Lance says my blog is a total bore these days. Come on, I DO have a newborn, a toddler, and just moved. Sheesh. Anyway, I meant to post this forever ago, but forgot. This is for Stephanie, who hopes to deliver her baby without an epidural. The story of how I did it.I never really cared all that much to deliver a baby without an epidural. I just really don’t like needles, and I thought it would be great to avoid that thing.
I asked around for some tips from friends. Boy, am I glad that I heard about Angie’s Couch Technique. I never told Lance about it. I figured I would just try & see if it worked for me. But all of the sudden, hours into the labor process, I accidentally mutter “Blue…(sigh) Couch…(sigh)”
I then think to myself, “Lance probably thinks I’ve gone completely bonkers.” But I was too exhausted & in pain to explain. Hours later, I tell him what the couches were all about. Yes, he’d thought I’d gone nuts.
So here’s the deal with the couches. In your head, you visualize a couch changing the colors of the rainbow. Red to purple & then back the other way. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it worked for me. By the time you get to purple, you are in some serious pain. But by then, you’re headed back to red (which is a happy place to be headed.)
Rainbow couches helped me make it through. That, plus a great nurse who talked me down from the epidural request. And, with Ethan, I waited as long as I could before getting the epidural, so I knew a bit what to expect in regards to the pain.
So ladies, anyone else who has been through it have tips?
8 comments:
That is pretty good. :) I lasted until 6 cm, maxed out on Pitocin and then I caved. Best decision I ever made though. So, I tell my patients, hold out if you can but epidurals can also be God's greatest blessing during your time of need!!!
Hey Carrie - Good for you! I wish I'd known of the rainbow couch technique. I *tried* to go sans epidural ... and held out for 36 out of my 48-hour (induced) labor. Perhaps the rainbow couches could've gotten me through the last 12 hours?? Maybe next time ...
The best thing that worked for me was having David count out the seconds by 10s when a contraction started. I would tell him when one would begin and then he would call out 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds. Most contractions last ~60 seconds and you peak at 30 seconds. Once you have reached 30 seconds, the contraction is easing. So I was sooo thankful when he would get to 30. I don't know how many times he had to do this for me but it worked wonders. (my labor was about 6 hours.) I suppose it gave me a goal of focusing on something other than the pain. I am about to have my second so I am thinking a lot about the different methods of relaxation to use. The couch technique is one used in the Bradley Method, which both Angie and I trained under for our natural birthing class.
I have delivered my last 2 naturally. One induced with pitocin, one completely au natural. My advice to those who seriously want to avoid an epidural is to avoid an induction. Induced labor is NOTHING like normal labor, and it took divine intervention for me to make it through my induction w/o an epidural. I have heard this from other moms as well. So as bad as it may be to go overdue (gasp!), it's the best way to a tolerable labor.
Have your baby at home, haha! No drugs anywhere near the vicinity.
After a wild ride in the hospital with Ryan, Jack was a homebirth, and it was awesome to be able to walk around (I even delivered while I was standing up). Pain? YES. Worth it? I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Hm, does sound kinda nuts but it's worth a shot! We had our last pre-birthing class last week. I'm pretty glad we took it after all ... but I'm 6 wks out and beginning to get nervous about how the whole process will go down. Keep us in your prayers=)
ouch - more power to you girls that can do that! i am such a weenie...
Delivered both of my children naturally and the best thing about it is that you can just get up right after that and move around. Your baby is tired but not too sleepy from drugs and it is such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Luckily, the pain does not last forever. Get past that 9-10 cm point and the pushing begins and not knowing what we are having again this time makes everyting even more exciting and encouraging to work hard. 5 weeks to go and I am looking forward to that moment of holding my third in my arms. Yippee!!!
Post a Comment