As my due date is rapidly approaching - I am now down to single digits until my actual due date - my thoughts turn not to what my new baby might look like, or fanciful dreams of bringing the new baby home. I’m a pragmatist: right now it’s all about what I’m going to use for pain relief during labour. With my first son, I was induced and though I valiantly fought against having an epidural (mostly out of fear because my mom and sister spoke of its ‘horrors’) was finally told I needed to have one - many, many hours into labour and a need to increase the pitocin to some obscene level in order to get the proverbial ball rolling again (they actually used the words unendurable pain when trying to convince me to get the epidural…thanks for the heads up, really.). Labour with Jaden was long: 26 hours of actual contractions and yes I will be honest there’s a certain amount of pride in that. (Okay truly it’s not something I brag about, and I’m sure there’s plenty of women out there that have endured more - my hats off to you! ) Oddly enough, when the nurses started talking C-section because things were no longer progressing my son was born less than an hour later. I remember clearly thinking “Oh Hell no, I did not go through all those hours to have surgery in the end. This baby is coming NOW”. I actually did think “Oh Hell No“, I may have even said it, I’m not sure.
At any rate, I was not that stoic as to go so long without anything, I did whatever I could to get relief but avoid the epidural. I might be the only woman in history to cry and sob when the anesthetist came to put it in (that’s not to say I didn’t wonder to myself why I didn’t do it sooner after the fact…). I tried the muscle relaxant, and actually think I dozed off a little between contractions. My poor husband, I remember the hours I spent laying there trying to rest after hours of walking and squeezing his hand over every contraction. I actually think I made him sit up for each one so I could get a better grip - needless to say he didn’t get much rest that night. I guess I wasn’t exactly resting at the day spa either.

Now I have to tell you, after trying the muscle relaxant, I felt okay but still felt the pain. Somewhere between that and the epidural, I needed something else to take the edge off and the nurse suggested nitrous oxide. I agreed and they wheeled in a gas cylinder (it was green) equipped with a mask. The administration was simple - I could breathe into the mask whenever I was anticipating a contraction. Yes, nitrous oxide ladies. It was amazing. Let me tell you, it took the edge off in a gentle way, and I felt as though I could control how much I took, and got the relief in the instant I needed it. I remember thinking I would take that again in a heartbeat, if I were to opt against epidural, if I was ever foolish enough to have a second child…And here I am.

Confidently I strode into the OB/GYN to discuss pain relief options, thinking all along that at least I had the good ole laughing gas in my back pocket if I needed it… Imagine my shock, horror and profound sorrow when I found out the use of nitrous oxide in hospitals in the US is not the norm, and in fact unavailable to me during labour. Ack! No laughing gas? No euphoria? Why ever NOT? * And more importantly what am I going to do now? It’s interesting, the few women I’ve told recently about using the laughing gas actually think it’s quite funny that I would even have that option. We chuckle about it and I admit to them I was probably higher than a kite when my son was born, but that was at least partly elation, fatigue and general relief, not just the good drugs! And in the end, my son is happy, healthy, and strangely has a great sense of humour….

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* Actually, most studies seem to indicate it’s quite safe taken during labour and as a single-time dose. It’s the repetitive use that’s dangerous.