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Ketchup (sorry for long silence; having an infant cuts into my keyboard time more than expected):
tmdiva: congrats & good luck!
TexLex: ditto! Man, you grow them big. I'm impressed you find the time to post with two.
Epi vs natural: I went in with an open mind figuring I'd go natural. (I've been told by at least two actual doctors that I have a high pain threshold.) After a few hours of vomiting with every contraction, they needed to IV me (this was at 4 or 5 cm), at which point I told them that as long as they were breaking out the needles, break 'em all out. Great decision, and I'm very happy with it. I was able to relax and just have a baby, instead of battling my insides.
I now believe that different people must have different levels of pain in labor; there's no way what I was feeling could be described as "cramps", and yet you read about women giving birth when they thought they just had menstrual cramps. I've run a marathon (Big Sur, no less - very hilly) and done triathlons and all other kinds of painful endurance sporty things, and there's just no comparison; this was completely different.
BTW, I had the same concerns that someone (RP?) voiced re epi lowering blood pressure, causing cascading complications, etc. I warned them that I already have low BP all the time (90/60, including while in labor - what can I say? I'm a chill gal) and they pumped enough fluids into me that it wasn't a problem. Baby was born 8 hrs later (would've been 6, but they were very busy and asked me to hold off pushing while they delivered a couple others ahead of me).
Post-baby boobs: Mine have vaulted from their usual A-minus status (yep, I was always an A student) to the C-D range. I don't know how you really endowed ladies do it; they're really in the way! We are enjoying the honored guests while they are here, but I can't say I will miss the gapping shirts. Hopefully they will retain some perk; small is bad enough, but small and droopy would just be pathetic.
Back to lurk-when-possible baby care mode ...
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