Induction....tell the truth. Well, maybe.

[ali23]

Going in to be induced tomorrow unless this child starts moving out of its own accord this evening. Very nervous/excited but have heard various horror stories of those who've been induced. Is it much harder than a normal labour? I've managed two back-to-back labours but still feel bit nervous now it is all so imminent! Still, can't wait to finally meet my baby.

[SpottyTeacakes]

Both mine were pre term inductions. As this is not your first I will tell you about my second.

24 hour pessary inserted 9:30 am.

Mild period pains starting about 10pm.

Increasing overnight until about 8:30 am when it was getting quite strong and I was sick. Pessary removed and was 4cm (was 9:30 by then).

Finally got up to labour ward where I got gas and air. They put cannulas in for sliding scale (diabetic). Consultant came in and gave episiotomy as ds' heartbeat was double dipping and they got ventouse ready. Then I was ready to push and ds was born in twenty minutes with no intervention. I had to be on my back because he was in distress. They never put me on the sliding scale as didn't need to.

It was a great labour and I wanted to do it all again. Had a shower straight away

Btw ds was really poorly otherwise I wouldn't have needed the consultant or episiotomy etc

[LittleOldWineDrinker]

I was preterm induction for both of mine and honestly so much easier than I was expecting. With my second it was almost as though I sneezed and he was out ( probably says more about my pelvic floor though. Good luck.

[ali23]

Ha, given that my pelvic floor has been wrecked by two bruisers I'm hoping I'll be the same!

[Flisspaps]

What is the reason for induction? How many weeks are you?

[Misty9]

First was induced after hind waters went and nothing happened. Into hospital at 8am, cannula inserted (most painful part almost as blew two veins) and drip started at 11ish. Waters broken shortly after, in established labour by 1 and pushing by 3.30. 3 long hrs of pushing later and he was born 6.30 in evening. Big head. They don't normally let you push for that long but apparently I was doing well though narrowly missed the snip and forceps...

Managed with breathing throughout as didn't want anything that would make me nauseous!

Good luck, you'll be fine :)

[ali23]

40 weeks +8. Had membrane sweep today, cervix still closed. It's estimated to be a big baby.

[HectorVector]

Honestly?

Okay. I went to 40+11 and was then induced because I experienced reduced movements. The initial part of the induction was fine, absolutely fine. But as labour progressed I started to struggle with the pain, I don't really remember much of it to be honest but my DH found it very stressful and frightening because I wasn't coping well. He made the decision on my behalf for me to have an epidural. And thank god for it. I can't really blame the induction entirely because I haven't had a normal birth so can't compare. But I did really struggle with the pain, but the epidural was incredible. I suddenly felt no pain at all and I was able to cope with it so much better, talk to my DH, reassure him I was okay etc... So I recommend that you think seriously about an epidural.

The epidural in my case was also a bit lucky because DS started to struggle and I was whisked to theatre for an emergency c section. And they could just top up the epidural. Had I not had an epidural I'd have needed a GA.

My DS was born perfectly well, he's now 3 and I adore him. An induction was right for me but it didn't quite go to plan. But whose birth plan does really? I felt cared for throughout, the midwives and doctors were amazing. It was a positive experience all in all. But I think only because I'd had the right pain relief.

[HectorVector]

Crap. Just read through my post and feel bad in case I've frightened you for tomorrow.

You'll be fine, you'll have a beautiful baby tomorrow or the day after. I just think it's really worth discussing pain relief with your midwife and your birthing partner.

Such an exciting time, good luck tomorrow! :)

[Felix90]

My dd arrived last Sunday after being induced at 37 weeks. It went like this:

Friday morning - pessary inserted at 10.30am. Nothing happened until approx 4pm when I started getting mild contractions. Examined by midwife at 11pm who said I was 2cm dilated so my waters could be broken. Pessary was removed and contractions stopped Cue a massive influx of ladies arriving on the labour ward so no one was available to break my waters.

Saturday at around 1pm I had my waters broken and was left to see if anything was happening. No movement so was put on the drip at 7ish and contractions came thick and fast! After an hour or so I was on gas and air and it was extremely painful so I had an epidural which took the pain away totally. Midwife examined me at 11pm expecting me to be around 3-4cm dilated but turns out she could see babies head. Was left for 2 hours to see if baby would move down further with the contractions and she arrived at 1.54am on Sunday morning after 4 pushes.

It was totally not as bad as I was expecting! I was dreading it as I had my heart set on a water birth/active birth and ended up on my back being constantly monitored and hooked up to the drip so I couldn't move about at all. The worst thing was the waiting around seeing if anything was happening...

[Audilover]

I've had two and they were completely different experiences.
The first was with my second child at 37 weeks. It was a nightmare and was like running into a brick wall.
The second was with my fourth child and was on my due date. It was a much "nicer" experience.

[17leftfeet]

Induction at 40+13

Gel applied to cervix Saturday 9pm -no sleep -take ear plugs

8.30am was asked if I'd felt anything, said yes but felt like the braxton hicks I'd been having. Told I couldn't have more gel as they didn't want to over stimulate the cervix
Hung around the hospital all day, bored stupid, terrible food, people in the other beds and their visitors annoying

2nd dose of gel applied 8pm Sunday night -no sleep -really really should have taken ear plugs

Monday morning nothing doing but hospital very busy so no more gel

5pm 3rd and final dose of gel

8pm feeling regular contractions told to take a bath and given some paracetamol

9pm dp sent home as on antenatal ward not delivery suite

10.30pm asked for stronger pain relief, told no because I was on antenatal ward and I had a long time to go

Midnight dp phoned to come in, moved to delivery suite and got an epidural

Slept for 4 hours then was woken up and told to push

Dd born at 5.20am Tuesday morning

The labour I think I could have done without the epidural had I had access to gas and air and wasn't so exhausted (I had 10lb dd2 on gas and air)

The waiting around and other people annoying me when I was trying to sleep on the antenatal ward was the worst bit

Good luck

[atomicyoghurt]

Also had 2 back to backs, was induced for second. First and second pessary seemed to do sod all but then about 8 hours after the second one it all kicked off.
Baby born 45 mins later.

No it's not worse than a 'normal' one. It's basically the same except you start off on a ward.

It's very very boring waiting for it to start. Take amusement!

Good luck!

[sockssandalsandafork]

Ditto the poster who said accept the epidural! I didn't and ended up having a section under GA.

The pessaries didnt cause to much discomfort but the drip made for some very painful contractions! (again take the epidural!)

I wasnt told either that inductions have a higher rate of leading to a section ....... dont mean to frighten you though, not that should as sections ime are fine

Good luck for tomorrow x

[mmmmtoffee]

Iwas induced 39weeks with dd2.

38 weeks had a sweep was found ti be 2cm

39 week I went to the Labour ward (high risk pregnany with my illness and believed I couldnt give birth naturally) at 8am.

9am a Dr broke my waters as I was already 3cm dilated

10am I had the drip started.

by 3pm I was examined and still 3cms

at 7pm dd2 heartbeat kept dipping. I was re examined and still exactly the same

the drip was at the hughest setting.amd only had.little niggles.

12midnight took to theatre where I had a c section under a general aneathetic as icouldnt have a spinal or epidural.

The surgeon said Dd2 couldnt come out vaginally with a problem with my illness.

[mmmmtoffee]

so the only way bany would come.out is the way she was birn, nothing to do with an induction

[Ilovekittyelise]

mine was pretty unpleasant, to be honest. however, a lot of the unpleasantness was due to the dreadful hospital, staffed by morons, rather than induction itself.

in terms of the actual induction, i started @ 39+2 and my son was born 3 days later. the pessaries did nothing so my waters were broken at less than 1cm dilated (im not sure that most hospitals would engage in that brutal practice). they ramped up the drip pretty fast and i foolishly over indulged in gas and air and let the midwives convince me to hang fire on epi (first piece of advice: as soon as you are in induction territory, you are undergoing a medicalised birth; ignore generic mw rantings about "doing it naturally" it aint happening.

about 3 or 4 hours after the pain became unbearable i had an epi. due to all the gas i was very sick. spent next10 hours lying on back feeling sick. id strongly recommend laying off the gas and being forceful about wanting epi.

my bp dropped v low 20 mins after epi. i was aware of this due to the fact that i was fighting to stay conscious and screaming that my bp was going and i neeeded fluids but the fucktards insisted it was my blood sugar (im diabetic) which i knew it wasnt. apparently drop in bp common after epi and if you experience the symptoms i did they shouldnt hesitate to check (unless you are an extremely well controlled diabetic with consistently normal blood sugars and physiology in which case they will be determined to create some diabetes related drama due to their ignorance).

after 16 hours of active labour was time to push. i kept pointing out that the epidural was wearing off and needed to be topped up, but as you can probably guess from everything iv said about this excuse for a hospital, that was ignored and after 2 hours pushing i was rushed to theatre screaming, signed consent for emcs but somehow my son was delivered with forceps and despite episiostomy i suffered 3rd degree tears. oh and because of the epidural fiasco was given spinal block which left entire upper body numb so wasnt even able to hold my baby when he was dumped on my chest.

my care afterwards was also unceremonious and my biggest regret is not making a formal complaint.

two pieces of advice: dont have gas if planning epidural & avoid stoke mandeville hospital.

[ali23]

I never got an epidural with my first as the anaesthetist was too busy and it was brutal! Second time I got it as soon as it was offered and ladies I think I'll be doing likewise again! Thanks for all your experiences.

[MummyDee2605]

Oh god mine induction was a bloody nightmare!!! Well my DS was ten days overdue when they gave me a membrane sweep - obviously it made no change I was still having very strong braxton hicks so I had to come in 3 days after that to recieve the first dose of pessary gel.

My appointment was at 10.30am but i didn't recieve the first pessary gel till 11.45pm (which REALLY FRIGGIN HURT!!!! then because it was late they ''let'' me have a bed for the night.

Things took a turn for the worse when I asked the nurse to take the moniter off my bump because I needed to move about as I was in so much pain eventhough the midwives established i was ''just'' having strong pelvic cramps not labour, the nurse noticed my DS heartbeat dramatically dropped and within 5minutes doctors decided to take me to surgery to have a caesarian section.

Luckily my 10lb 12oz beautiful boy was fine when they took him out and had no health problems. They think he may have had a bad reation to fidgeting around or the pessary gel And by the size of him no offense but thank god i had a c section or i may have had a few hundred sitches or so in my poor little lady parts haha

[MummyDee2605]

Oh just too add apart from the surgeons and night staff the care at a certain children's hospital in Manchester was bloody abysmal. I wish I made a formal complaint too ...

[MummyDee2605]

Oh just too add apart from the surgeons and night staff the care at a certain children's hospital in Manchester was bloody abysmal. I wish I made a formal complaint too ...

[startwig1982]

I was 15 days overdue.
Pessary given at 8pm, waters went at 3am. Period pains up until then and afterwards I used my ball a lot. I was transferred to a private room from about 6am. It had an ensuite and was fab (all on the nhs!!). DS was monitored throughout and I had the drip to speed up/keep the contractions going.
The end wasn't great, but then, pushing a baby out isn't ever going to be! I was really anxious about being induced but it went smoothly and was a great experience (as childbirth goes!).

[SerenaJoy]

I was induced with my first and I was dreading it, but it was actually fine.

I had the pessary about 10am, then had a couple of hours monitoring and left the hospital about midday. Started getting uncomfortable about 2pm and went for a lie down, then contractions woke me up about 3-4pm. Went back to hospital about 8pm and I was 5cm. Had gas and air, which helped a bit, then diamorphine about midnight (I'd wanted to avoid epidural if I could, but was struggling with the pain and this was midwife's suggestion). Slept for a couple of hours, then DS arrived at 4am.

It was painful and I felt like I'd been hit by a train afterwards, but it was my first so I think I would've felt like that anyway - nothing to do with the induction! Now 40 weeks pregnant with DC2 and if I have the same experience again this time I'd be happy.

Best of luck OP!

[NoSnotAllowed]

I was induced a week early with DS2 - pessary in at 0930, baby boy out the same day at 2121. It was absolutely fine. I don't think it was any different pain-wise to DS1 (completely natural water birth) until they broke my waters - that ramped up the pain levels a LOT but DS2 was born about 20 mins later so didn't have to suffer for long :)

Good luck

[TeaAndFag]

I went like a rocket when I was induced!! 12 days overdue, pessary at 11am, contractions started at 1.30pm, DD born at 4.31pm.

[TeaAndFag]

Oh, and just a few puffs of gas + air got me through. DD was 9lb11oz!! Felt very proud of myself after