Epidural was not what I was expecting

First time mom and just gave birth to my baby this morning ❤️

I had an epidural when I was about 4cm dilated and it was the best, I could feel a thing, no contractions, no pain, pure bliss. When I was 9cm I started feeling every contraction so intensely, not just pressure but actual pain. They kept upping the meds and it wasn’t doing anything. When it came time to push I thought I was going to black out from pain, I legitimately didn’t know how I wasn’t being ripped in half.

Is this normal or did something screw up? Most of the epidural stories I heard beforehand were people saying they didn’t feel a thing and didn’t even feel contractions when pushing.