Induction

[shatteredmumtobe]

Hello,

After discovering I am baking a very large baby the consultant has said he needs to come out........

I am going in for an induction on Monday, just wondered if it's as bad as the horror stories I've heard? I can't have an epidural as I am allergic to local anaesthetic which means assisted delivery / sectio etc would result in general anaesthetic. I can have morphine as a pain killer and gas and air, I'm just a bit worried as I've heard it makes labour more painful and longer.....

First time mum to be 38weeks

[DerekSprechenZeDick]

I was induced at 37 with my first. It was like stamping shaped thing

Within the hour I started. I also wasn't allowed an epidural

From induction to him been here it was 9 hours

I had morphine after and I was the happiest shite ever

[camena]

It depends what they plan to give you in order to induce.

I would consider a sweep or a pessary, they're reasonably gentle forms of induction.

I wouldn't consider a syntocin drip, due to waaaaay too many stories of unbearably painful labour plus increased risk of fetal hypoxia associated with it, and if I couldn't have an epidural there is no way in hell I'd let anyone near me with a syntocin drip.

And I wouldn't consider ARM as it hasn't been shown to actually speed up labour so it seems kind of pointless to make it more painful for no reason. And if it doesn't work within 24 hours to induce labour then you have an infection risk.

If the baby "has to come out" then they can book you in for a c-section? If you want one of course. That's what I thought the normal procedure for a really big baby is, that's what friends in a similar position have been offered.

[mellowyellow1]

I had a syntocin drip but would not have been able to do it without epidural as it made contractions veeery painful.

Maybe C section is best option? Not good if you can't have epidural! Good luck

[shatteredmumtobe]

Hello,

Thank you everyone for your replies.

It would be the pessary and then the drip if necessary, the want to leave a section to the very last option due to my allergies to anaesthetic and have said they will only do it if absolutely necessary.

I've heard that about the drip that's why I was a bit nervous, his head was engaged and now it's not (has excess amniotic fluid as well allowing him to move about) so I'm a bit worried it's going to be a long drawn out labour

[shatteredmumtobe]

Hello,

Thank you everyone for your replies.

It would be the pessary and then the drip if necessary, the want to leave a section to the very last option due to my allergies to anaesthetic and have said they will only do it if absolutely necessary.

I've heard that about the drip that's why I was a bit nervous, his head was engaged and now it's not (has excess amniotic fluid as well allowing him to move about) so I'm a bit worried it's going to be a long drawn out labour

[LaPharisienne]

I was induced for my first and it was entirely positive - sweep didn't work, pessary started things off and then had the drip when I didn't progress as quickly as the hospital would have liked despite my waters having broken.

It was lovely - totally pain free and relaxed, but this was thanks to an epidural. I'd heard horror stories about the drip so opted for an epidural before they put the drip in.

I don't think I would have had the drip without an epidural, just because I'd heard such terrible tales. I think there's a lot to be said for a happy birth!

[LaPharisienne]

Oh and my labour took bloody ages, but it didn't matter and I got loads of sleep thanks to the epidural...

FWIW, if I were you I'd have the section. Good luck!

[Jprice06]

Hey I've just had DD, 2 days ago and was induced. So it's definitely still fresh in my mind lol.
Went in Monday due to reduced fetal movements, they decided to induce me so at 2pm I had a pessary and was already 2cm and cervix favourable. I had the 6 hour tablet, by 8.30pm nothing had really happened I was still 2-3cm but they told me as soon as a bed was free on labour ward I could have waters broke. Throughout the night had bad period type constant pain, had co codamol and just kept breathing through.
11.30am Tuesday, waters were broke, venflon was put in, in case I needed the drip. Told to have a walk around or whatever I wanted to do so I was 4cm at this point went for a walk and some food and was having pains around every 5 minutes lasting 30 seconds to a minute. By 1.30pm the pain was excruciating but according to monitor not full blown contractions but induction pains. Had some pethidine and got examined at 2pm and was 6cm dilated, had the gas and air and went from sobbing like a baby and thinking I'd never get through the labour without a c section or epidural to laughing like a crazy lady !
4.02pm baby was born, no stitches or any problems at all!
Good luck for induction!!

[Lovemylittlebear]

Had syntocinon with dd and unless I had a very high dose and it's not like this for others- it was completely unbearable sorry to say and I was shouting and screaming like a lunatic :( completely different ball game to my ds where not induced. The reason I'm saying that is maybe you could find out what induction methods they would use and put a pain relief plan in place before hand so you have options available to you should you need it rather than panicking or people rushing around when you are in labour (I'm sure that's your plan already).

I was told I would be induced with DS as big baby unless he came out before due date. So I went for Accupuncture and I think t worked as my labour started slowly the day after. But I was told it would only kick start things if your body was ready so to speak. Maybe that's worth a go? Contractions were manageable until last hour completely different experience. Good luck x

[shatteredmumtobe]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences, I would just rather know what I was getting myself into so to speak.

I will give acupuncture a go (my mum works in the same clinic that they do that in funnily enough ha ha)

Guess it's time to pull up the big girl pants and get on with it.

Thanks again

[SillySausage1]

To add a positive story- I was induced at 40 weeks (due to reduced movement). Had pessary which got things going well after about 10 hours. Then had drip when I was almost fully dilated as my contractions had slowed. Didn't have any pain relief except paracetamol (which did fuck all) and gas and air towards the end. Yes it was very painful, but it was bearable so it's not always the case that the drip makes an epidural necessary (although I may be in the minority).

[MyBreadIsEggy]

I really wanted to avoid a hospital birth with my Dd, but unfortunately, I wasn't as informed of my rights to decline induction as I am now and just went along with what midwives told me. My waters broke but labour didn't begin at 38 weeks, so I was told I must be induced within 24hrs I naively agreed because I felt like I had to. Even though induction and hospital birth were the exact opposite to what I wanted, it was actually ok and relatively easy.
I was started off with a pessary, and and mild contractions ensued. Then I fell asleep The next morning, I was taken to delivery suite at about 8:30am to have the syntocinon drip started. I was having mega contractions with barely any break in between within about 20 mins of the drip being started! I was examined at about 9:30am, and was 2cm dilated. At 11:30am, I had the most incredible urge to push. I told the midwife, and she flippantly told me that there was no way I needed to push yet I went ahead and pushed - it wasn't like I could stop myself anyway! My Dd was born at exactly midday, weighing 5lbs 15oz. I managed with a bit of gas and air but it made me vomit, so I stopped with that. Ended up with just a very minor tear requiring 4 stitches.
Even though being in the hospital and having a medicalised birth was my worst nightmare, the reality wasn't bad at all - just not what I would have chosen for lots of reasons.

[shatteredmumtobe]

Thank you both for your positive stories, it's giving me a bit of hope, I'm silly scared (probably to the point of being irrational now)

I did have a growth scan he's already 9lb 8oz and that was a week and a half ago, although from reading on here they're not always the most accurate.

I know a lot of people have said about a section but they're aren't keen on doing them (not just because of my allergies) but the consultant said they used to automatically do them if they growth scan showed over 9.5lbs but they found that it was better to induce for recovery time etc - also in my hospital trust they're really sceptical to give sections due to future birth complications.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Also remember OP, that growth scans aren't an exact science - the weight they've told you is an estimate!
A friend of mine had GD, and was told her son would be around 11lbs if she was left to go full term. She declined induction, he was born the day after his due date weighing just under 9lbs

[camena]

On the growth scan where was your baby on the centile bars? That's more helpful information than the weight estimate.

Basically, a baby with a big head is fine (it actually helps as it can put more pressure on your cervix to dilate it faster), and a baby with really long legs is also fine (long and skinny just slips out). The problems tend to be from wide shoulders (which they can't measure) and a large torso. There should be a measurement on your scan results about stomach / torso measurement? Did the consultant discuss all of this with you including the accuracy (low) of determining birth weight from scan measurements?

[shatteredmumtobe]

Hello,

I'm hoping the scans aren't exact originally they thought I had a lot of fluid and a big baby (I measure 50cm should be like 36) but they then said my fluid was normal and the baby wasn't huge somewhere around the 4kg mark but like I said that was a couple of weeks ago.... Not sure why I am measuring so big (I'm literally all bump but the men in my family are all 6'5 plus so maybe he's just tall)

They didn't show me where in the scan it was or anything like that the midwives originally said just wait and see, it was my community midwife who referred me to triage and then I seen the consultant who said he needed to come out. I called triage today as I'm a bit worried what would happen if I need assisted delivery etc as I can't get a local but apparently I just need to speak to a doctor....

Here is hoping, and thank you all again.

[camena]

You should have a scan results letter in your notes. Look in the section called USS&CTG (mine is a purple tab at the back).

The letter will be from the ultrasound department. It should have a series of measurements in mm listed on it, for things like BPD (head), OFD (head), HC (head), AC (stomach), FL (legs). There are little bars to the right hand side with a small diamond on them (or something similar) - these show where your baby is in terms of centile for age. If the little diamond is to the right hand side for AC then the weight comes from a big torso.

[shatteredmumtobe]

Thanks for that, il go and have a look, and ask the doctor about it..... No one really explained anything other than the weight.

[shatteredmumtobe]

Thanks Kitty

All is well now, ended up getting a section (bit hairy but I won't go into that) my DS was 11lbs and absolutely perfect