Anyone induced for first & second baby before 38 weeks?

[Wolfgirrl]

Sorry to start another new thread but couldnt find any old ones relating to this.

My first baby was induced at 36 weeks due to diabetes. Induction was really long but from ARM/drip to baby was only about 12 hours (forceps delivery).

Thoughts now turning to second baby & whether to go for another induction or ELCS (if there is a high chance of forceps again).

If you have been induced for first and second baby before 38 weeks, please can you tell me what happened each time?

Thanks!

I had an induction at 38 weeks due to reduced fetal movement with dc1. I was on the drip and long story short I ended up with a 3rd degree tear, a haemorrhage and a blood transfusion. It was awful, very dramatic and really stayed with me. I'm now expecting dc2 and have opted for an elcs! Purely because I felt more comfortable knowing if I bled again that I would already be prepped and on the table for them to stop it or do what they need to do.
My elcs will be at 39 weeks

That sounds really scary. I dont blame you for wanting a bit more certainty with a csection next time. I found the forceps okay, but my stitches got infected and i was in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks - had to roll off the bed/sofa and at times crawl to get where I needed so I would be keen to avoid that again!

However if I had a good chance of a VB without forceps this time, I would just grit my teeth and get through it.

Shame we dont have a crystal ball isnt it!

Hi, mine were at 37 and 35 weeks (pre-eclampsia). Both normal vaginal births, no drips, just an internal examination and pessary each time. No forceps either. Very small tears.

The first labour was very long imo, 20 hours, but the second one was about 5 hours. I got on well with entonox. I tried an epidural with the first labour but it didn't last more than an hour and then I was worse off then when I started - in pain, with a room full of people, and loss of 'push' sensation.

But we all persevered.

The babies are now graduates!

@JamieLeeCurtains

A pessary did the trick by itself at 35 weeks?? That's incredibly lucky! Did you go without the epidural second time round? I had the same experience, the epidural failed, no time for any other pain relief & no pushing sensation.

[quote Wolfgirrl]@JamieLeeCurtains

A pessary did the trick by itself at 35 weeks?? That's incredibly lucky! Did you go without the epidural second time round? I had the same experience, the epidural failed, no time for any other pain relief & no pushing sensation.[/quote]
Yes, everyone was extremely surprised, no-one more so than the midwife who had to bundle me down to the delivery room in a lift at midnight! She didn't believe I was in labour at first, until I told her the contractions were only a minute apart.

I think because it was my second, things were just easier, quicker, better somehow. I only had a bit of gas and air. My (then) husband only just made it to the hospital in time.

Breastfeeding was much easier, too, even with a tiny baby.

@JamieLeeCurtains

My induction took 2 x 24hr pessaries, 1 x 24hr cook balloon, ARM and the drip! Even then my midwife said she was surprised it 'worked' in that I had a VB as a lot of women's bodies just cannot tolerate induced labour so early. So yours must be some kind of record!

Thanks for sharing your story, which is quite encouraging. Everyone says 2nd births are easier but you never usually hear about a 2nd induction.

I was induced at 38 weeks because of gestational diabetes. Induction took ages, two pessaries, waters had to be broken, then the drip. First epidural failed, second was good! I had trouble getting the baby out because of shoulder dystocia so eventually delivered with McRoberts procedure (two midwives pushing my knees up round my ears). Ended up with two tears and an episiotomy with a lot of blood loss. So I avoided the forceps but it was just as bad really.
I'd have an ELCS for a second baby. No way I'd go thru all that again just to have a VD.

Well yes, there have been a lot of encouraging threads on here about second births being less grim easier. But I think I was maybe lucky as well.

@RidingMyBike owch! Well done on getting through it. Yes I do think vb is overrated especially in cases like ours.

I've given birth 3 times and 2 of them were induced ( 1st & 3rd )

My first was just the pessary and the labour was my longest ( around 24 hours ) I had minimal tears

My 3rd I was induced by the drip and they offered me an epidural, they said labour induced by the drip was worse than the peccary. As he was my 3rd I declined their offer...... it was horrendous, I ended up begging for an epidural as the pain was making me throw up. It went from 0 to 100.

They gave me the epidural and a little button thing I could click if it started wearing off, everything was fine from there. I couldn't feel any pain but could feel the sensation of him. All in all his labour lasted around 12 hours I think.

I didnt have any tears from my 3rd and didnt have any issues from the epidural either

@Wolfgirrl LOL at the time I don't think I had much choice! Knowing what I know now, and that avoiding tears is a priority (it took ages to recover from that and has permanently affected continence although it's vastly improved) ELCS seems far more preferable

@ChangerNameConstant72626

I'm not surprised, the drip is horrific. Due to my epidural failing I had zero pain relief until the end of the pushing stage when they decided to do the forceps, if I did it again I would ask for the epidural and drip to be put in at the same time I think.

Can I ask what gestation your babies were?

@RidingMyBike

One of the things that puts me off an ELCS is that then I will potentially have injuries from the first birth and caesarean injuries as well (have heard stories about infected scars, lasting numbness etc). Part of me thinks it is better to just trash one area of your body lol.

True @Wolfgirrl I wish I'd been better informed though - it turned out the risk of tearing increases with age and, having my first child at 36, and with an induction meant I was highly likely to tear. But I had no idea at the time. The Emily Oster book 'Expecting better' is very good at setting out the actual data and helping to assess risks.
I know I'm biased now more towards ELCS because VB, for me, took a long time to recover from, and meant I was mostly incontinent for several months (we were out for a walk today and I saw several women with prams and wondered why I'd never brought DD there in her pram, then remembered I'd never have been able to walk like that when she was a baby!). I've got one friend who had a fairly bad CS experience (trouble siting the spinal block) but also friends who've required surgery to repair the damage done by VB, including one who had to be medically retired from work because her injuries were so severe. That's very unusual though!

Wolfgirrl

Oh god, I dont know how you coped without any pain relief. I will never forget the pain of my 3rd. It was brutal

I was induced at 28 weeks with my 1st. He/I had severe complications. Unfortunately he passed away a few hours after being born. But that was nothing to do with being induced or his birth, he was already very poorly.

My 3rd baby was 37 weeks and induced due to IUGR

My 3rd baby was smaller in length than my 1st. My 1st baby was 35cm long when he was born and my 3rd baby was only 29cm. I look back at his photos now and I'm gobsmacked they let him come home with me. He was tiny!