My nurse then suggested that I talked to the anesthesiologist about my options for further pain relief, and as a result of my conversation with the anesthesiologist, I decided to have an epidural. I told the anesthesiologist that I’d had an epidural a few years ago for knee surgery and how it had provided excellent pain relief, but that I had itched for hours afterward. The anesthesiologist surmised that the itch was caused by one of the painkilling medications (fentanyl) in the epidural top up and agreed that this medicine wouldn’t be used. The anesthesiologist agreed to do a low dose combined spinal epidural that gave absolute pain relief within five minutes. My legs were a little heavy at first, but they felt fine within an hour. I felt that we were both able to take time out after the epidural and that I was able to refocus on my labor. I felt pleased that I’d managed a large part of my labor without pain relief, and was happy with the decision to have an epidural when I did. I had an unassisted delivery later that evening and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
