too much baby story?

Is it possible to watch too many Baby Story, Birth Day, Bringing Home Baby, or Yummy Mummy episodes? Most would answer a resounding yes. I avoid the shows that emphasize the high risk births where something is wrong for some unexplainable reason, but honestly I can't tear myself away from the others. J is right that they all repeat themselves. But I'm not sure I agree that once you've seen one, you've seen em all. What about the glow worm jaundiced baby episode I just saw - I didn't know what a billiblanket was and now I do... I could go on to defend myself, but the real hope is that I'll have my own baby story really soon (minus the video cameras during delivery). This past episode a third time mom decided to attempt a natural delivery since she had done it before even though her doctor was nearly forcing medicine on her (on camera). She was in the "playing it by ear" category depending on how the pain was "manifesting" itself. The doctor was arguing that you wouldn't go to the dentist and refuse novocaine because you wanted to get a root canal naturally.

Ok, I get it, but I'm not sold that I will just immediately ask for the epidural. I don't really have a "do it naturally" mentality, but I have a fear of the side effects. I'm not scared of the needle and I don't think that the epidural harms the baby, but there are some realities of an epidural I'm less than thrilled about. It is true that if you take an epidural too early you can slow your progress (or stall it leading to an unplanned c-section or really long drawn out labor). It is true that epidural headaches can be terrible and I am particularly prone to disgusting sick headaches (I get sick from taking ibuprofen). It is true that you lose your freedom to move around and you have to get a catheter (some women stop feeling just in the waist but others can't feel their lungs). It is true that you bounce back to feeling normal a lot quicker without an epidural. It can be true that you push in a more natural even way (because you can feel it more) which can prevent too many stitches (this one is debatable). The other thing I know is that I have already been dealing with quite a bit of pain. There are all sorts of early labor pains to get through and they will give me a better idea of whether the epidural is worth the potential side effects. I would not avoid one to be a martyr or to tout it as an accomplishment. I believe that giving birth regardless of the circumstances is a huge accomplishment.