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Childbirth

SIL is 12 days overdue - she was induced 50 HOURS ago and still ahs not had any contractions - what happens next?

58 replies

nailpolish · 16/01/2009 10:54

my poor brother is worried

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 10:54

actually forgot to add she had more gel last night but still nothing

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Guitargirl · 16/01/2009 10:59

Is she in the UK? I seem to remember when I was induced that the docs had said if the second application of gel didn't work then they would artificially break waters and then use a drip. All a bit hazy though so might have got that wrong and it probably depends on the hospital.

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:01

yes she is in the uk
oh god i just feel so sorry for her she is quite fed up waiting
thanks for info

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Guitargirl · 16/01/2009 11:06

Yes, it's a long time to wait, must be very frustrating, I suppose the upside is that she is not in any pain?! When the contractions start she may be looking back fondly at those peaceful 50 hours...!

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FourArms · 16/01/2009 11:06

I was induced without the gel (previous c/s). My waters had already broken (96+ hours before!), so they just started the drip. Even with that I didn't have any contractions for over 12 hours.

If it was me, and the baby was fine, I might opt to go home for the w/e and start again on Monday. I think if nothing is happening, then perhaps the baby just isn't ready yet.

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:07

i wondered why she hadnt gone home
yes i agree its fine she isnt in any pain

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Sycamoretree · 16/01/2009 11:10

I was induced by pessary at 7 days overdue. Then again at 10 days, then again at 12 days over due. I was in hospital all this time. A few contractions, nothing very exciting.

They then broke my waters.

I was contracting but not dilating.

Eventually, a bed was free on the labour ward (rather than antenatal ward) at 13 days overdue.

They put me on ye olde drip. I contracted like a mofo all night - caved and had the eipidural. Only got to 5 cms.

Ended up with an emergency c-seciton of the morning of 14 days overdue.

My only advice to you brother - DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR WIFE. If nothing is happening, don't let it go on and on and on until she's so exhausted she is in pieces by the time the baby arrives.

Sorry to be alarmist, but it took me a long time to get over the birth of my first DC. I made sure, and so did my DH, that it didn't happen second time around .

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:13

sycamoretree how for you
i will gently warn by brother to keep an eye on things getting near that stage thank you

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Sycamoretree · 16/01/2009 11:23

It's so hard if it's your first baby (is it their first?) you don't know what's normal, and you expect everyone around you knows that they are doing, and is giving best care. Unfortunatley not always the case in over stretched NHS.

As long as she is not in pain, can sleep and get rest, it's fine. The problem for me was that I was basically contracting at various levels for an entire weeks. Sleep was nigh on impossible, DH and I were a puddle of raw nerves and exhaustion by the time DD arrived, and once I had the c-section it was clear she was so tangled up she was never coming out the natural way.

With DS I insisted on scans right up to the due date and in the end had an elective c-section because even though a vbac was the thing I wanted most in the world, all advice was to the contrary and I just wanted a positive birth experience that I was in control of.

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Cosette · 16/01/2009 11:35

this happened to me, I was induced at 40+5 weeks, 3 pessaries over 1.5 days, and nothing happened at all. As I was being induced because I'd had problems walking (big baby), and my age, rather than anything more serious,
I decided to abandon it for a few more days, as was very keen to avoid further intervention, and particularly a c-section.

They couldn't give me another induction slot for a week, so was booked in at 42 weeks. Started contractions naturally in the morning of that day, and DS 10lb 40z was born a few hours later with just gas and air.

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 11:50

they might well rest her and not give any more pessaries or do anything more for a day.

if her cervix is ripening then that is great.. if it is softening and moving forward and thinning then great.. contractions should follow

she should be out of the bed as much as possible, walking and getting gravity on her side

she should eat and drink too

if she is not dilated enough to have her waters broken she won;t be transferred to the labour ward or given the drip yet

unfortunately, it is a lot of waiting aroudn

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:52

thanks lulu

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 11:53

hopet hings get started soon.

easier said than done, but a concerted effort to relax and get rid of tension is a good thing.

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hester · 16/01/2009 11:54

I was birth partner for a friend who was induced over three days - pessary and then drip. Absolutely nothing happened, so in the end they did a caesarean. It's a judgement call: obviously it would be better if your SIL went into labour and delivered vaginally, but there comes a point where she'll be too exhausted to make labour tenable and CS is inevitable. She should be part of this decision-making: tell your brother not to let the staff forget about her, to keep communicating with them about how she is feeling about the best way forward.

Hope all goes well for her.

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:55

she finds that hard
she has had many panic moments "how on earth will i ever push it OUT?" since about 30weeks
she worries

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 11:55

if she is not contracting , then hopefully she is bored rather than exhausted !!

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nailpolish · 16/01/2009 11:55

yes she is bored and fed up
not in any pain

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 11:58

can her DH give her a shoulder massage, or find somewhere quiet within the hospital to sit and just talk , and not be on a ward ?

she needs to have faith in herself , which is hard when it is your first and you are already having your labour go down a v medicalised path

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Sycamoretree · 16/01/2009 12:01

Just echo what Hester said - that is exactly what happened to me.

I remember midweek, halfway through it all, said to my mum, this baby isn't coming out the way I planned - I'm going to end up with a section.

I wish I'd trusted my gut instincts then as if I'd elected a section at that point things would have been a lot different - I might have succeeded BF'ing for one thing.

I think there is a window of opportunity to a degree, where we have mental and physical capacity to see through a natural labour. But the more prolonged, the more intervention, the more inevitable a section might be.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but if you SIL is not as opposed to a section as I was, and if it goes on much longer and she starts to show signs of getting exhausted, teary and is feeling hopeless, it may be worth her taking control of the situation and opting for a section herself.

But it's DEFINITELY not at that point yet.

And i'm DEFINITELY projecting!

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Sycamoretree · 16/01/2009 12:03

Is there no way she can go home?

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 12:05

they will not discharge her willingly as she has had prostin gel already. she can discharge herself, probably against medical advice though.

if she is not in labour but her cervix is slowly ripening it is way to soon to think about a c.section which will have repercussions for furture births

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Sycamoretree · 16/01/2009 12:45

Yes, you're right Lulu, I did say she is DEFINITELY not at the point yet.

And I concede I am projecting massively onto this thread so am going to step away from posting now and lurk instead.

Hope all goes well for her.

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Lulumama · 16/01/2009 12:46

it is very hard when you have had a negative experience to not project ! you want to save someone else from going through it. your opinion is as valid as mine, i did not mean to put you off posting

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Cosette · 16/01/2009 13:11

I discharged myself after having had prostin gel, but I had been in hospital for 24 hours after the last lot without any movement. I specifically asked whether there was any medical reason why I should stay, and was told I was fine to go. I had DS a week later. (ie 10 days after induction).

Whether she can go home will depend on the reasons she is being induced, and how she feels about intervention.

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IwishIwasamermaid · 16/01/2009 13:19

I was induced at 38 weeks with DS, it took 4 days til I won a baby and even then it was em cs.

I was sooooo bored and fed up and cried a lot as I felt it was all my fault that not much was happening. I even thought all the midwives were disappointed in me even though they really weren't fussed about me at all.

I was missing DP and everyone in the ward with me kept going into labour and I was still waiting.

It was very disheartening and a bit like when Rachel went into labour on Friends.

It maybe would have been easier if it wasn't my first and I knew that I WOULD be getting a baby at some point! I just felt such a failure.

Television, magazines, anything really to take your mind off it was the only thing that got me through and DP being with me.

Good luck to her!