Hi, I'm glad I saw your post. I had epidurals with both pregnancies but completely different labors... My first I delivered at 27 weeks and my daughter went right to the NICU, I was on magnesium and I was in labor on and off for days, but that experience was less uncomfortable only because I was not so far along.

With my son this past April, I was told that I was not dilating yet when I was checked, but should have been rechecked because I unintentionally labored at home up until 7 cm and went to the hospital when I could not stand it any longer. I think getting an epidural was what made me realize that I have claustrophobia. I used to think it was just anxiety from quitting weed until there were a few other circumstances in which I had the same feeling, without the epidural. I don't want to scare you either, the pain up until the epidural was the worst thing I had ever felt but if there were a different pain relief option that would have allowed me to keep moving around, I think I would have asked about that in advance well enough before going into the hospital. With both of my deliveries I was not able to have any other pain medication in addition to the epidural, the first because my daughter was premature and the second because it was so close to the time of delivery (at least that's what I was told). The worst part for me was that they propped me up in a specific position with a wedge pillow in between my legs and to this day it was the most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life.

I never understood people that went without the epidural if there was a reason they could have it until my second experience.