My wife has had two epidurals and I was in the room assisting both of those deliveries.
I don't care a flying fig for your crunchy granola "natural" childbirth.
I am saying that if you think my wife or I felt any less joy for the birth of our little ones because she had epidurals, then you are a stupid assclown.
Men who insist that their spouses or partners undergo "natural childbirth" should have a 5 lb canned ham pulled out through their nose and see how they like it.
ROTFLMAO....I'm with you 100%.
GB, you really need to spend some time thinking about why the whole epidural procedure is sticking in your craw. Seriously. Is it because you feel some kind of a disconnect from Little Miss GB? Something else? What is this whole nonsense about dulling the "joy" of childbirth??? I was my sister's labor coach for her firstborn--22 hours of labor, no epi, and believe me--no joy. Lots of screaming, some vomiting, but no joy that I could see. Well, Sis would have been overcome with joy when Baby finally made his debut, but pure exhaustion beat joy to the head of the class. Sis went on to have five more kids. Five epis. Five labors under 10 hours.
I tried to do the whole no meds labor with my first two boys. Labor #1: I endured 18 hours of hell before I "gave in" and had the epi. Healthy baby boy born two hours later.
Labor #2: I held out 23 hours before begging for the epi. Healthy baby boy born three hours later.
My post-partum physical recovery from those first two births was around 8-10 weeks. I had a fair amount of internal tearing. I had hemherroids the size of baseballs. That's what all that pushing got me. No joy--physical hell.
My third labor: I requested an epi as soon as I was in the delivery room. I received the epi within 90 minutes. Healthy baby boy was born less than five hours after we arrived at the hospital. Lots of joy this time! No hemmies. No tearing. In under two weeks, the only physical sign I had that showcased my recent delivery was the fabulous rack I was sporting. Shame I didn't get to keep it.