Gas and Air?!

[lhamil88]

just thought i'd ask if anyone has had a strange experience with it?

it seems to me that this is one method of pain reliefe that ALL women are offered

i have read several birth stories and seems to me some women have a strange experience and think things that arn't real or think there somewhere else and just other generaly strange things

please let me know of your strange storie...i'm intreagued

 

[AppleBlossom]

I didn't think anything was strange but I did the last bit of my labour (I got to 8cm alone at home) and my birth on just gas and air and it made me very vocal and sound a bit drunk. For example after I had held her, my ex held her, I looked down and saw all the drama down there and randomly slurred "Ooh, isn't that a lot of blood?"

 

[Seraphim]

I just found it frustrating because I felt hazy but the pain was still there.

 

[rubyrose]

Think people react differently to it hon. My mum says it was a godsend and shut her off from the pain and she was laughing and telling people random crap!

 

[Kim T]

Like rubyrose said, i think everyone is different. I cant talk from experience but i know my mum said it made her go a little loopy and it seemed like she was watching everything happen from above, yet she could still feel everything.

 

[Sophie1205]

I didnt have a strange experience with it. It made me throw up when I first had it but then I was fine on it for the rest of my labour and even used it afterwards for the stitches too. x

 

[Samemka]

I hated it! Maybe it's because I was induced so I had it when my contractions were irregular still but I found I'd start sucking on it as soon as I felt one coming - but because they were so irractic, they'd come on instantly sort of....so I found most of the time I'd be feeling woozy from the gas & air when I WASN'T having a contraction by the time it kicked in!

And as for making me feel weird - I felt completely p*ssed, lol!

 

[Freyasmum]

I may not be a good example, but I absolutely LOVED the gas & air! It was like my best friend in there, and when they were wheeling me away for a c-section, I was most upset that it wouldnt' be coming with me!
OH got into it too! (My midwife encourages partners to use it as it helps to calm them down too)

I did have a slightly funny experience on it though, when they were putting my epidural in...
The anaesthetist (sp?) told me to take an extra big suck on the gas while she was putting the needle in, so I did. She may have underestimated my lung capacity... I was flying! It was pretty surreal, actually. I had absolutely no clue what was going on with the epidural, but then as I started to 'come down', there was a major panic going on around me. Everyone was totally freaking out and seemed to think I was in major danger. I, of course, knew I was absolutely fine, but was a little concerned about the general panic. As I came right though, I was looking down and could see OH's feet - he was still calmly sitting by the bed. Took me a second, but I soon figured out that there was no panic. No one freaking out... it was all in my head!

 

[gingermango]

I had gas and air but didnt really like it, I liked the pethedine though : ) the gas and air just made my mouth dry!

 

[Mary Jo]

I hated it! Maybe it's because I was induced so I had it when my contractions were irregular still but I found I'd start sucking on it as soon as I felt one coming - but because they were so irractic, they'd come on instantly sort of....so I found most of the time I'd be feeling woozy from the gas & air when I WASN'T having a contraction by the time it kicked in!

And as for making me feel weird - I felt completely p*ssed, lol!

this was my experience. I didn't hate it though, but I didn't find it did anthing for the pain, but I did feel somewhat distanced from it. sort of if you had drunk a bottle of vodka and then slammed your hand in the car door, youd know you'd done it and it hurt like hell but you'd be a bit anaesthetised.

even though my contractions were regular, they were not as I'd read contractions are, with them rising to a peak of pain and then ebbing away, they'd come on and be at the top point of the pain straight away and stay that way for most of it before dying down. so I found it really hard to time the gas and air and usually missed the worst bit and then spent the bit in between off my head. I was texting people in Australia at 3am, it was just like drunken texting. when I did get the timig right, I still really felt it. and I felt like my inhibitions had goe, which was nice, but the drunk feeling was a bit overwhelming (I'm a recovering alcoholic and haven't felt anything like that in 6 years... I almost felt guilty and not sober).

I guess I'd have it again but there's no way I'd do a whole labour on it. I had an epidural and it was the sweetest relief.

 

[Samemka]

this was my experience. I didn't hate it though, but I didn't find it did anthing for the pain, but I did feel somewhat distanced from it. sort of if you had drunk a bottle of vodka and then slammed your hand in the car door, youd know you'd done it and it hurt like hell but you'd be a bit anaesthetised.

That's exactly the feeling!!!!

 

[goddess25]

I didnt want any pain control and almost made it... baby was stuck and doctor had to do quite a hard internal around the baby to see if she could get him out with forceps or do c-section.. they made me take gas & air while she did the exam.

I HATED it!!! Like someone else said I felt pissed... that moment when you lie down and your out of and the room is spinning thats what i felt like with gas & air, i didnt like it so i stopped breathing it in. Everything becomes quite clear again very soon after you stop breathing it in. It definitely took the edge of the pain but didnt really like the wierd feeling it gave me.

 

[soon2b6]

Like others have said I found it did nothing as a form of pain relief, but it made me feel like I didnt care about the pain, I know it didnt do anything cause the moo of a midwife took it away from me for the last hour and I was expecting to totally fall apart but the pain was no different so, hey ho!!

 

[eswift]

I found that it dried my mouth out something horrid... I didn't like it at all, infact so much so that I really don't want offering it this time. I ended up drinking a jug full of water trying to get rid of the dryness and then threw up everywhere after DS was born... It the one thing I've told OH time and time again about what I'd like him to tell mw when the time comes... I know paranoia

 

[dom]

I didnt like gas and air at all, dont think I want to use it this time around.

I can't remember hardly any of my labour at all from when I started on the gas and air, it completely sent me to "another place" if you will. I didnt cope very well with the pain of labour, and everyone was begging me to have an epidural, but I wouldnt have one because something in my head told me that if I had one my baby would die and it'd be all my fault.

The only bit I can remeber of my labour is when my MIL dragged the gas and air tube out of my mouth (shes a midwife) and made me breathe through my contraction - My face was drenched with tears and sweat and my OH was wiping snot from around my nose and mouth - Yuk (Sorry TMI). Everyone looked pretty distressed.

In the end, my mum told them Id agreed to the epidural and I squiggled on the paper (OH told me after I didnt agree, but nobody could bare to see me in such pain - Im a big wuss haha). The moment it went into my back my head physically lifted up, my chin came off my chest and I knew where I was again. It was brilliant - I even had an hours sleep before I started pushing.

My epidural had worn off a bit by the time I gave birth, so I could feel to push but it didnt hurt too much. I wouldnt say no to one of them again.

Sorry if its a long post

x

 

[catty_smith]

I thought it was great! I'd planned to have an epidural like I did with my first, but my girl wasn't hanging around. After being told that I was only 2 cm dilated and could be ages I then had 3 of the most god awful mighty contractions and 20 minutes later that was me fully dilated! (I know they were so painful because it happened so quickly.)

I was then given some morphine (or pethadine, I can't remember) and told that it was too late for an epidural! I was pretty worried becaue I hadn't ever even thought about the gas and air before as I'd known a few people who'd said it made them sick.

Anyway, it was great! Definitely really helped. I think all the drugs they gave me hit my system at the same time too so I wasn't really of this earth but everything happened so quickly (whole labour was about 3 hours!). I'm glad I know now that I can survive on gas and air rather than an epidural because I definitely felt so much better for not having the epi afterwards.

I was sick after giving birth, but it was the same for my son. I think it's just something that happens with your body after the whole birthing process....and who can blame it!

 

[craftymum]

my experience with it wasn't great either though it was 16 years ago! I found it didn't do anything for the pain for me but it made me as high as a kite and I got up and said I was going home, when asked 'what about the baby' I just said och leave it here (I hadn't had her at this stage yet) They ended up taking it off me cos it wasn't helping me and just making me totally spaced out, so I'm a bit nervous this time round as I'm hoping to use the birthing pool but I'm worried I may not be able to hack it on gas and air alone. Pethidine never worked for me either it just made me feel tired but didn't ease the pains at all.

 

[MrsO29]

I loved it and will definitely use it again this time.
Like everyone says, it doesn't take the pain away, just distances you from it.
I found it especially helpful when getting stitched afterward.

I think the only thing to remember is to start inhaling the moment you feel a contraction coming, as it needs 5/10 seconds to kick in. If you only start sucking in the middle of a contraction, it won't be of much use!

 

[GersPrincess]

I absolutely LOVE the stuff. It does give you a dry mouth, yeah, but from my last experiences, the midwives have always had cups of ice-chips available, and sucking on them in between using the gas and air not only keeps fluids up without making you feel sick and full of water, but sorts out your dry mouth too.

In my first labour I had 1 shot of pethidine, which I really did react very badly to, and did the rest, inlcuding delivery just with gas and air.
In my second, I just had the gas and air.

I have the lowest pain threshold ever, and even my Mum was surprised how much pain I could handle with just my new best friend to help me!

I would say though, that if you can, get the mouthpiece rather than the facemask, as you can bite down on it too, rather than feel like you're being suffocated by something over your face.

Of course, the best bit about gas and air, is, if you dont like it, as soon as you stop breathing it in, it wears off, so I'd give it a try if I were you to see how you get on with it.

 

[amylw1]

not sure IF it was due to having pethadine injection as well BUT........

with my eldest towards teh end of pregnancy i had a really weird dream that an elephant had nicked ALL my high heels/shoes etc and wouldnt give them back to me as "my feet/ankles were fatter than the elephants and therefore my shooes would never fit me again" (i did have major water retention and pre-eclampsia at this point!)

anyway during labour i had pethadine injection and ended up with 40+ stitches, when they started stitching me i had the gas & air and was happily sucking away on it. when i suddenly declared to the whole room "i've found the bloody elephant now to find my shoes!" well my now ex knew what i was on about and laughed and the MW and doc said i had had too much gas & air and "TRIED" to remove it from me! ex amid laughing had to explain my strange dream of b4 and they left me to it!