or my second. It was just a wall of crashing pain coming down on me and it was relentless. I puked non-stop. I used ever technique I'd been taught and I still couldn't control or breathe through the pain. Turns out that I dialated from 2-10 in two hours. I just was stuck at 2 for a long time. I loved my epidural. Pushing was a lot of physical effort. However, it was well worth the pain.

My second labor my baby turned in the middle of everything and I delivered her sunny side up. I had TONS of back labor. I went with the epidural again. Loved it. This time I only pushed twice not two hours. Dialated at a crazy rate again. 3-10 in an hour and a half.

Third labor, took forever. Finally learned what a peak and valley was. That labor I could handle. For the first sixteen hours that is. Turns out, that baby managed to turn breach during labor. Then, she turned again and things began progressing. Went with the epidural again.

Epidurals never slowed down my deliveries. I always had feeling in my legs. I could feel to push. I must have had great anesthesiologists.

My best friend has children with no pain meds and doesn't think its a big deal. She has short labors and barely pushes.

It really depends on the person. Every labor is so different. I'd try to skip an episiotomy if at all possible. In my experience it is easier to heal from a tear than an epsiotomy. I didn't tear at all with my third birth because this doctor was very carefully and used some great techniques that avoided tears.

The day I had my children was the best day of my life every time. I'd do it again in a second if my body would let me.

Enjoy it.