Come and talk to me about your Induction

[McPhee]

I'm booked in for an induction this friday, first baby, and no idea really what to expect. In an ideal world, going in with an open mind is preferable. But in practice I'm probably going to be prone to losing it

I'm currently 37 weeks, but measuring 41 weeks with Polyhydramnios, large baby with enlarged abdomen, plus being back to back

So, what should I expect? What was your experience?

Be honest, I can take it

Please don't panic. Things might be moving along nicely by then and it might not even be an issue. It's not worth working yourself up into a tizz about it now when it might not even happen. Wait and see how things are going. Make sure your DP knows how you feel and I'm sure you will be fine. Please, please don't worry. You need to take it easy these next few days, not get worked up.

I was induced for DD1, nearly 2 weeks overdue, after having the pessary about 1 hr later I started having cramps & within 10 hrs of having the pessary gel (only 1 dose) I was holding DD1.

it was more painful than having DD2 (you asked us to be honest!) but i think that was more down to DD1 being back to back & coming out waving, nothing to do with the induction

I only had any kind of pain relief (apart from 2 paracetamol!) (long story) after actually having had DD1 and it wasnt that bad.. I went on to have DD2 15mo later so that should tell you something! :)

I was induced at 40+17
Pessary early eve
Contractions starting overnight, DP did go home, I did not like that and could not sleep, get induced early in the day if you can?
Heartbeat irregularities (baby, on the monitor) saw me moved to main labour ward about 9am
8 hours 1st stage
Baby back to back
Gas and air only
2 hours 2nd stage, normal delivery
Tear but not too bad
Not nearly as awful as I had feared!

I was induced for my first labour - with twins. I think they started me off at 11am and I was taken to labour suite at 6pm. I do remember that I wasnt allowed to eat once I was down there so maybe find out more about when you can eat to keep up your energy. I used Tens with my second labour early on - it may have helped but I suspect mainly as it gave me something to do and keep my mind on !
However I did have an epidural - required with the first two as was likely to have a caesarian altho didnt. And with my second labour I had a very light epidural. I would recommend these. I know I thought about trying with gas and air etc and did for a bit, but I had to decide quickly as the hospital did not have that many anaesthetists so I decided to go for it and I would recommend that. The light one doesnt take away all pain but takes away some. However whatever you decide I hope it goes well - just take it a step at a time - and keep breathing - so easy to tense up and forget to breathe which means you are not relaxed.

Pessary at 10pm, contractions at 4am, was then allowed to call husband and given a room.

Threw up with gas and air but morphine helped me be able to lie down. Ventouse failed as baby at a funny angle so given a spinal to enable baby to be born via c-section at 1pm.

So basically the pessary worked quickly for me, although there were other women on the ward who had been waiting for action for a couple of days to no avail.

Had a good cry

Feeling much better now

It's just some of the unknown really isn't it?

I'm sure I've got a thousand more questions....

Believe it or not, it actually is helping hearing your stories.

Been induced twice, on both occasions I went into labour within an hour of being given the gel. With dd (first birth) I laboured for about 10 hours, partly with TENS machine, before giving birth vaginally on small quantities of gas. I was monitored but not continuously: I was walking round the ward in the early stages, even went of accompanied by dh to have a bath (but came out very quickly when fire alarm went).

Second time, I was only in labour for about 3 hours before they decided to do an emcs. Not because of me but because of ds.

I was induced at 40+9 after 1 and a half days of contractions and no dilation. It didn't work (only ever reached 4 cm) in the following day and a half, and I had an emcs because my temperature starting rising. What I would say, honestly, is that the pain was very manageable with gas and air until I was induced, within a couple of hours I was begging for an epidural.

McPhee you've got to think about getting excited instead of nervous. One way or another the baby is coming out, you know that. You'll be in very good hands and you will be brilliant. It's impossible not to be. So push that part to the back of your mind. On Friday you are going into hospital to meet your baby! Surely that's worth getting excited about? You've been waiting so long for this and this weekend you'll get to meet him or her, to see them and hold them and kiss them.

For me, yes I was nervous the night before but I was definitely more excited. It was a little bit like waiting for Christmas morning!

I know you're nervous and everybody would be but try to focus on the exciting part ahead and that'll make this week and I think even labour itself easier for you.

my SIL was induced for her 1st baby. lots of walking around and had pessary. didn't need drip. the main thing on her birth plan was that she wanted epidural. no-one else on labour ward that night so they asked if she'd like to try out with birthing pool. she actually ended up with a water birth and only gas and air as pain relief.
I used tense machine when both times I was in labour. tried turning it down at one point with DS1 as didn't think it was doing much. turned it back up again in a hurry as definitely very helpful.
DD was back to back . found that it wasn't as obvious when I needed to push and 1st stage slower than with DS1, but midwife checked me often enough. defintely more painful. ended up with ventouse, but she was 9lb 15 and had cord wrapped around her neck a few times.....and she still has her moments of being a little madam......
friend of mine had polyhydraminos, said that she nearly washed the midwife away after she had her waters broken and it looked as though the flood was going to make it out of the door and into the corridor, her uterus then stopped contractions and they couldn't get her going again with drip so she ended up with caesarian

Mcphee good luck! Your unit may let your DH stay all the time except overnight while you are having the gel/pessary, ours did. Bear in mind though that with a first time induction it could be a LOT of waiting about with no action and it might be better to let him get some rest anyway!

I have had 2 inductions at 42 weeks, in both cases my cervix was totally closed and hard (ie, no signs of going in to labour naturally whatsoever). The second time the consultant told me that inductions when you are in my situation DO take a long time, which I wished I had known beforehand so I share my knowledge with you :)

Induction 1 was a 48 hour marathon ending in a ventouse delivery, labour took AGES to start. 3 pessaries, waters broken, syntocin drip to stimulate contractions.Back to back baby. I spent a lot of time in the initial stages on all fours and over a ball and I'm convinced that caused DD to turn. I had an epidural.

Induction 2 was faster in part because it was classed as an emergency induction (which meant that they proceeded through all the stages at a fairly rapid pace). Two gels on overnight, I sent DH home to get some rest as we were close to the hospital. He came in at 5am. From first gel to birth, about 16 hours.

To be honest what they call 'augmented labour' with the syntocin drip is known to be painful, and I got an epidural early with my first, which was brilliant. A very senior MW said she'd just call the anaesthetist 'for a chat' about an hour before and by the time he got there I was totally convinced I needed one!

I had to fight a hostile (inexperienced) midwife to get an epidural with my second labour which still makes me angry. (elsewhere in the world they are reluctant to give syntocin sans epidural because of the pain levels). It was much worse with the late epidural.

I think the rules of induction are as follows:

1. be aware that your experience will differ depending on how ready your body is for labour (this is why some people have a gel and then have a baby in 2 hours - they're ready anyway!)
2. Expect the unexepected, which is true of birth anyway
3. the staff and MWs are there to look after you and they will, so if you are nervous without your DH they'll understand!
4. Prepare for a long haul (food, books, magazines, sending your DH home to rest) and then be pleasantly surpised if it goes faster! (I read a lot during the 48 hr marathon and listened to some funny podcasts in the second)

I was induced with DS at 39 weeks as I had pre-eclampsia. I was given a pessary at midnight on my second night in hospital.
I was adamant the whole way through pregnancy that he must stay with me at all times but, in all, I was in for four nights and someone had to feed/let out the dogs!
I passed the time with magazines, playing on my phone, lots of starburst and chatting to the other ladies.

I tried sleeping after the pessary thingy (it was like a plastic tampon) and was so glad I took earplugs as the woman next to me snored like a train.
I was having cramps straight away and woke at 4am with contractions 4 mins apart.
DP arrived at half 6 as I was being moved to the delivery room.

Then I was offered gas and air (it didn't occur to me to ask for it!) and it was brilliant. Made me come out with some classics but totally knocked the edge off the pain.

I had DS at half 7 so altogether pretty speedy.
Although it is said being induced gives you more painful contractions, it was my first time so had no comparison to make.
I liked the fact I didn't have to do the whole journey to hospital while in labour and lolling around at home in early stages. I slept through the beginning and just got wheeled to another room when I was ready!

My 2nd child is due in September and I would very much like another delivery like last time (minus the PPH afterwards!)

The two things I fretted about most were DP not being by my side the whole, boring time and the actual pain.
Neither were anywhere near as bad as I imagined.

Good luck, I hope you have a great time(!) and relish in your story telling afterwards.

I had an incredible induction at term + 16! Really lovely, no pain relief for the labour part, just stayed upright (possible, even though I had to be on monitor) and huge heat pad on my back. I was on the drip. I got to 10cm quickly, I hadn't even had an examination, and requested help thinking I had another 6 hours of this sudden pressure (rather than a pain) feeling. I was actually delivering! I did the hypnobirthing cd before, am sure it helped.

Full induction story here and cd here and good luck!

I had "DP must be with me at all times" on my birth plan, and he was! I had raised blood pressure at my 38 week check so they booked me in for an induction the following Saturday. Got there about 3pm, no-one on the ward knew I was coming! First gel was done about 9pm, few pains, nothing really happened. Second gel was not till Sunday afternoon, again not much happened. It was during the snow in Feb, so there weren't many midwives in, so I didn't go to the delivery suite until midnight on Sunday.

I had agreed an epidural already, so that was put in first, before the drip. Then the midwife advised I went to sleep, and DP made a bed for him on a beanbag! I was woken up a few times to turn over or top up the epidural, although it really started to hurt about 7 am, by which stage I was 9cm. They then told me I had a cervical lip, so stopped the drip for a while to see if it would fix itself, which it did.

Then had an hour to "rest" before active labour was triggered. Pushed for an hour, which was difficult because there was no sensation before the consultant recommended ventouse. Gas and air helped. Midwife convinced me to try for another half hour, by which time the head was visible, but I knew I couldn't push much more (have muscle problems so this was expected!).

Then it all got a bit blurred. All the lights went on (had been quite lowlit and peaceful till then), room was suddenly full of people. Had an episiotomy and then it got painful for a few minutes, then suddenly DD was handed to me! That was about 2pm. I did lose quite a lot of blood but I don't really remember that, don't remember the placenta being delivered either. Stitching took an age but was uncomfortable but not painful.

My mum and MIL arrived at the hospital about 5 pm and came to the delivery suite, by then we were all clean and ready for them! Most annoying thing was not being allowed back to the ward till gone 8 as there was no-one to do the paperwork! All in all, not traumatic at all, would opt to do it that was again if possible!

I was induced at 36+5 due to pre-eclampsia and he was back to back.

First pessary around 10am, nothing happened, we watched TV, had lunch, etc. Second pessary around 4, we fell asleep for a bit. Half four the shtf with me in agony, constant contractions and zero dilation. Stuck on bed due to multiple drips and monitoring. Both of us went downhill fast and by 5:30 an emcs was called.

I'd say for an early induction, be mentally prepared for it to end in emcs.

My induction for dd1 went as follows:
Waters broke at 11am, a few contractions but not very strong. Pessary given at 6pm the next day,very strong contractions straight away from 7.30pm-8pm. Dp sent home at 8pm and not allowed back until 1am when I was 6cm! I asked for an epidural at 11pm and was told I could have one in the delivery suite. I continued to ask and was told, "we are just about to call the anesthetist now" Cue no epidural and told at 4.30am that he had gone into theatre. I was coping ok until about 2am when I was strapped to a monitor so couldnt move around anyway and when the syntodrip was put in at 3.30am the pain was awful. Saw the midwife for 5 mins every hour until DD was born at 6am. When I had dd2 (no induction) the contractions started at 3pm and gradually built up. When I got to hospital at 8am the next morning I was 6cm, waters were broken and dd born at 9.30am (didnt feel the need for epi- it was a wonderful birth).
If I had been induced again, I would a. ask to be induced in the morning (I had been awake for 24 hours when dd1 was born). I also told the midwives with dd2 that if a synto drip was necessary, I wanted an epidural before it was put in, she was quite happy with that. I would have also insisted on going home if i was in active labour and dp was sent home as being left alone whilst contracting to 6cm was just awful. I would have asked for hand held monitoring so as not to be strapped to the bed for hours necessarily. I had a student the 2nd time too and would actually recommend it hugely, she was fab and i felt very supported! The induction itself will be fine if you have a loose birth plan on an if this happens, I want to do... basis! Good luck

For my induction i had a long time waiting around uncertain when it would actually begin as i hadnt been booked in correctly and they were not expecting me. They were going to send me home till they saw how high my BP was so i was kept in and had to wait for some space. It was a busy day on the ward and we waited around all day. ExP was told to go home at 5pm. Luckily he ignorned them as 40minutes later they had space and i was taken to be induced. I had my waters broken at 6pm. I had an instant contraction but my MW told me i had ages to wait before anything was going to happen - it was just a twinge from the waters breaking. I started panicking and locked myself in the loo (grin). It was so painful and if that wasn't a proper contraction how would i cope with something stronger? I have a fun condition that reduces the effectiveness of pain medication and an epidural had already been ruled out. Thankfully when i was coaxed from the loo and examined it turned out the MW was wrong - i had gone straight from waters breaking to the real deal and that pain was as bad as it got. DD arrived 5 hours later 11pm, weighing 9lb 15oz.

Forgot to say - Good luck for friday!

Live birth thread?

Honestly...mine was awful. Not so much discomfort/pain but more soul destroying. I was in for a wk before DD arrived. It was v. hard seeing others come in, have their LO's and leave whilst I'm there waiting and waiting for SOMETHING to happen. I got practically no sleep as our hosp was so busy and several were going to full dilation on the ante-natal ward as delivery was so full (I had DD in Oct - busiest time of year apparently!!).

I developed PE at about 35 weeks and was referred to the DAU for regular monitoring. Was told at 36 weeks to stop work. At 37 weeks they did sweep no. 1. I was then going in every day for monitoring and had 2 more sweeps over the following week. At 37+6 my BP shot up again and I was told they'd induce me that night. I went home, got my bags and dp and I went into hosp. That was Monday.

Monday night they put a propess in. It stung a bit and the night was really quite uncomfortable. Little sleep and lady opposite practically gave birth in our ward :-/. tuesday evening propess came out. Got checked - nothing. They rested me for 24 hours.

Wednesday evening I had the first lot of prostrin gel put in + a sweep. 8 hours later, got another and then 8 hours later again, I had my third. Nothing happening! This is Thursday night. I'm pretty much in tears at this point, sick of waiting and so tired). The consultant says they'll take me down to break my waters first thing in the morning.

Waited and waited and because they were so busy, I kept getting bumped. Understandably those in labour and ready to pop trump those who aren't!! Friday night the SpR came and apologised for not getting to me and said he was on call tomorrow (Sat) and would cone and ARM me himself no matter what.

The mw's got me moved to a private room as I'd barely slept all week but after 2 hours of sleep then found a space for me and took me to delivery. Breaking my waters was awful. 2 mw's tried and then the consultant came. They decided to do an epi as my cervix was too high for them to do it without causing pain. Bang went my 'natural bitth' but by that point I didn't care! Got epi, waters got broken and I was put on syntocin. This was then 8pm on Fri night. Contractions kicked in circa 2am and when mw didnt top up my epi in time, boy, they were full on. Mw's went on/off duty and at 8pm on Sat night I was only 4cm. At 9pm the SpR came in and said they'd do a CS as waters had been broken for 24 hours and LO was showing signs of not being too happy (irregular heartbeat).

As they were choc with other cs's I had to wait until midnight. Even as they pushed me in the theatre doors we had to back out again because of an emergency!! I eventually went in and had DD at 1:10 on Sunday morning.

She is the most wonderful, gorgeous little baby. As they say...the best things come to those who wait!!! And it hasn't put me off wanting no. 2 already.

Hope yours is much more straightforward than mine!! Good luck my lovely....

I was induced as an outpatient. Had the pessary at 10am, was monitored for an hour or so, then was told to go home. We left the hospital at noon, and went to Marks and Spencer to buy some food Was starting to get crampy pains by this time.

Got home about 1pm, had something to eat, then went for a lie down as the pains were starting to get quite sore and I felt like I needed a rest (despite my bleating on and on about staying active throughout labour). I got woken up about 3.30pm by a contraction. Thought to self: 'shiiit, this is really it'. Got DH to put the TENS machine on, which I think did help a bit, but possibly more for the distraction than any pain relief.

I went into the hospital about 7pm as I was struggling and wanted to try the gas and air I'd been hearing about (but was worried I'd be sent home as I didn't think I could be that far along). MW told me I was 4-5cms, and told me that was a one-way ticket to the delivery suite. Gas and air was helping by this time. I ended up having diamorphine about 11pm, which made me sleepy. I snoozed for an hour or 2, and things are a bit hazy after that. I think I was pushing for an hour, maybe 2. DS was born at 4am. 2nd degree tear, which has healed perfectly.

I was terrified of being induced but it was actually fine - I think being allowed to go home helped as I was a bit more relaxed. The actual labour and birth were also not as bad as I was expecting. It does hurt, and it's hard work, but it's manageable. Or it was for me anyway.

And of course it's all completely worth it. \cliche

(The worst bit for me was that I badly pulled a muscle when I was pushing, and afterwards I couldn't breathe or move my upper body without being in quite a lot of pain, but that was just bad luck!)

I was induced at 40+12, with polyhydaminiousis (sp?). Went into hospital Sat afternoon, monitored, propess in. spent the afternoon/evening wandering the hospital grounds with DH, nothing happening. MW offered him a campbed (inductions were all in siderooms in my hospital) but he went home to get a good night's sleep.

Cramps started 2am, called DH back in for moral support at 8am Sunday. During the day Sunday I was given another pessary and a MW moved my postiera cervix (the most painful part pre pushing). Registrar saw me Sun evening, agreed I needed to go to delivery to have my waters broken, but it would be a few hours.

I had had all the paracetamol I could at that stage, so the MW recommended I just coped in the bath!!! DH did stay that night (they got him a campbed), we both slept poorly with pain, monitoring etc.

Finally got to delivery Monday at 3pm, more monitoring, waters broken (didn't do anything), Then a few hours later the drip was put in, couldn't cope on G&A, MW suggested epidural as I wasn't very mobile with the drip anyway. I slept with it as was exhausted. When I got to pushing, I could feel wen to push, but after an hour the MW suggested getting a doc for ventous. Doc said forceps would be better, DS born 6:35am Tuesday after an episeoptomy that I don't recall. He needed some attention due to mecconium and cord around neck, but was healthy.

Take the tens, the antenatal ward won't have any serious painkillers and you may well need it. And ask what hospital policy is for your DH.

Wow, that was a marathon read. So many different experiences, lengths of labour etc. Oh golly, if it goes on for 3/4 days I think I may possibly lose it

Stupidly in my head, I've already had the baby by Next saturday I guess I never realised how long these things can possibly go on.

How and why would your cervix be moved?
As for a live birth thread......hmm maybe...

You'll hear lots of stories all of them going differently. Just like you don't know for sure how you will cope with the psin during labour, you neverknow how long it will take. DC1 was twelve hours but DC2 was 3 hours from the first minor cramp and ended up being born at home.

interestings reads....

Have just been booked in for a induction wednesday morning. Already 3cm without being in labour so i think planning to just break waters & see how i kick on from there.

Everyone seems to have started with a pessary & or Gel, Anyone started with waters broken & managed to get themselves going from there?