scared of possible induction. how much more painful is it?

[cleoowen]

41 Weeks today and had my sweep today. mw said cervix is closed so couldn't do it. Feel really disappointed although she did say this doesn't necessary mean you are,far away from going into labour, you could go from nothing into full blown labour.

Now they are talking about induction which I am scared of. Heard leads to more difficult and painful labour with no build up on pain. Feeling very scared if I will.cope.

Also feel cross mw did not offer me a sweep at 40 Weeks and feel she has put me in this position. Why? I didn't know this was common practice or would have asked for one. Others,were booked in at 40 Weeks and naively thought this was unusual and too soon. Got another booked Friday but with cervix closed feel this won t work either. This is what I most wanted to avoid.

[Twinklestarstwinklestars]

Can't compare to a non induced as both mine were but no 2 labours are the same anyway.

With ds1 I had one pessary at 11am, pains started at 10pm he was born at 12.57 so 3 hours, no pain relief (gas and air made me feel sick). Ds2 I had a pessary at 11 and one at 7 then went into labour at 2.57am and he was born at 3.17am so 20 mins but no pain relief again, very painful but then any fast labour would be!

Expecting dc3 in July and am hoping for induction again both my experiences were fine, no tears or stitches and would rather have fast labours to get it over with!

Hope it goes well for you.

[coffeeandcream]

Hi, am watching our post with interest as I also have and induction booked (Friday). I really don't want it as I don't want a Hospital birth.

I had my second sweep today, first was on Sunday. The mw said my cervix had progressed quite a bit in that time, so you never know, things might get better naturally.

The mw offered to really give it some welly for the second sweep, saying there's no point just giving the cervix a little tickle! It wasn't pleasant, but if you can tolerate it, ask the mw to be firm (assuming she can perform the sweep next time).

Good luck OP!

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

With DD1 I wasnt induced. Was in total agony basically whole way through. Only had G+A.

With DD2 I had two pessaries and then they broke my waters and put me on syntocin.

For 4 hours I was having contractions and they were painful but manageable. I had G+A and remifentanil.

Then a MW who wasnt supposed to be caring for me put the syntocin drip up. My contractions were excruciating. The remi stopped having any effect. I requested an epidural but DD2 arrived before the anaesthetist.

IME the pain did build in a manageable way. But I was asking for an epidural which I didnt think I would have to do.

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

I was induced with the drip as my waters broke (with meconium), I had no natural contractions at all and they needed to get DD out.

I'd been told by my NCT teacher, who was very pro natural birth, that she would highly recommend an epidural if you are induced with the drip. This was the BEST advice I have ever been given about childbirth.

So I absolutely insisted on having an epidural when they said I'd have to be induced with the drip. At first my drip was just turned down low and that was absolutely fine, just used some breathing techniques and the TENS. Then they put the epidural in and turned the drip up very high, very suddenly. I'll skip over the bit where the epidural didn't work because I've put that to a dark recess in my mind and cut straight to when it did work. Which was great. But still very intense, just not painful anymore.

There is no way in God's green earth I would be induced with the drip without an epidural. Unless they just have it down low, but if they want the baby out and turn it up high, have an epidural.

Sounds like they'll start with a pessary if your waters haven't broken, I've heard it can be intense but quick. Good luck!

[SneezySnatcher]

I had the drip. It was fine. I managed with G&A. I was terrified but it was nowhere near as bad as expected.

The worst bit was, as I hate having canulas, I was scared to move around too much in case it came out of my hand! This, along with the regular monitoring, meant my birth wasn't as active as I wanted. All was fine though and DD was born 13 hours after drip went in (20 minutes pushing).

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

YY to the canulas.

My remi canula came out right at the end, when I needed it most! I wish they could figure out some place to put it other than on the hands!

[Hooliaaa]

I was induced with DD 1. I went in at 42 weeks with a very unfavourable cervix. It took 4 days before they could give me a drip.But when they did I didn't notice that it was particularly painful. The monitoring was uncomfortable and all my ideas of an active lo-tech birth went out the window, but in fact it was a pretty stress free experience. I was in labour for 12 hours then asked for an epidural just because I was so very tired and the contractions were too painful to sleep through. The epidural was a blessed relief. I went to sleep for 12 hours, woke up and had a baby after 90 minutes pushing. The worst bit was waiting around before they could give me the drip.

[monstermissy]

My first two labours were induced, labour three was natural start. I would be induced over a normal start anyday. Yes, the induced labours were quick to progress but I prefer that over hours of build up. Both my inductions were exactly 3.25 hours, compared with over 9 for the third. They were quick in and out jobs. Please don't worry it will be fine. Good luck

[melliebobs]

But If you don't want to you don't have to be induced. Go for close monitoring f your happier with that :)

I had a sweeps at 41+2 and 41+6 where cervix was closed and they couldnt do anything and another at 42+1 where it was the tiniest bit open. Went into labour at 42+3

[Jollyb]

Hi try not to stress too much - you have plenty of time to go into labour naturally.

And don't worry about not having a sweep earlier - if she couldn't do it today there is no way she could have done it last week.

I was induced and I must admit it wasn't pleasant but I think that was because my DD was back to back rather than the induction as such. I had the Propess pessary - contractions started around 9 hours after it was inserted. The next step was having my waters broken - the contractions kicked off properly after this. I got to 4cm and then had an epidural as I was quite tired by then. I did end up having a section but to balance my experience my sister was induced and everything moved very quickly and she managed without an epidural.

[jinglebellyalltheway]

you do have the option of a CS instead of induction if you choose
might not be something you want but just so that you are aware it's an option if you go over due but don't want an induction

you don't have to be induced, there are options

[SantaFi]

I have has three children and was induced with one of them. To be honest it was my easiest labour. I know its not supposed to be but it was much easier and quicker and way less painful than dd1 (vvvvv long back to back) and dd3 who was very quick but no build up to contractions at all.

I was given a two pessaries, never went on a drip, had a 20 minute spell on monitoring and was able to keep mobile the whole time, have baths, walk about etc - I also had her kneeling at the side of the bed. I had gas and air as pain relief.

[cleoowen]

Thanks guys you have reassured me lots. Nothing so far from the sweep. Had curry,pineapple, all fours,bouncing on the yoga ball and sex last night but nothing came of it. Started getting bh which.were sharper than usual last night but as,usual they faded away after few hours.

Heard sweep can take 48 hrs to work so still time otherwise fingers crossed for Fri. Think going to request final sweep on mon when 41 +5 rather than induction then have induction on wed at 42 Weeks.

Trying to get my head around induction as naively worked myself up mentally for birth but never thought about induction.

[havingastress]

Demand an epidural!

I was induced at 36 wks due to OC.. v v painful but then I don't have a non induction labour to compare it to?!

Had two pessaries - first one did very little for the first 3 hours and then mild/moderate period type pain kicked in. However, my cervix still refused to cooperate! Second pessary, omg pain kicked in big time. Had to have gas and air and then some diamorphine (which is AMAZING..defo have some of that!!)

Once my waters were manually broken pain kicked in again - diamorphine had worn off by this point. Hideous pain that gas and air just did nothing for. Honestly though I was going to die. V V intense contractions. Took nearly an hour from screaming for an epidural to actually getting it, and then it didn't work properly :(

Next baby I'm going to insist that the epidural is there from the onset!!!

On a positive note, once the epidural did kick in I had a lovely pain free rest of the labour. Didn't affect my ability to push (indeed, pushed for over an hour before they decided to get the forceps out and perform an episiotomy) which I know some women worry about. Was great to be able to be stitched up etc without feeling any pain.

EPIDURAL IS YOUR FRIEND!!!

Good luck OP let us know how you get on! :)

[Jayne266]

I have heard inducing is more painful I got induced (didn't have anything to compare to) I think the most painful part was the contractions didn't stop lol like I saw in the films, they just kept going. But saying that I was induced at 6ish and he was out by 10.07pm! So I would be happy having it again.

[sarahpip]

i was 42 weeks and on the morning i was due to go in i was already contracting but due to meconium after they broke my waters i was whacked on the drip. i am sorry to say that the contractions i was getting naturally were much easier to handle than the ones when i was put on the drip however they switched up to huge dose v quickly as they wanted him out. have an epidural - i was sooooooo determined not to have one but i would reccomend it and have one from the start if induced again.

[Hooliaaa]

Cleoowen the hardest thing for me was accepting I wasn't going to have the birth I'd imagined which was just a mental hurdle. In fact you really don't care after the event as you're so focused on the baby. I think some of these birth preparation classes are a bit irresponsible as they don't even mention the possibility that it may not go according to plan. I know they don't want to frighten people but (in my experience) being induced was far less traumatic than I expected and the only thing that really mattered was my lovely baby. Anyway, this is probably all irrelevant as you have plenty of time to go into labour naturally.

[KatAndKit]

I was induced and although I have nothing to compare it to I regretted not asking for the epidural when they put me on the drip (they told me it was too late when I did request it). If I ever have an induction with the drip again I would ask for an epidural to be in place already when the drip goes in. However, I was not over due and was on the drip for a very long time. The main problem was being stuck on the bed on my back and not being allowed to move. Because I didnt' have an epidural and then they wouldn't let me have one the only way I could cope with the pain was to get totally and completely off my face on pethidine. And I didn't like the loss of control that followed from that.
I agree with those that say epidural is your friend.

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

One last point, with my drip induction, they wouldn't put the epidural in until I was 2cm dilated. I could move around with epidural in, think it was a mobile epidural, the midwife and DH kept moving the many wires around.

Really the main thing is your baby comes out ok and once you have he/she in your arms, that's all you'll care about. Hope it all goes well.

[isambardo]

I was induced two weeks ago (first baby) and it looks like experiences of induction vary massively. I only needed gas and air and found the whole thing pretty manageable. I was monitored frequently but was mobile the rest of the time. Considering I was planning a homebirth and obviously ended up having the baby in hospital, I had a very postive experience. Best of luck to you x

[delilah88]

I was induced and found it very painful and so would agree with those saying have the epidural. I never thought I'd have one as had hippyish ideals and high pain threshold but it is almost impossible to weather the contractions lying down as you have to. However I reckon it depends how exhausted you are. I had been in pain for a week and had minimal sleep. If you rest well before induction date it would be different.
Tip: Even if you are bed bound on the drip, tilt up the back of the bed and hang your top half over it. Lots of metal bits to grip and really helped me.
It's all worth it though - good luck xx

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

Yes to delilah's suggestion, that was my most comfortable position, sort of on my knees hanging over the back of the bed. Bellowing. Oh so glamourous!

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

Glamorous