To sweep or not to sweep......

[SHHHH]

Thats the question..!!!

Im 38 +1 and fed up, like the majority of women at this stage of pregnancy. I have sciatica, spd and I am huge. Luckily dh's contract finshes in a weeks time so he can be on hand to help with dd (19 months) as atm he's out working 6am-7/8pm and I have struggled.......

Now dd was 9lb 4oz and I am sure ds2b is going to be bigger, mw's won't committ to a size but agree he probably will be big.

Aftre promises of growth scans and inductions etc when I got to 38+ weeks the mw is now changing how things go..not surprised really, its a bit like being a donkey and having a carrott dangled in front of you when you are pregnant..well imo anyway.

At my mw appointment this week my mw suggested I go back in 2 weeks time when I will be 39 + 6 and she will do a membrane sweep to see if anything will kick labour off. She will also refer me to the mat unit which will prob be for the following mon (40 +5) who will then book an induction date, so if labour isn't within this time I am looking as a possible induction date at 41+..following me still..??!!!

Now dd was bang on time and a text book labour and birth etc and we so wish/hope this is the same...neither dh or I want me to go over 40 weeks, mainly because it worries me baby is big enough at 38 weeks so god help me at 42 weeks..also not confident going over term is good for me or baby with regards to placenta functions iykwim...

Pheeeww............so.........would you opt for a sweep at 39 +6...??? Or would you just ask to be referred for an induction date...? I know a sweep will only work if your body is ready but would you do it..??? What does it involve...? is it uncomfortable/painful..?

Advice/experiences appreciated although I am sure I will regret asking .

Im bracing myself...............go on then..........

Hiya
I had a sweep at 39weeks with my dd, to the severity of the SPD. It was uncomfortable for a few minutes, but didn't hurt.

But, it didn't work, so I was induced a few days after, twice, again they didn't work!

TBH, due to the pain of SPD, I was desperate to get the baby out!

LOL! well, you have covered all the bases yourself!

IMHO - a sweep before your EDD is not much use...and they only work if you would have gone into labour anyway!!

if you are worried about going over your date, you can have regular monitoring etc to ensure placental funtion and baby are ok..

i had a sweep at 39 weeks ( cried at obs appt! but DD arrived on her due date

it can be uncomfortable , but not terribly painful IIRC.

babies come when they are ready..you could try helping the cervix to ripen with lots of sex !

if you tend to have big babies, then your body can birth them...in 2 weeks time, a lot can change , so why not wait and see how you feel then ,rather than deciding now?

Hi, I had a sweep at 40+5, it worked for me, either Im a total wimp but it bloomin' hurt, found labour easier!!
Thought the mw was digging for gold!!

thanks jo.Its because of the pain esp at night that I am desperate to become human again....At night when I need to wee or even to get up due to numbness etc I cry as I think I can't do it anymore..doesn't seem any point in trying to go to bed. .
2 weeks seems a life time away although I hate wishing this time away.

Lulu thanks for your views and experience. TBH I don't want to make a decision now (sorry I didn't state that) but wanted to get facts and figures iykwim so I can make my mind up before the 30/01. DH says its my decision but wants us to gather as much advice as we can to allow us to make the right choice.
I hope ds2b come as text book as dd was but Im not holding my breath. You have actually make me feel positive by saying that my body will cope with the size..I so hope so.

RE: Placenta issue, mw did say that my way of checking was to ensure ds2b moved around 10 times a day (i think) and if not to worry. TBH you'd think he would have no room to move BUT i get kicked like mad almost every minute..hey ho, probably having fun making my tummy appear like a tent once he's born..! along with the attractive stretch marks.

SHHH,
I know exactly how you feel about the bed issue! I could hardly climb up the stairs so once I was in bed, there was no chance I was going to move.

I got offered the sweep and induction purely due to the pain of my SPD (I'm still suffering with it now, 15months later!) from my consultant and mw.

shhhh I was where you are this time last year (well I was past my EDD by this time) I had bad SPD and I so sympathise with the SPD/nighttime peeing thing. It is utterly horrible. I had a sweep at 40 weeks and it did nothing, it was uncomfortable and TBH I would never have one again. My DD1 was 2 weeks early so I thought I would be early again, oh no DD2 came when she felt like it at 41+5 days. Every day felt like a month I used to wake up and cry at still being pregnant.

Sorry to tell you this but I do think they come when they are ready and as you've already had one baby fine your body will well be able to cope with birthing another large baby. I'm sure you will be fine. Try loads of hot baths with some lavender oil to help you relax and stick DS1 in front of cbeebies it won't hurt him for a few weeks, it's how I got through it.

lol at digging for gold !!!

lulu..sex............... Thats what got me here in the 1st place.!!
TBH dh won't go near me as we find it hard (ahherrrmmm..)..I mean we find trying to do it hard..! I also end up swollen iykwim after..although dh did read yesterday that orgasms alone are just as helpful..??? If so bring 'em on...! ..!!!

well , to paraphrase Ina May Gaskin..it was that sexy energy that got the baby in there, so why not use it to get the baby out too !

orgasm can help encourage contractions, but the prostoglandins in semen do encourage the cervix to ripen !!

I tried acupuncture and that did have an effect. Took 2 attempts but I could feel the acupuncturist 'create' contractions. Very wierd. However, maybe she was ready to come anyway. Who knows.

I had a membrane sweep to speed up early labour and that worked brilliantly. Not very helpful, sorry!

Am glad this threads here - i was going to ask. I went for a sweep on thursday but when I got there I asked to delay it till Monday and the hospital said that as I have no signs of labour then it would not be favourable. I too have SPD which has worsened soooooooooo much (sods law) since thursday that I now regret not having it done and waiting till Monday seems like a lifetime away. I've heard its uncomfortable, but hospital said that it works only if body getting ready for labour anyhow - thats why they agreed with me to delay it cos I was only 4 days over then...Now I'm 6 days over today and not happy

thanks for the advice everyone. We are still undecided as to what to do BUT atm I just want this baby out..!

Told dh that sex is now a must as part of the plan and that as he put ds2b there the least he can do is to help get him out..!
I look at other women at the same gestation as me with envy as the majority of them are much smaller...and I am now waiting for the: Oh, haven't you had the baby yet comments . DH says I have so little patience LOL, he's not the one carrying around and extra 2 stone and looking commical for it. Honestly, been to m&s this morning to get some big mama trackie bottoms and nightie for hospital.......typical I end up with someone who notices what I am buying, just was waiting for her to shout out the size...

So, atm a sweep looks favourable.......now onto the raspberry leaf tablets and pineapple oh and sex, although poor dh, must be like trying to hump a whale .

FF I sympathise totally with you........imo its barbaric to allow us to carry on..!! Hope things happen before monday or that baby makes an appearance in the next few days. xx

sympathy FF>..won;t be long now will it..baby will come out, that i can promise you !

Shhhh......forget the pineapple thing.has to be 7 fresh pineapples..and the heartburn will not be worth it !

7 .!!!!!!!! I have put up with enough for the last 9 months, surely the last week has to be easy..!! Damn mother nature.

LOL! truly that makes sex seem like the lesser of two evils! oh, you'll be laughing about this when baby is here !!!

Hi Shhhh!

So, you think this baby will be bigger than 9 lbs.??? I must say, I would want to get it out sooner than later as well. Have you seen a consultant or gotten a scan to determine head circumference to pelvis ratio. I know the nhs doesn't like to do these and the accuracy isn't perfect, but it might help you decide whether this baby should come earlier rather than later. It might elso give you an idea of whether this baby is going out the usual route at all.

As far as the sweep goes, I'd say no thank you. I had one with DD (March 2003), it was bloody painful and it didn't do a thing. neither did rasberry leaf tea, pineapple, curries (and I had many, sex or anything else. I tried it all and I'm afraid I don't now believe in any of it.

BTW, the reason I never went into labour was because DD was literally suspended by the unbilical cord that was wrapped twice around her neck. So, she literally could not drop down far enough for her head to engage, and the weight of the head resting on the cervix is partly what sets off labour. So, labour never happened....

In retrospect this was a good thing. Had I gon einto labour DD would have been strangled by the umbilical cord. In the end it was an emergency section because when I was induced the contractions of course stangled her and she went into foetal distress. But, since I was monitored in the hospital it all ended fine with a happy healthy mother and baby.

As a result of this experience I'm not a suporter of induction if they don't check to see why you have not gone into labour. A quick scan would have shown them that the cord was around her neck and any moron would have forsee the crash section that was to follow a day and a half later at 3 AM. BUT, the NHS doesn't bother with such scans.

So, my advice is to turn down the sweep and allow an induction after they give you a scan to tell you why you haven't gone into labour.

Oh, and I agree with you on the concer of the placenta begining to deteriorate afte 41-42 weeks. I personally ma not comfortable with going past the 41 week mark... especially not if baby number 1 was bang on time.

Uwila..you had a most awful experience..truly frightening

i think we also need to bear in mind that a healthy pregnancy lasts anywhere from 37 - 42 weeks, and not going into labour around 40 weeks is not neccesarily a sign that something is wrong, although, for uwila , it clearly was.
it is a good thing that you did have the induction & monitoring and it ended with a healthy mum & baby

true cephalo-pelvic disproportion is quite rare. and bear in mind second babies often don;t engage until labour begins, so don;t panic yet Shhh!

I agree with you there, lulu. My point is really that they should make some effort to sort out why you are overdue before they move to induction. I still should have had a section, but it should have been a planned one as a result of a scan, and not a crash one when the baby went into fetal distress because she was being strangled. Just a bit of investigation is all that should have been different.

So I am not a fan of induction without first determining that the cord is not around the neck and the head isn't too big. Both of these scenarios will probably lead to section anyway, but they don't need to be emergencies.

Anyway, SHHHHH, you aren't overdue so perhaps none of this applies to you anyway.

agree Uwila......see, we have agreed on something ! yay !
seriously though, it wouldn;t take a moment to assess the CPD factor, it can be done quite simply i believe..but not sure that a scan for every post dates woman to check position of the cord would happen in the UK....although maybe when you go post dates and go for placental monitoring it is checked then, would be interested to know the answer to that....

mmmm interesting...So is it more likely for baby2 to come on time (ish) seen as dd did..??? Or is it like peeing into the wind iykwim..?!

Also interesting the point about being checked with induction. See I agree that if baby hasn't come surely there is a reason..My friend went 2 weeks over and never actually delivered ds till 17 days over due to 3 failed induction attempts. Ended in an ecs as his head couldn't fit through her pelvis..not sure if he even engaged.

BUT mw I saw on tue said that ds2b was around 3/5 engaged (i think) so surely thats positive...??? Looking at my diary from dd's pregnancy she balso seemed to engage at around 38 ish weeks....just hope ds2b follows in big sis's footsteps..

HI Uwila btw!!! Hope you and your lo's are ok..x

the fact baby has started to engage is good, indicates head, the largest part of the baby, will fit through the pelvis and therefore CPD is not going to be an issue, IMO

some babies need to cook longer than others, if other women in your family deliver on time/ early then you might well do too !

my DS was induced 6 days early, but DD arrived spontaneously on her due date....

there often is no rhyme or reason, but the state of your cervix can be a good indicator as to labour being imminent !

I had a sweep at 37+4 after false alarm labour - dd had gone from posterior to anterior in huge regular painful contractions that stopped after she had moved.
M/w gave me a sweep as she said I was "ripe and ready"

Lovely terms
dd arrived 3 days later bang on 38 wks.
But I was having mega Braxton Hicks pre labour contractions though

been having bh's since around 24 ish weeks so hopefully a good sign and now they are getting painful....

Question: last night I woke x2 for a wee and each time I felt period type pains where I would expect to get 'em, just below my bump..? Anything or nothing..? God I sound desperate now .

it is hard not to over anyalyse every twinge !! baby will come...soon !