For those who have had both spinal & Epi....

[kellyrae]

Which did you prefer and why?

I am due to have a planned c-section in May ish.....I had an emcs with my first and had a spinal block which I found ok as that sort of thing goes.
I was holding and feeding my daughter within the first hour but did suffer sickness and shakes after, I had her at 2100h and was up walking the following morning so I didnt find it too hard....but as this one is planned it very well will be in the day time so would an epi be better if I want to be up and mobile or is it the same time scale for walking?

Thanks in advance

 

[kcmichelle]

I'm sure everyone is different. Like you I had an ECS the first time and had the eppy before hand. Up walking quickly. But had horrible shakes the first hour.

Second was planned CS. No shakes. Felt great within the hour like the first. However I did have severe low blood sugars the night before the planned section. probably nerves. So the sugar in my system I had to consume caused me to be violently ill about 3 hours after the birth. It lasted about 5 hours and was very unpleasant. If you tend to go low easy at the end of your pregnancy all I can suggest is you ask to be hospitalized the night before and put on a glucose drip. They are doing that this time for me to avoid the same reaction.

Forgot to add, I found the recovery as far as getting up, nursing etc...about the same.

 

[Twinkie210]

I had an epidural with my vaginal birth (forcep delivery) and a spinal with my c-section. Pain relief was about the same for me. I did feel sicker after the spinal, but I have never had major surgery, so I am not sure if it was just the anestesia or not. At my hospital you don't have a choice. You get a spinal for elective c-sections.

 

[ladysarcasma]

I had an EMCS after labor. I had an epi during my long labor, and they put it in wrong the first time which hurt more than I can even say! Besides that, the epi didn't make me feel bad, though I know there is more chance of infection with an epi than a spinal because of the tube they have to leave in. Though an epi wears off faster.

I had a spinal after they pulled my epi just before my EMCS. I got the shakes very very badly on the way into surgery, though that might have been me completely freaking out and losing my mind because of the trauma of the emergency after a 32 hour labor, too! I stopped shaking half way through when my baby was delivered. Because of my unending panic, I had to be knocked out, so I don't know how the recovery from the spinal would have been.

This time, I'm having a spinal for my planned section because that's the only way my hospital does it. The anesthesiologist assured me that the shakes were caused by Morphine and that they don't use much in the spinal at this hospital. I guess we'll see.