Induced labour

[Beccy82]

Hi all. Need a bit of advice please? Midwives and consultant in hospital tell me different from my local midwife and all confusing the shit out of me . Basically i'm 8 months pregnant with my fourth, now there is an age gap between them and I know things change over the yrs. I'm adding their birth weights as it's part of this pregnancy. My oldest is 18 he was 7lb 7oz. My middle is 16 he was 7lb 9oz. My youngest is 11 and was 7lb 1oz. So I don't have little or big babies I have average sized ones.
Now, since i've been pregnant this time i've had 5 scans (fifth one today) for growth scans and i'm under a consultant because my last baby was born small. 7lb 1oz is not small in my eyes. Even my consultants and i've seen 3 have all said that's not small. Anyway, everything is going good with this one they've said on every scan and measurements that's he's slightly over the weight they'd like but not too far over that they'd worry. I had a glucose test done twice, in august and september both clear. On my scan a month ago they said he's weighing 5lb 4oz, on my scan today so one month later they are saying he's weighing 7lb 9oz and that over the last few wks they grow a lot. I've still got 4wks to go yet. But even to me 7lb 9oz is not big surely if he grows anymore he's not gonna go over 8lb 5oz at a guess and even that's not too big. Now, they want me to have another scan at 39wks to check growth again and if he's over a certain line they'll induce me a day or two later.
Here's where I need help, if I need to be induced do I have to stay in hospital or can I discharge myself and go back in when contractions start? Have any of u been induced and did it happen quickly or take days? I cant leave my other kids for long. I know my oldest two can take care of themselves and my oldest is classed as a man, but I do and done everythin for them. Their father is useless so wont think about feeding them or making sure the youngest two have clean school uniforms or money for dinner etc. I'm starting to get stressed now that they will induce me and i'll be stuck there for days. Someone put my mind at rest please and tell me I can go home?

Doesn't look like they wrote anything on it for yesterday. I can see they've market it at the 36 wk mark but nothing written in the boxes at the bottom.

I had this on 4th september with those measurements from the scan.

Then I had this one with the measurements yesterday.

That looks like you're on track for a decent size baby, if you could guarantee accuracy. It seems out of line with your others.
However a suspected big baby does not equal difficult births or the need for intervention in all cases.
I had a 10lb+ baby as my first, no pain relief and not a stitch. Was discharged less than 3 hours after birth.
If you struggled with birthing your average size babies then you may want to have a think about why and what you could change.

@raspberryk I was very lucky on my other 3, the same as u with no drugs. I did have to go to theatre AFTERWARDS on my youngest as all the placenta was broken so had to have it taken out but the actual labour/births themselves were all fine with no problems, no forceps etc, no intervention. Everything went absolutely fine.
There's only one thing different in the pregnancy from my other 3. I smoked on the other 3 but I haven't smoked for coming up to 6yrs this month. That is the only difference, that and the fact i'm old as hell now . They say smoking can cause u to have small or smaller babies. So who's to say that if I never smoked on the others that they would have been roughly this size too? This baby could actually be my average size of carrying. The midwives know I smoked on the others though so surely they would have taken that into consideration?

Oh and btw WOW on having a 10lb baby

I don't know about the smoking and birth weight it's not an area I've looked into, congratulations on managing to give up for so long!
If it was me for example, I'd be going for a natural birth with no induction and having a birth plan of what I wanted to happen if that didn't go to plan. I.e. CS or whatever. Rather than straight in for the interventions. A friend of mine went straight for CS rather than face a failed
induction and end up in an emcs.
My 10lber was easier in some respects than the little one who was painful on the way out and gave me a graze.

I have heard that a bigger baby is slightly easier as they will help push their way out. Whereas a smaller baby cant. Who knows if that is true though. I will be going for a natural birth on my own and when he's ready now that I know I don't have to go by what they say. The answer for an induction is NO simple as.

Good for you, you may want to back it up with a little recent research reading and nice guidelines etc.
Gravity helps if you're in an upright position for sure with a bigger baby.

I don't know anyone who's had an accurate scan. I know a lot of people whose babies' weights have been wildly different from scan results. That could just be reporting bias, though. I do find it difficult to believe that a baby could go from 5.4lb at 32 weeks to 7.9lb at 36 weeks without some factor like gestational diabetes, so further evidence for scans being a bit of guesswork.

def not having a section unless I 100% have too. The recovery time is too long

Let me just reassure you about that! I know other people have other experiences but I recovered quickly from my emergency caesarian. I was pain-free within a week and walking normally long, long before my friend gave up her rubber ring. It was a nuisance not being able to drive for six weeks but if I'd had another baby I'd have gone for an elective section.

Your baby is predicted to be over 10lb at birth. The same as my DD2 as I needed an EMCS the first time round I was offered an induction at 38 week. After lots of discussion with consultant and senior midwives I declined induction and booked at section for 39 weeks. I did everything (safe) to encourage to labour and I had my vbac at 38+1. The scan was accurate and she was 8lb 11oz so another 2 weeks and she would have 10lb.

You need to do some serious research into the various risks, speak to your medical team and to make the best decision for you and baby.

Your partner needs to wise up and learn how to look after his children. There is a good chance that you may not be able to do it all yourself.

@ThatLibraryMiss I don't believe that weight for a second. I think there's no way he'd grow that much in a month. I've been tested for GD twice and both results clear. I think they've obviously measured wrong but now they are making a big deal out of it. I still stand by my original guess at 7.8 birth weight.
As for the section I can only really go by friends experiences as i've never had one. My one friend has 5 babies and 2 were sections, one of those was in May this yr. I'd txt her everyday to see how she was etc and some of the txts back have put me right off a section. I know about 3wks after section she was telling me things like filling a kettle full of water would cause so much pain in her belly, she couldn't bend down to go into the fridge, she found it extremely painful to change and bath the baby. It seemed like it took her forever to recover.

@hormonesorDHbeingadick I really hope he's not 10lbs+ as I have SO many newborn clothes he wont bloody fit lol.
I will try to find certain things out myself for now but i'm seeing my midwife on the 14th so will make a note of certain things I want answered and about risks etc.

Although I am very intrigued by how much they'll say he weighs on 24th october on my next scan. Will let u all know.

I guess recovery from caesarians is a broad spectrum and it sounds like your friend and I are at opposite ends of it. I just didn't want you to think that it's invariably terrible.

@ThatLibraryMiss @GrapesAreMyJam thank u both for saying about your recovery times and for putting my mind at rest

Of course you can decline an induction- they are ‘offering’ and ‘recommending’ everything to you and it’s your decision what you decide is best. Being pregnant doesn’t mean your body is suddenly the property of the hospital, it’s your body and you decide who touches it and what procedures happen to it. Basic human rights.

My 2nd I refused an induction at 12days over cause I was adamant I was going to go In labour myself and didn't want the long process of induction and days of being in hospital, I didn't and was induced at 14days over due on Saturday night and baby was born early Sunday with ZERO pain relief (whole other story) and I was home for lunch time. So induction isn't as bad as most people make out.
Hope all goes well and baby is happy and healthy

I was induced and you can not go home once the induction process has begun until your baby has arrived, with me they used one pessary and 2 hours later I was in labour with baby being born about 7 hours after that but you have to remember everyone is very different and sometimes it does take days to be induced, but you can always refuse so please don't let them pressure you into it if that's not what you want x

I was induced at 42 wks, only because I was 14 days over- it took 27 hours start to finish, and I wasn't allowed home in that time

Thanx all who just commented. So many different experiences for different woman. I'm definitely saying no. There's no risk to either me or the baby so no need to start me off early.

Hey all. Just an update. Seen my midwife today and told her some of my fears etc. She pretty much said the same as all of you. I don't have to be induced unless there's a problem and there's not. My scan have been moved forward from the 24th to the 22nd. Who knows when i'm seeing my consultant though, was supposed to be on the 23rd but had a cancellation letter for that so who knows but hopefully after the scan like I normally have. My midwife have also booked me an appointment on the 24th to meet and speak to the head midwife in the hospital where I want to give birth and she'll go through everything with me about the risks of a big baby etc. So fingers crossed I can go where. Will let u all know what size they say on my next scan. It will be 2wks 6days after my last scan where they said 7lb 9oz.

Yikes - good luck ! Your husband sound awful though a wtf

Hey all. My appointment with the head midwife where I want to give birth was moved forward from next wk to yesterday. Good news, I can go to the hospital I want. She said there's no reason why I cant go there. She said lookin at my scans it's as if he's gonna be 8-9lbs but that's fine they just don't take babies predicted to be over 10lbs. She's cancelled all my consultant appointments because she said I don't need them. I've still got my scan next tuesday but then after it I gotta go upstairs to where I want to give birth and see a woman up there who will just go over the new scan weight etc. She's booked me in for an appointment with herself on 7th nov if I haven't had him by then (due 29th oct) and she'll just see how everything is going and talk about induction etc. I told her I don't want to be induced unless I have too because I don't want to leave the kids so she said it's just a talk they wont do anything I don't want them too unless they have too. She also said that the last 4 babies they've delivered there had all been classed as bigger babies and all 4 of them were under their predicted weight so the consultants are over reacting by saying u cant have your baby there etc. So i'm extremely happy now. She was lovely.
Oh and i've said all along he'll come on 2nd Nov, the rugby world cup final is on that day and I think Wales will be in the final (where i'm from and a massive rugby fan) so it's obvious i'll be in labour while that match is on lol. I asked the midwife ready if I can have a tv in my room just in case she laughed and said yes they've got tv's in the room anyway. I'm not missing it 🏈