I'm currently in the hospital getting induced. I arrived at 3pm.
I'm being induced for reduced movements (40w today) and part of me is happy as I didn't want another 2 weeks of panicking about his movements.
Honestly I have been dreading labour because I'm not good with pain and decided months ago that my plan was to get an epidural as soon as possible.
The problem is I wasn't prepared for getting induced and how much it would hurt. For starters, I thought that I would go into labour normally, be having contractions and in between I would be pain free and able to rest.
A student midwife examined me which was extremely painful and rough - she then said she couldn't reach. The midwife put the gel in and must have examined me at the same time as she was able to tell the state of my cervix but when she did it it barely hurt at all. She said it was very thick as they would expect but that the outside of my cervix had started to open slightly.
I've read horror stories about inductions and I know that often the first gel doesn't do anything. Unfortunately, I assumed when people said it didn't do anything they meant it literally did nothing and didn't cause them any pain.
The pain started immediately, like bad period pains along with backache and difficulty lifting my legs up. I also have a really strong pressure and constantly feel like I need to poo but nothing comes out.
The pain has been pretty much constant for six hours but I told myself it was probably a good sign that it was working. I've just been examined and had my second gel put in and have been told that the first gel has done nothing and my cervix is exactly the same.
I honestly want to cry that all this pain hasn't even been useful pain. I kept being told by people that during labour I should think of every pain as being a step closer to meeting my baby but now this pain seems pointless.
It just hurts in every single position. I asked for painkillers and they have given me what I think is paracetamol but it hasn't helped. I honestly don't know what to do. I've been trying to keep active but walking becomes extremely painful quickly too.
The examination for the second gel wasn't pleasant either and honestly I expected to be able to deal fine with examinations. I'm always okay with smear tests and have had a lot of vaginal examinations but I think them going right into my cervix is just so much worse.
I'm honestly really worried about how I'm going to cope when the pain gets worse. After all this it seems like what I'm having aren't even contractions. How will I cope when the actual contractions start? How will I cope with a babies head coming down if I can't cope with an exam?
I'm just so exhausted already and I've not even really started - I barely slept last night and I am rapidly losing hope of sleeping tonight.
I know the baby has to come out and I just have to deal with it, but as much as I've been trying to prepare myself for the worst pain I've ever felt, I don't think I am really prepared and I'm really disappointed in how hard I'm finding the first bit.
Please help with any encouraging words or positive stories. It's late, I'm alone and I feel like I'm losing my mind a bit.
I brought some puzzle books to distract me but I can't even think and so I just can't do them.