OMG - being induced tomorrow and v scared!

[newbie6]

Hello all,

I will be 38 + 2 tomorrow and due to me being Type 1 diabetic am being induced tomorrow - this will be my first baby and I am now very scared and anxious as have read so many horror stories. I was examined last week and had a Bishops Score of 3 so am now even more anxious as my worst nightmare would be to have a failed induction and to endure hours of labour and end up with an emergency c section anyway! A doctor friend told me the higher up the baby, less likely chance of successful induction and from my understanding my cervix was posterior last week albeit baby's head was stuck in pelvis so hoping that is a good sign! Was 1cm dilated and apparently my cervix was medium - so not soft but not hard either?

I know I am probably experiencing extremely normal first time mum nerves but if anyone has any positive experiences or advice to share please feel free! Due to my diabetes, I don't think I will be able to be that mobile as I will be monitored as will baby so am a tad stressed out by that too as all my ante natal classes were talking about mobility being key for a successful, less likely to tear etc delivery - yikes!!

Thanks in advance for any help!

x

I'm not sure what a bishops score means. But if your cervix is not favourable the induction is more likely to fail. Sorry. Try to have a discussion about how long things are expected to take and get some time limits agreed and written in your notes. I was induced with DS1 at 38+5 with an unfavourable cervix. Nothing happened. Literally. For 3 days. No pain, no contractions, no dilation. Nothing. I had a lovely calm CS in the end. Is this an option for you?

Hi

Thanks bonzo77 - the bishop score is something they can do to determine how 'favourable' your cervix is for birth, the score works from 0-10 with the higher the number indicating how favourable you are for a positive induction. My understanding is that doctors don't really share the Bishop Score with you - I only found out about it because I am a total control freak and researched it :)

I have agreed that if after 2 attempts of pessaries there doesn't seem to be anything happening, they will c section me but worried that timescale wise that would mean getting first pessary tomorrow at 9am, re examined at 9pm to see if they want to give me another pessary, re examine me Friday morning and if no change they will c section me but obviously emergencies (quite rightly so!) would be seen to before me so I'm worried they may just continue with the pessaries/break my waters etc to get baby out!

Part of me really hopes my cervix stays unfavourable as I do wonder if a planned c section would be better just in terms of less stress and trauma for me and baby but I also know it is still a tough gig given it is major surgery and both methods have their pros and cons so please don't think I'm thinking c section is the easy option, I just want baby out safely.

x

Hi, I was induced both times at term due to gestational diabetes (which I know is not the same as type 1). I was told I was 'not favourable' the first time and that I was to expect it to take a few attempts but one was all it took. I have no 'natural' births to compare against but both were fine, problem free and I had two healthy babies with no interventions. I was also on monitoring most of the time and I was still able to move around a bit, I wasn't strapped to the bed!

I think you've got the right attitude about just baby wanting to come out safely and it sounds like you are clear about what will be happening and when, and when the c-section option will come into play. Best of luck!

OP, don't underestimate the effect of tiredness and a long induction / labour on you and the baby. CS is major surgery. After my second I was up and about within a couple of hours. Driving in 13 days. That's not much different from a straight forward vb. it was far easier than my recovery after the CS that followed the failed induction. Baby 2 was probably on balance slightly more ill than baby 1, but he was also a month prem and my placenta had stopped working.