Come help me decide my induction???? Please?????????Midwifes/doulas/anyone?

[lilymolly]

Hi currently 41 plus 3 with second baby

First dd was induced at 12 days over:closed cervicx, so was given Prostaglandin gel, waters broke few minutes later naturally, 4cm dilated within an hour, had epidural, at fully dilated stopped contracting, had oxytocing drip which made me ill and vomit everywhere, ended up with ventouse delivery, episiotomy and baby taken off me for 6 hours as I was so ill. Of course everything worked out and I succesfully breastfed and took dd hom within 24 hours and she is now my adorable 3 year old.

This time I am already 3 cm dilated following an examination on Tuesday, had loads of show/discharge, lots and lots of cramping and braxton hicks but still nothing.

I am booked in on Monday for induction of labour (this is non negotiable as I am DESPERATE to have this baby)

BUT

Shall i opt for artificial rupture of membranes, or for the drip?

Drip = severe vomiting
ARM = severe pain

And shall i go for the epidural again before they do either of the above or wait until I see how I cope with pain.

I know a lot of this is personal preference, but what I want to know is, which of the options are going to give me the most "natural" labour if that is possible.

Thanks very much if you have read so far x

not sure sweetheart but when i had dd nearly 4 years ago (at 40+5d), i had been booked in for induction and when i got to hospital, the bloody mw (none too gentle - thank god they not all like that!) foudn i was already 2cm so not too sure.

will bump for lulumama as she is doula xx

good luck tho sweetheart!(((((((((())))))

(posted link for lulumama in chat for you xxx take care hunny xx)

I know that 'proper' people will be along for you soon but having had both the drip and the ARM without an epidural I would say to have one for either tbh - and I'm a home birth/no drugs at all advocate.

Once they have done the ARM they usually want to monitor anyway and are very forceful about it so you may well be stuck on the bed and its really very different to labouring while walking around.

I dont think either of the options will give you a natural labour and I know that when I tried to do just that - refusing all pain relief when having a drip/ARM it was a pointless thing to do as I ended up having an epidural for the ventouse/emcs anyway.

Sorry that this isnt more positive...am wondering whether I should post this at all actually...

LILYMOLLY,

You dont have to opt for either. why have them?? if you are 3cm then labour is already starting, your body is getting ready.

maybe try some more 'natural' rememdies for starting labour?:

Although these are all classed as ?natural ? they are still stimulating your body into going into labour. Many will only work if you are already ?ready?.

? Long walks
? Blue cohosh (uterine tonic)
? "milking" the thumb (the accupressure point b/t thumb and forefinger)
? Reflexology
? Nipple stimulation
? Evening primrose oil
? Visualisation ? i.e. baby coming down
? Curry
? Pineapple
? Removing any fears of labour
? Caullophilllum (uterine tonic)
? Stretch & Sweep
? Shiatsu
? Sex

Chances are between now and monday you will go into labour anyway!

Hope it goes well (and if 'I' had to make the choice i would choose ARM)

xx

Ps I was induced both times and have 6/7hr labours with G&A and drip and no epidual - it can be done xx

Hertsnessex

Tried most if not all of them apart from sex
where will I get uterine tonic from?

I know I could wait, but I am soooo depressed now and just want the baby out, I am snapping at dp, dd,dogs everyone and very miserable and making everyone elses lifes miserable.
Plus everyday baby is in me, I worry about placental function diminishing and something happening to the baby

totally agree with hertsnessex

monday is a loooooooooong way away.

it is a bit of an oxymoron to discuss a natural induced/augmented labour, but if i had to choose, it would be ARM , on the proviso the baby was in a good position, i.e LOA/ROA rather than back to back, as if the baby is in , say, an OP position, then they need the waters intact to help them turn.

it is really hard, as there are pros and cons, but i would definitely try to manage without an epidural, as it can prolong and complicate things. and it certainly is not encouraging a natural labour.

mobility is your friend! being upright and able to listen to your body is key

if you are 3 cm and cramping and having a show you are gearing up and waiting for labour to begin is your best bet for a complication free birth

i would be waiting until term + 12 -14 before commiting to anything, especially if baby is happy in there

if you are concerend re placenta and would rather wait for spontaneous labour you can request expectant management, i.e more scans and CTGs daily, to ensure baby is happy in there, rather than being induced at 41 weeks

They can't give you the drip unless they've already ARM'd you. Its not safe as there is a risk of amniotic fluid embolism.

Chances are they will ARM you and see if you start contracting, if not they'll want to put the drip up.

I hate to disagree with earlier post but 3cm when you've had a previous baby does not mean labour is necessarily starting. Your cervix can have a "multip's os" of 3cm from the fact you've had a baby before. Did they say if your cervix was effaced at all?

When they examined you did they say they'd be able to break your waters? Did they mention about giving you prostin gel to see if that gets you contracting? I'd take gel over an ARM or a drip any day.

I'm surprised you say that the ARM was really painful - I have had it done twice with no pain at all. Maybe I have been lucky and had gentle midwives. As others have said - monday is a long way away. Lots of long walks over the weekend might get things going. I know how frustrated you must feel. My last was 11 days over when I was induced - had just had about had enough by then and it was during that blistering summer. But now, with hindsight, I wonder whether I should have just hung on a couple more days to see if it would have got going naturally. Good luck!

Thanks ever so much ladies, it is very much appreciated

Sorry to clarify

lulamama On Monday I will be 13 days overdue, not 41 weeks. I am currently term plus 9 days today

The question going through my mind is will I go into spontaneous labour?

Bishops score was 6 btw, and midwife said she thinks waters could be broken quite easily

tartetatin What I meant by ARM causing more pain, is that I have heard that contractions when your waters have gone are more painful, rather than the actual procedure of breaking them iyswim.

I agree Monday is a lonnnnnnnnng way off, but I am so fed up now x

Oh also
Baby is head down, but not engaged yet, not back to back as far as I am aware, and is nice and healthy according to all the checks I had on Tuesday.

Midwife said, all I needed to start me off naturally was a few contractions to push babys head down, or for my waters to go.

But neither is happening.

hi there,
my ds2 was late so i know how miserable it is!i got acupuncture and he came the same eve..maybe worth a try..

The only word of caution regarding ARM - if your baby's head isn't well down there's a risk of cord prolapse. From what you've said, I will be amazed if you're still hanging on by Monday ;)

my experiences FWIW

ds1: light contractions, but went in for monitoring cos he hadnt been moving much. ARM, bloody hurt, managed couple hrs on G&A,had drip had epidural , 17hrs later...ds1!!

ds2: again reduced movements so induced at 41+1. Had gel 9am, lovely morning of gentle contactions, walking, reading papers, breakfast in the canteen, etc! painful by 2.30, ARM sooooo painful and contractions right on top of each other. Managed 30 mins before requesting epidural (had wanted to do it without) again had ds2 6.45pm.

in summary! were i to do it aagain, I would be induced again happily as for me it meant I didnt labour overnight so felt much better and able to cope. Would have gel again, suppose I would have ARM cos it really does get things going but i wouldnt look forward to it. Would try to avoid drip though.

Lots of luck

oh god the cord prolapse is scaring me now.......

Don't be scared....it will all be fine.

Agree with hertsnessex try all the natural stuff you can, no matter how weird and kooky to get it going.

I was 41+3, had a(nother) sweep and stretch and hey presto, following morning DS came along.

I can't help with the other stuff, never been induced and don't know enough about it, but good luck. Enjoy the calm before the lovely long storm!!

Don't be scared - but perhaps you can see why it really is best if you can keep it all as naural as possible?

hello,

Ok, well, its not really a case of what you would prefer to start labour really, its whats suitable for you.

Obviously if the midwife is able to break your waters easily(and if you are 3 cm thats a good possibilty)then she will do that. Then it will be a wait to see if contractions start on their own which they most probably would as its your second baby. If no contractions after several hours then you may need the drip, but that doesnt have to be an agonising experience!The drip wouldnt be given as an alternative to an Arm.

If the midwife cannot break your waters then you will most probably have the gel /pessary to get things going. If that does the trick then it would be arm AT next examination.
As for epidural, i dont think you should think about having one 'just in case'(i doubt you would be able to anyway), but just wait to see how you cope

Hi, i have been induced 3 times now, The ist induction was with the gel which kicked off contractions and then had waters broken-it didn't hurt at all, i was 10 days overdue and already 2 cms dilated.

with 2nd induction i had the drip which did kick off contractions very quickly and steeply....they then broke waters when contractions were established i was 2 weeks early for this one.

3rd was the worst for some reason-so painful, i was 40 weeks, started with the drip, then broke waters...then they turned drip off hoping things would just continue, but they didn't so drip was started up again, got to 8 cms dilated and stayed there, baby got distressed and had to push him out at 8 cms, was a horrible birth.

wasn't allowed to be induced anymore so hd 2 c-sections next.

My advice would be..to go and have sex!! worked for me 1st time round at 14 days overdue..the night before induction day.

Good luck!

should say also with 3rd induction baby was turing around and around and they were worried about a prolapse so went in a week before. they waited for baby to be head down and when they broke my waters i had 2 midwives pushing on my belly to get him down there!

sorry, i misread your op and thought your were 40 + 3..

good luck whatever happens!

Hi
I've had 2 inductions, first was ARM, no drip, G&A only, ventouse delivery - ARM certainly kicked off my contractions straight away (was 40+3), and they pretty much went from nothing to full on in a very short space of time, so no need for drip. 2nd was ARM, drip, epidural (sited before the drip was started ). This time ARM didn't do anything (was 39 weeks - both inductions for pre-eclampsia), but the drip certainly did - thank goodness for the epidural (DD2 was also back to back and forehead presentation)!

If I were you, I'd go for pessaries (had these both times, first baby it gave me period like cramps, 2nd it didn't), then ARM if it's needed, but fingers crossed you don't need either!! With DD1, my doula gave me blue cohosh and caullophilum, but I only took them for a couple of days as they freaked me out (effects were quite immediate, and DD1 didn't seem to like them much - she got very active). However, 1st induction was easier than the 2nd, so maybe they had something to do with it???

Good luck!