People who don't have migraines of this magnitude just don't get it. Years ago, DH and I were at a movie in which a migraine sufferer drilled a hole in his skull in an attempt to alleviate the pain. I looked at DH and whispered, "I have wished I could do that more times than I can count." And I wasn't joking. I completely understood the character's desperation. If you're used to enduring THAT level of pain, then even the severe pain of labor doesn't compare....If for no other reason than in your head, you can remind yourself you WILL get a baby at the end of it. With a migraine, nothing good comes of it. But the headaches I speak of mean that the softest sound is akin to the most painful noise and the slightest movement causes pain that is off the scale. Any light at all, even a hint of it, is like a being blinded and stabbed in the eyes with an icepick all at once. And that's just a tiny part of the pain.
Mine are not as bad as they used to be, but passing out from the pain was a frequent occurrence. Being unable to move, let alone walk happened all too often. I'm not trying to one-up anyone....I'm just trying to say that while I have never been through labor, I have talked to women who have been through labor AND been subject to severe migraines and in every case, they all said labor pains did not compare to the migraines. Plus, there were drugs that could control the labor pains. (or as my sister says, "Take the edge off...") Often, there aren't enough drugs in the world to help a migraine.
Throw in my out of this world fear of having a needle stuck in my spine and there is no way I'd have ever gotten an epi. I'd let them drug me to high heaven......No way I'd try to go natural. When I was doing IVF and they did egg retrieval, they had to knock me out. Every time. Keep in mind, some women go through the retrieval with only Tylenol and some with a little morphine pump. But pretty much all of them stay conscious. Not me. I am a weenie about pain and I admit it. But I am more of a weenie about that needle. BTW, if you ever look up how they retrieve the eggs in an IVF procedure, maybe that will partially explain why they had to knock me out. Let's just say a NEEDLE is involved.
I remember asking the RE," You have to go through THERE to get the eggs? Isn't there a more direct route?" 
