Positive induction tales please...

[kampakat]

I am 40+13 today - sounds less scary than two weeks overdue

My midwife has booked me in for an induction tomorrow - I have to call the hospital in the morning and she said they will probably ask me to come in late in the day, I'll be given the pessary that evening followed by another early the next morning.

I am more than a little scared to be honest - I have had such a lovely pregnancy and it now feels that it's all going wrong at the last hurdle.

My first concern is that my DH wil not be able to stay with me - and what happens if the first pessary works and I go into full blown labour in the middle of the night. Obviously I know the answer to this is that they will call my DH and he will hopefully wake up and straight come in...but I had all these lovely plans of going into labour at home and having him with me from the outset and not having to wait for someone at the hospital to make the decision on whether or not he will be there.

My second worry is that it won't work and I'll be stuck in hospital for days when I could be happily relaxed at home - although because I am no so far overdue I am blatantly not actually relaxing at home - I am mostly panicking about the placenta degrading and harming my baby.

Further concerns are that the labour will be more painful if it is induced - although seeing that I have nothing to compare it to (this being our first) more painful that what?! I have also read that induced labour often require the use of forceps or ventouse so am having a little wobble over this - of course the fact that the baby is now 13 overcooked means it'll probably be a whopper by now and even if I wasn't being induced I probably would need assistance...

Hmmmm a ridiculously long post and I think I have probably answered all my concerns

I want to tell myself to man up and just be chuffed to bits that in probalby 48 hours I will have my baby in my arms ...but in the meantime I shall slowly go into meltdown...

So if you have any happy induction tales please feel free to share...

Not a happy induction tale but reassurance that being 14 days overdue is totally normal and does not mean you'll have a massive baby. DH and I are both slightly above average height, DD was 10 days overdue, I was scared that she'd be massive (DH has very broad shoulders) and she was 6,14 and very skinny. (She was so long and skinny her arms were like chopsticks.) It's common for post-dates babies to be skinny too.

Also, don't worry about your placenta. I presume you've had a stress test which didn't highlight concerns therefore everything is fine.

I was in your position in January - didn't have the induction booked, but was worried I'd need one, scared I'd need forceps cos she'd be big etc. etc.

Once she arrived it all seemed immaterial.

I've been induced twice, both before my due date (which should be more difficult) and it was fine.

The first time dh and I went to the hospital together, I went into labour almost straightaway so he just stayed with me. It was not unbearably painful and I did not need any intervention. I did tear a bit but it wasn't something that put me off having a second one, so clearly not that bad.

The second time was at short notice: I was already in hospital with concerns about the baby, so had to ring for dh- but he got there on time and stayed with me. And I wasn't helpless just because I'd had a pessary inserted: I was able to make that phone call myself and make arrangements for the care of dd etc. That time I did end up with a caesarian but that was because of health concerns with ds rather than a horrendous labour: I could have coped. Even so, it wasn't a traumatic experience: dh was there with me, I had skin to skin with the baby straightaway, I was able to breastfeed etc etc.

Hope your labour goes well!

I've had 4 inductions.

The 2 that were done at term were quicky, over and done in 10/11 hours from first pessary. The other 2 were a couple of days.

However apart from choosing to have an epidural with some of them I had not other intervention - pessaries, the 2 long ones had ARM, but no forceps, ventouse, no stitches etc.

Dh was allowed to stay once I was labouring properly but tbh he was just there to carry the bags

Oh and 3 of mine were huge birth weights (thanks dh) and I'm only 5'0.5" but still skinny

I was induced with my DC1 and your first point happened to me!

I had to call labour ward at 8am that day to confirm my place and was advised to go in for 8pm. My birthing partners were allowed to stay with me until the gel was administered, which ended up being about half 11 by the time they'd scanned for baby's position and ran a trace on the monitor for a while. All very relaxed and peaceful.

Gel was administered, Dh and my mum went home under the impression the gel wouldn't work and to come back first thing. MY waters went spontaneously at 1am. I called DH before telling the MW and he and mum got back to the hospital by the time I'd got downstairs.

It was really ok. No panicking. After waters went I had to get cleaned up and have the bed changed, no hurries or rushing around. back on the trace to monitor ensuing contractions. I was chatting away happily. contractions got stronger quite quickly, moved down to labour ward, DH and mum arrived.

Dd arrived at 12.38 lunchtime so just under 11hours from waters going. I had quite a long pushing stage and ended up with epi and ventouse but that was all down to my crap ability of pushing not the induction.

This was ridiculously longer than I anticipated but hope it puts your mind at ease :)

I was going to start a thread to share positive induction stories. I was nervous as I approached 40+16! I just couldn't believe I was so late, and would be induced after imagining staying at home with DP, having a bath, nice snacks, relaxing music etc. I'd listened to the natal hypnotherapy CD from 37 wks onwards, and to be honest I think that really helped. Towards the end I wasn't uncomfortable at all, and loved the last few weeks of pregnancy. It also helped me accept and go with the flow regarding the induction. Still, I couldn't believe I was so overdue and would need intervention anyway after being so patient!

Turns out I had been pre labouring for about 24 hours myself before I went in, 8am on a Friday, so was very favourable when we got there so needed only minimal intervention, no gel or anything. They did a trace which showed I was having very mild contractions, and when the doctor examined me I asked for ARM instead of the gel if possible (the options were gel on day one, then gel again on day 2, then ARM if possible on day 3, then drip on day 4!!!! 4 day induction = not a great prospect!), turns out I was a bit open and so they could break my waters straight away, which didn't start labour so the doctor sent me straight to the nice delivery room (they thought there was a trace of meconium, but DD wasn't distressed at all, they just thought they may as well just get started) and the MW started the drip around four in the afternoon. Followed my instinct, stayed upright in various positions and managed to get to six cm in by seven pm. Without gas and air, just breathing. Then I requested pain relief as the contractions were not bad but I felt pressure and wanted to push but thought it was too early. Suddenly I was fully dialated! From six to ten in ten minutes! I needed a bit of pain relief to help with delivery as she was so big, but it was a wonderful birth really! All worth it! Honestly looking forward to the next time! That moment when they put her on my tummy as soon as she emerged, just magical!

DD1 now 4 weeks old now, recovery wasn't too bad, just taking things very slowly!

However it goes during your induction, just go with the flow as it is meant to be that way, induced births can still be really lovely. Good luck!

I've been induced 3/4 times and the first time, at 42 weeks was the longest, at 6 hours! The rest were 2-2.5 hours. I had gel once and a drip twice. I had epidurals twice because I don't do pain and it was all fine. I had ARM each time which speeded things up as well. Oh and all my babies were big 10Lbs + and it was the smallest at 10lbs 5 who had the most trouble, she was my 'gel' baby.
I know it's a bit scary but chances are it won't be all bad.

The key really is being completely relaxed about it.

With my 4th I'd accepted there would be no spontaneous labour or homebirth but in all honesty I was far more worried about having a non-sleeping screaming baby like my 3rd had been.

The labour and birth was a doddle, I said afterwards "was that it" I'd do that again tomorrow. I'm 100% positive because how the labour and birth was no longer mattered to me - I just kept thinking worse case scenario it would 4 days which is nothing to 6 months of undiagnosed ill baby!

Thank you all so much for your replies...I am trying to stay relaxed and positive about it and have managed to be quite normal all day today
My last hope is that I go into labour tonight, but if not I shall be off to hospital tomorrrow.
Thank you once again for making me slightly less of a wreck!

How did u get on?

Induction in the morning for me!