
I think you may have misunderstood me. When I said a "prize" I didn't actually mean the baby as a prize, I meant the process of birth. However, I also have to say that as someone who has experienced pregnancy loss and underwent infertility treatments to become a mother, sometimes it's awfully tempting to tell someone "well at least you have a healthy baby" when they are grieving over the loss of the birth experience they wanted. That's doesn't mean it isn't valid to me, but for me, all I wanted really was a healthy baby, no matter how she came to me. The fact that I had an amazing (and profound) birth experience along the way, that only made things better.

My point was this: we don't get a special prize for birthing without medication or for doing it at home, or for undergoing major surgery. We get our own satisfaction and our own feelings of accomplishment and peace (or not), but to the world at large, well, they aren't handing out any prizes. To any casual observater, no matter how you birth, the end result is the same: a baby (and yes, tragedies do happen, regardless of how people choose to birth, but I'm speaking of a birth that results in a live baby) That's why the question the OP posed, isn't one for us to answer, because the only definition that matters in all this is her own.


thank you for clarifying. I honestly did misunderstand your original statement about "prizes." I am very sorry for your loss and I can somewhat sympathize with fertility difficulty (it took us 2 1/2 years to get preggers).

I still maintain that for a woman who is either grieving or simply trying to process through the loss of her desired birth experience, saying "at least you have a healthy baby" isn't helpful. But now I understand that that wasn't what you were trying to say.

To an extent I agree that our own satisfaction being what matters. I think it's desirable for women to come out of the experience feeling good about the birth. However, I think that many times, women end up with a medical birth process because they aren't fully informed. And while it's fine that they feel good about the experience they had, it certainly doesn't do anything to make modern birth culture more friendly to women who deeply desire a natural (intervention free) birth.


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