Spinal Headache W/ 2Nd Delivery- Epidural W/ 3Rd??

If you want one for the 3rd delivery then get one. Just because you got one before has absolutely nothing to do with this delivery. It is all dependent on the doc. Having one before doesn't make you "prone" to another.

Goodluck

Well, I had back labor with my second because he was OP (his head was up instead of facing down), and poor little guy was STUCK. I labored for 23 hours with this, and the epidural only covered my stomach. Back labor is beyond belief painful. I couldn't take more medicine than I had covering my stomach because he had trouble with oxygen. But thank God I had my stomach covered. I kind of think that the stomach is more painful than my vagina.

Granted, a week in the hospital with a monster/killer headache is not something I'd lightly say I'd take instead. However, I hope that you CAN have an epidural and not have tough it out. Like Jo, I hate pain. I really hate pain. I remember how long I labored with my first to even be ABLE to have my epidural. Ugh!

Can you ask to talk to the anesthesiologist and get his or her take on this?

Good luck - really!

Dawn

I would!!! I labored without for many hours and it was a godsend. It was great pain killer afterwards too. I had to have an emergency C-section and having it there made it easier, they could take the baby when they needed to.

The second time it was a planned c-section and they gave me novacaine shots in the spine. I know how bad that epidural hurt. and I know how bad labor hurt. I would take the epidural anyday, even with the headaches. I had those too, but they just added to all the other pains I had.

Personally, I hate needles. I hate blood, and I hate pain. Normally, I will take pain over a shot. But, when it comes to childbirth, epidural all the way! Or maybe a spinal block if they still do those.
Good Luck in whatever you decide!

I have four kids, they nicked the membrane with the second, oh what a lovely headache. I would have had an epidural with the third but he came too fast and number four was with an epidural.

Not putting this on you but the key to a successful epidural is when they say don't more, don't move. I know it is hard but it was an ill timed contraction that caused me to move and that is when they nicked the membrane.
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Oh wow, after reading the other responses, there is a reason I had an epidural with number four! Unplanned natural childbirth sucks! That and Andy was no more or less awake and I sure didn't feel any different, any better.

Seems to me that women throw out the wonder of natural childbirth to justify their decisions. I don't like pain.

Well since I am phobic about needles in the back, personally I would not do it. I would probably try to do without it. Talk to an anesthesiologist to see what options you would have.

I had a similar experience. I was induced with the first 2 and got epidurals with both. I got the spinal headaches with the second one and had to have a spinal patch. It made it hard to enjoy the first few days of my baby's life because I was in so much pain and didn't know why (I hadn't ever heard of a spinal leak). So with the third I decided to do things differently. I wanted to let baby come when he was ready and try to do it naturally. But I didn't feel like hospitals are very conducive to that plan. You can do it that way, but you really have to stick to your guns. I found an awesome certified nurse midwife with a birthing center in Murray, UT (Rebecca Williams at Great Expectations Birth Care). The experience was awesome! It was so nice to have an hour of her time with every visit instead of waiting at the doctor's office for 45 minutes only to see the doctor for 15. I even drove an hour and a half from Logan just to be able to see her. Totally worth it! The birth was empowering and beautiful. And much more affordable (we didn't even come close to meeting our $5,000 maternity deductible), I would totally recommend it to anyone who has the desire to go naturally.

No, I would not. I had spinal headaches years ago from spinal anesthesia for knee surgery and never again if it's up to me. I had two vaginal deliveries without an epidural, although they were relatively fast. I just had one shot of a narcotic. It was fine. If this is your third labor and delivery it might go pretty quickly and you won't need the epidural. Talk to your doctor about other options for pain relief. Good luck.

I had an epidural with my first, he was post posterior and wasn't turning and I couldn't have done it without the epidural. Unfortunately, I ended up with an awful spinal headache and was miserable for close to 10 days, sorry you went through that. My doctor assured me that just because I had a spinal headache with the first delivery, it in no way meant that I was at a higher risk for getting it again after another epidural. He did however say that women giving birth are actually at a slightly higher risk for getting a spinal headache for some reason, something like from 1.5% to 3% more likely.

That said, I had a natural childbirth second time around and felt great after. If I had a third, that's the route I'd take so long as things were progressing normally.

I wouldn't. You did it once without, you can do it again!

My first epidural was only slightly OK, only one side of my body got numb.
With my second he kept giving me drugs but nothing was happening...I finally had to tell him to stop b/c all that medicine was going somewhere...somewhere it shouldn't!

Seeing how the first 2x were not successful, I didn't even try for the 3rd...but luckily for me I have quick (in the hospital at 6am holding my baby by Noon, all 3x's!!) deliveries so I wasn't very scared!

~What does your husband and doc say?

I had an epidural with my first and didn't have any side effects, but my second and third were planned natural births. I loved having them without drugs and will do it again with my fourth. I just wanted to say that if you plan to do it ahead of time it will make a world of difference. Having it thrown on you at the last minute would not be fun! If you do decide to go natural, I would read a book before. It is more about being mentally prepared than anything, and there are tons of great books! Good luck!

This happened to me.
I also had an epidural with my first, which went well.
With my second, not only did I have the spinal headache afterwards, but the epidural didn't take and I had several hours (5? 7?) of agonizing labor with no relief. I actually wonder if the failed epidural made it worse than it would have been otherwise. I went back into the hospital three days later for a blood patch to fix those awful headaches. The statistic is that it happens about 1/100 women.
That experience led me to decide that my third would be epidural-free. It was a personal decision; I'd rather have hours of awful labor and then have it be OVER (I felt like a million bucks afterwards....until that headache hit) then go through three days of migraines. I stumbled upon some information about red raspberry leaf tea aiding in childbirth and thought I'd give it a shot. Women 'back in the day' found ways to make childbirth easier, and we have, in large part, forgotten some of those things in our dependence on epidurals and drugs. I thought that since I was planning on foregoing the epidural, I should start looking into other - older - methods of relief. About a month before my third was due I chugged that stuff like crazy. I figured even if it didn't help at all, it was only tea, and I wasn't out much money for it. As it turns out, my third child was born after 1 1/2 hours of labor and less than five minutes of pushing. It would have taken longer for the epidural to wear off than the labor. So glad I didn't get one. Was it the tea? I don't know. Maybe.
So, that's MY experience. I don't think you'd be crazy for going with an epidural for round 3, but I know that for me, it wasn't worth all that again. Labor sucks, but a week in the hospital or days of migraines suck even more, IMO. My advice would be to chug a lot of tea the last month and go without one ;) In the end though, it's your decision. Good luck with whatever you decide.

My daughter has had two successfully-I, on the other hand, would not dream of letting someone stick a needle in my spine; and had natural childbirth six times. For the most part-they are safe-back in the day, of course, things were different. Good luck-the baby will probably come so fast-you won't even need one.

I had a spinal headache too, so I know where you're coming from. Worst pain in my life, and that includes natural childbirth and cutting off part of a finger.

But, despite that I would go back with an epi --- so long as I knew the anesthesiologist. My first one was a dream, no pain but could feel everything else and could walk right after. My last one tried to take a short-cut counting my vertebrae and missed because i have an extra disc. Know your doctors -all of them.