Be sure to read part 1 first.
So, where were we? The epidural…aka, there’s no way I could do this without one. So I ended up waiting forever for my epidural…at least it felt like forever. When you are told the anesthesiologist is on his way for some reason the contractions seem to get worse….I remember the same thing happening with Sadie. But this time I really did wait a long time, like over an hour. But when he finally came I was so happy. My epidural with Sadie was perfect….I couldn’t feel any pain but could tell when I was having a contraction, and could still move my legs. So I expected the same thing this time. Well. It didn’t happen that way. Immediately my left leg went numb…so numb that it was basically dead. I couldn’t move it at all. And my right leg was perfectly fine. So my nurse and midwife moved me around to help the epidural get to my right side…and it did…but both sides of my body were not the same. The left side was completely dead and the right side just partially numb. Then, when my midwife checked my progress again I could feel her doing it….and I don’t remember feeling anything when I had Sadie. So que me FREAKING OUT. I don’t do well with pain, remember? They gave me a button to push to increase my epidural meds and I pushed that baby several times. And nothing.
I had a tear-up with my first and similar situation except no epidural and that lidocaine shot hurts like a b-word! I always say that the stitching is the worst part of the whole having a baby experience. Three babies no drugs and none needed (until the stitching comes out)! Congratulations! Babies are wonderful and birth stories my favorite read 🙂
Congratulations!! I'm a doula & midwife assistant and have never seen a periurethural tear. I'm so sorry you experienced that! With my second I hemmoraged & didn't have an epidural so of course felt everything they were doing to get it to stop. I had the same disappointment later on when I realized I never got all those happy hormones & that joyful feeling after the baby was here. It's a rough start to having a new baby. But thank you for sharing your story! I love hearing when things don't go textbook because in many cases there's one thing or another that happens & having stories that show you're not the only one with a crazy experience helps!
You're a trooper! That's a wild story and I'm glad you're okay. My first epidural wasn't super numbing so I know what you mean. I freaked out a bit because I knew I did not want to feel all that. It worked out just fine, but it seemed like a crisis in the moment for me.
Congrats!! My second baby was a VBAC as well so love reading other VBAC stories! Enjoy life as a family of 5!
Ahhh!!!! That tear made me cringe. Hope you are healing up well. Loved reading your birth story and Belle is such a sweetie.
Sweet mama, you are one super woman!!! Wow, that sounds so hectic and so painful!
So so proud of you, and glad all is well and healthy now x
That makes me never want to have another one 🙂 Thanks haha j/k glad you are ok!
Girlfriend, this is just bananas!! I'm so glad that you are OK and that everything turned out well. I had the same experience with my first in that the epidural only worked on one side. My whole right side was totally numb, but I could feel everything on my left side. It was pretty awful. And my baby was HUGE – 9 lbs. 6 oz. – and I am TINY, so you do the math! Haha. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear, a broken tailbone, some damaged ligaments, and some nerve damage. Childbirth ain't no joke!! I don't know how you've done it three times! After my c-section with my second I AM DONE! Haha.
Oh man!!! That sounds amazing and horrible at the same time. 🙂 I guess that's the definition of a labor and delivery story. I had a 3rd degree tear down with our son and I couldn't feel the tear or the stitching because of epidural, but boy do I wish I had an epidural after that first poop experience with a down tear…OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Laughing so hard at the good thing/bad thing about vaginas part! So glad everything turned out okay in the end, but you had every right to be terrified. Annabelle is such a beauty and I'm so happy for your family of 5!