Epidural or not? Stay at home or work?

These are the questions swimming around my head nowadays.

Should I opt for epidural or go for no anesthesia? There are mothers who went for epidural and they had some pain relief but cannot feel the push sensation so its difficult to push baby. Many people told me that they went for epidural because childbirth pain is too unbearable. There are also some mothers who told me that it is actually bearable and alright to go for natural birth without epidural.

I am still unsure.

I envy mothers who get to stay at home and take care of their babies after their babies are born. They can breastfeed the babies and not worry about having to leave for work, and they can stay at home and watch the little bundle of joy grow up and be beside them when they learn to talk, crawl, walk and go to preschool. On the other hand, I must also work to provide for him if I want to let him learn piano or violin, go to good preschool, drive him around in a car, go for holidays, go for holiday classes, etc... Besides its more interesting to work than to stay home all day.

However I'm not sure whether now is the time to give myself a second chance to do something that I like instead of to go back to work in an office and get stable salary and working hours.

Braxton Hicks Contraction

I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction pains at 6 months into my pregnancy.

According to my research, we are not supposed to experience pain when having this false "practise" labour contractions. Most mothers feel a tightening of the stomach muscle, much like cramp. But contrary to what is written online, some mothers, like me do feel pain when having this false contraction.

Braxton Hicks contractions are called "practise contractions" because the uterus is practising for the real labour. In the third trimester, this can be mistaken as real labour pains. There are guidelines to help us differentiate between real labour pains and Braxton Hicks contraction but unfortunately, kiasi first time mothers like me would most prob just rush to the hospital for whatever pain or indication of labour anytime near the EDD.

The first time I experienced it, I missed lunch as I fell asleep after ironing the clothes, and then I suddenly realised I felt cramps when I eat the first morsel of food about 5 hours apart from breakfast. I thought it was gastric pain but relieve came in a while and after that, I went furniture shopping with my parents. But soon, the pain came again and stronger this time as I walked a lot during the shopping. I was breathing hard and lying down on the back seat of my dad's car. It lasted for about 20min. He almost drove me to the hospital. The cramps decreased with rest.

I didn't realise that was Braxton Hicks until I had it the second time. Over this weekend, Friday and Saturday were hectic days for me. I went to submit forms at Town Council and walked long distances for public transport, went to meet friends, walked long distances too to meet them, met up with contractor regarding new flat renovation, etc etc... Then while in the MRT with hubby, the cramp came so strong and painful that I broke out in cold sweat and I grabbed his hands for comfort. I realised its almost the same kind of pain and this time, I didn't skip any meal. The pain eased after about 5 min. Thank goodness it disappeared by the time we alighted the MRT.

Research says that we can reduce the incidences of Braxton Hicks by avoiding dehydration, being too active, and keeping a full bladder. Taking warm bath, drinking warm drinks and changing positions can alleviate the contractions. I definitely won't want to feel the pain again soon. I'm taking all kinds of precautions. Mom told me she never had this until late in pregnancy when she's carrying my youngest sis. At that time, she rushed to the hospital because she thought she's about to go into labour.

I did a search online and realised that this pain I experienced was what I had been reading about but had no idea how it really feels like. False labour pain is already so strong, I'm sure the real one is 10 times worse... I'm definitely opting for epidural.