epidural or normal?

Everyone has different pain threshold. I had epidural 4 times cos I couldn't stand the extreme pain. I was induced all 4 times. Able to sleep during contractions. The last epidural I took was 9 years ago. So far all is good. No side effects for me. Gas mask does not work at all for me. It only makes me kind of in my own world, made me puke and was still in extreme pain. Go with what your body can tolerate. If you can go natural, do it. But if you can't, it's okay.