Very anxious about induction at 37 weeks after previous caesarean/balloon induction (experiences please) /small baby/growth scan could be wrong???

[Yodellayhehoo]

Very nervous and worried mum here.

My baby is sadly not growing. Due to 4 growth scans, I got the news yesterday that between last growth scan (2 weeks ago) and yesterdays, that the baby has only put on 4oz.over a 2 week period.
I haven't been eating very well due to nausea and feeling very sick when I eat, low appetite as well as a very difficult family time which left me very depressed. Its been hard for all of us but im only just starting to feel better.

I have tried eating a more balanced diet and drinking water more. I lost about 18 kilos unintentionally during this pregnancy and only put 7 kilos on back in the last month from trying to eat better.

However im 36 weeks plus 5 today, and now im extremely nervous. Yesterday, after my scan, the consultant and registrar said that baby isnt getting enough through the placenta. And no matter what I eat, it wouldn't make a difference, its the blood flow through the placenta.

So, they have booked me in for an induction this weekend, which im feeling really anxious about. This isnt my first baby. This will be baby number 4, and last baby was a c section whilst the other 2 were natural birth with no complications.
I am eager for a vbac.

At my last consultant appointment (prior to yesterday), she said that if baby hasn't gained weight and doing better we will induce you on 37w on the dot. But, if baby is doing good, we will induce you at 39w on the dot.

So, yesterday they were pretty much clear on the fact that baby is just under 5lb and needs inducing this weekend as they have concerns for my placenta stop working altogether. So I agreed as I want whats best for the baby. She's on the 3rd centile and im really worried for her.

Has growth scans ever been wrong?

Can she possibly be more??? My bump really isnt big like my other pregnancies but shes strong when she kicks and I thought I was doing ok.

Now, my other issue is having an induction after a c section. I have been induced before with pessaries for baby 1 and baby 2, pessaries and the horrible drip.
They told me that they wouldn't do an induction with the pessaries as it would be too much over stimulation for the baby so instead would prefer to use the balloon induction method.
So, I looked it up as I know its a new thing and didnt know much about it.

It seems a bit hit or miss. I also wondered people's experience with it , please as im nervous about it too. I also wondered about them using the drip after. (I have really slow labours but quick deliveries) and they said if the balloon DOESN'T work this is what we would do Next to speed things up but there are risks!!!

So, they said if that doesnt help then we would put you on the drip. I did it before using only gas and air 13 years ago and really struggled but it did work as baby was born 6 hours after a 48 hour labour of the pessaries not working.

But I heard that hospitals shouldn't really use the drip as it can be too over stimulated for my baby and cause uterine rupture. My c section was emergency 3.5years ago so im hoping I will be ok.

Now, im having to look at quickly organising tiny and premature baby clothes today to be ready for this weekend. Im.a bundle of nerves worrying shes too small, she won't have the energy to be born and im panicking about needing an emergency c-section again as I really hated it and struggled afterwards and was so hopeful for a vbac. Her development, her heartbeat and her movements are all good. Its just that she's very small.
I guess im just looking for reassurance and other peoples experience with this please.

Thanks so much for reading. ❤️

Have they offered you an elective section?
I know it’s not what you want but given your history and that the baby is small and might not tolerate induction well, I think I’d do what’s potentially best in the long run for both of you.

Sorry things have been so tough.
Like the above poster, I would look into an elective c section. Nearly all the mums I know who were induced had to go for an emergency c section after a prolonged and difficult labour with little progress. Going in an emergency felt horrible but a planned c section was much calmer (from what they have told me). I know a c section is no walk in the park but I would consider it in your circumstances.

Thanks for the replies.

Im very reluctant to have another c section. I found it very hard the recovery and the surgery itself was difficult as I was trembling and shaking the while way through and had a bad reaction to thr spinal. I found the recovery awful and really struggled afterwards.
I know a planned c section would be much smoother than an emergency one. But I have had vaginal deliveries in the past and really prefer those.

I had the balloon a couple of months ago with my first baby and was having contractions within an hour and the baby was delivered 12 hours later, vaginal deliver ☺️
I also know a few other people who also has the balloon and worked great too.

good luck xx

Hopeful bump

This. the induction might end up with an emergency c section anyway. Have they said it would be safer to have an elective c section. Have you had steroids for lungs or do they not think baby needs them.

I had a small baby in my last pregnancy and was induced. I was terrified and heard all these horror stories about inductions gone wrong and emergency c sections. I tried to stay positive and calm (not easy) and I did some hypnobirthing techniques. The induction worked after a few hours and baby was born with just the pessary to kick things off. What helped me was that I said to the midwife, if things havent progressed by 24 hours can I go straight to the section rather than struggling with the drip etc. This plan helped me mentally deal with the uncertainty. I would ask to have a consultation with the Dr and discuss all the options and possibilities so you feel you have more control.

I was convinced that the growth scan was wrong and that they weren’t small, but they were actually right and baby was born on 4th centile. But all fine now. Try to stay positive and think that you will meet you new baby soon. Wishing you luck

I really would hate to have a c-section again. Its what is freaking me out. I had it before and it was awful. The surgery itself, I was trembling and shaking and had shooting pains up my legs while they were doing thr spinal block, I was trembling with a dry mouth, he was born with breathing issues at 39w and jt was just horrendous. The recovery is so much different to vaginal delivery.

Im really anxious about that. And also anxious about her needing help being born so small.

Sorry that you’re going through this stress.

The consultants are right that what you eat or drink isn’t going to make a difference so please try not to worry about what you can do to help with growth.

These threads always have people with examples of inaccurate growth scans but these are often snapshots of size. Your medical team are monitoring growth not size and are worried that a lack of growth is an indication that the placenta is starting to struggle. The baby is indeed likely small but their concern is to keep her healthy which may mean delivering early.

I was in a similar situation and the medical team wouldn’t advise induction and heavily pushed an elective C section. I really didn’t want one and tried to advocate for an induction but eventually I was persuaded. I’m now very glad. If they are willing to try induction they will have confidence that the baby can cope with it. But I do agree with other posters that an elective C section may be the best route for you and baby.

I don’t have an experience with low growth but just to give a positive induction story, I had an induction at 37 weeks for DD2. She was born 12 hrs after the internal gel was given, no other interventions needed. DD1 was born vaginally so maybe that helped. My non-negotiable going in was that I was simply refusing to give consent for the drip unless I had an epidural in place and working (not “it’s coming” or “let’s see how you go” but actually administered).

I had a balloon induction with my first because he was measuring small, it worked really well and I started contracting, then my waters went while I was waiting for a room on labour ward to have them broken for me! The growth scan was spot on for us, he weighed pretty much exactly what they’d told me he would.

I know you hear lots of horror stories but I had a really positive birth and I wouldn’t hesitate to have an induction again, if I needed one.

Did he need help after birth? How many weeks was he born at?

I was almost 40 weeks, so a bit further along than you are but he was fine and didn’t need any help with his breathing or anything. He struggled a bit to latch to feed at the start, because his mouth was so small but we got over that! They’d have induced me earlier I think but we didn’t know he was small until my midwife sent me for an extra scan.

Obviously you’re a bit earlier on that I was, but the balloon induction is meant to work better if you’ve had vaginal deliveries in the past, and because it’s not hormonal that’s probably better for you, as you’ve had a c section before.

I don’t know if any of that helps but I hope you manage to make a decision you’re happy with!

I was induced (for advanced maternal age 🙄) at 39+4 this January. I wanted to try the balloon but my cervix was too tightly closed, so I went home to see if anything would happen in the next 24 hours (it didn’t) and came back the following afternoon (a Monday) to try the gel. I had two 1ml doses about 12 hours apart and it was fine in terms of not ramping up too fast, although I did specifically ask whether the second dose could stick at 1ml, as the contractions had started and I didn’t want to overstimulate (2ml for the second dose is possibly more standard?). The contractions got going stronger after the second dose. I was moved to the Labour ward (from antenatal) when I reached 4cm (this was about 4pm on the Wednesday afternoon). I was offered the drip, but again declined as I felt I was progressing enough from the gel still. I had an epidural and my daughter was born at 22.11.

I’d imagine that at 37 weeks it might be unlikely for them to be able to do the balloon, but you can always ask to try it first, and if it doesn’t work you can move into the gel. Good luck!

Just to add, I needed no interventions either! Even though I found pushing challenging - but that was probably more to do with the epidural than the induction - and they had the instrument tray out just in case, I didn’t need a ventouse, let alone a c-section, and I got away without stitches too!

Todays the day and im feeling pretty anxious.
I was able to go out yesterday and get premature size nappies/tiny baby clothes for a 5lb and im literally doing jobs around the house to keep myself busy until husband drives us to the hospital on a few hours.

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate them all.

Good luck! Hope all goes well

I was induced at 37+0
I had icp and was possibly developing hellp and severe fatigue which was causing me to lose weight I wasn't awake enough to eat properly. I was sleeping for about 18-20 h a day. At 36+3 my blood work got worse so they retested them are 36+5 with the plan of inducing me before I turned 38 weeks. These blood tests were worse so I was called in for induction. It was 36+6 by the time they got the results back. They didn't have room on the induction suite so they retested my blood work and they were no worse than the day before so they gave me a sweep to see if that would get things moving. I had been having contractions since 32 weeks and had had 2 preterm labour assessments. The sweep made them more regular and if I wasn't so poorly I would have given it more time to put me into labour naturally.

The preference for my health was a straightforward induction over a c section but a c section over a prolonged induction so the plan was to see if we could gently nudge my body into labour and let it do it's thing otherwise switch to a c section. Everyone was on board with the plan of me getting as much rest as possible through the labour process.

I was called to come to the induction ward at 3 and they retested my bloods as I was having low platelets and this could impact decisions during labour. They had me on the monitor for ages as he was occasionally having deceleration of his heartbeat during contractions. It was about 8pm that they put the pessetry in as they were also waiting to ensure there would be room in the delivery ward when I needed it. I had it for about 4h before it put me properly into labour so they removed it to avoid hyper stimulation. If I was on my feet i laboured ok but I still could only be awake for about an hour at a time so I had to keep lying down to nap. I got moved to the delivery ward, at 6 cm with bulging waters and it looked like things were going well but I ran out of energy and could no longer stand up and labour went backwards. 4h later I was 5cm and the waters were no longer bulging as the head had moved upwards with me lying down. They broke my waters and things accelerated, baby went into distress but I was able to deliver him an hour after my waters were broken. He was born with the cord tightly around his neck which was causing the distress. He was born blue but by 5 minutes ago post birth he had a perfect score.

We had issues with feeding for the first 36h as he was sleeping for 12h at a time as his blood sugars were too low. He had formula every 4h and as much breastmilk as i could manage and after that he was fine. Once we could maintain his blood sugars we solely breastfed.

My growth scans had him predicted to be about 5.5lb but he was actually 6lb12 dropping to 6lb4. He was only 1oz different to my daughter born at 38+6 however he was very very scrawny. He had tiny little legs and we needed to drop down to size 0 nappies. He pretty much slept 23h a day until his due date

Hope it went well xxx

Yes, I hope you’re over the other side or the end is in sight now! I think spending three days in antenatal (particularly on the third day as the contractions really ramped up) was the worst part of induction for me…

Sadly, I have not had my baby.

Saturday 2pm I was booked in for the induction. Sat for an hour plus in labour ward to be told to go to antenatal as a woman in full blown labour needed my room.
Sunday, 10am brought back down to labour ward and then finally at 5pm they put in the balloon induction.
5.54pm regular contractions every 4 minutes. Awesome. 8.30pm the balloon hasn't fallen out yet so 9pm they take me back to antenatal where I sat for 2 days waiting. Only now am I back in labour ward!!!!! Balloon induction didnt work on me so hopefully im dilated enough for my waters to be broken shortly. And if that fails, in 4 hours the dreaded drip. Yikes!!!!

I had a very small baby, he was on the 2nd centile born at 39+3 weighing 5lb 13oz. His growth slow down wasn’t fully picked up in until very late in the pregnancy. Like you I was told I needed an urgent induction then waited 5 days for a bed! My waters actually broke when they examined me to check dilation. I was told baby may not tolerate the drip very well so I declined and had a csection.

I have recently had DS2 and they would not use the drip again in case of uterine rupture. I ended up in spontaneous labour anyway but had an emergency csection. It was a really difficult surgery due to my previous section and scar tissue. I don’t want to scare you but I’ve ended up with a bad injury and I am having to have further surgery soon (had DS2 in December). It would have been avoided if it wasn’t an emergency section as part of the problem was the rush to get baby out. I know it’s not what you wanted but have you considered requesting another elective?

I really hated and struggled with the c section both the surgery and the recovery. I just hate the idea of having to go through it all again, to be honest.

Im waiting for a dr now as I just had an internal examination and baby head is high in my pelvis and that is a concern for the cord coming down over her head so just waiting to see whats next
.they said they can break my waters, just need babies head to come down lower.

@Yodellayhehooare they not offering the gel? Can you ask? In my trust the balloon is actually done as an outpatient appointment in antenatal outpatients, so they insert it, send you on your merry way, and you’re told to return 24 hours later (when you have a bed booked in antenatal), or earlier if it falls out sooner.

Have you been having contractions on the antenatal ward then? I’m sorry, that’s miserable if they get to the stage where it’s tricky to breathe through them without being noisy (when in a room with 5 other women who you’re trying not to disturb).

Hopefully they’ll find you’ve progressed enough to not need the drip.I declined the drip in the Labour ward and DD was born 5 hours later.

Sorry, ignore the gel bit, sounds like given your progression that’s not needed either (unless it would speed up her head moving lower). Good luck!