Induction date is 14th February

[Dreya]

Hello. My due date was the 1st of Feb. I had to see the midwife today to discuss being induced and she offered me a sweep. It was very painful and uncomfortable. The midwife said that my cervix is still hard and closed and 2cms long? (not sure if I misunderstood that part) and that the baby is not ready to come yet so if she were to continue I would be in extreme pain. She did say that the head had started to engage but that the sweep had been unsuccessful this time.

She told me that I will be offered another sweep when I go back next Friday for my check up and that this was procedure for first time mothers who are overdue. She also booked me in for an induction on the 14th of February should I not have gone into labour naturally before then.

Before I had the sweep she checked the heart rate and all was well. After the sweep she checked again and for a horrible 15/20 seconds or so, couldn't find it. Then when she did find it it had dropped. Her exact words were 'Uh oh, baby is not happy with me. I think she wants to be left alone. She's not ready yet' I had to fight back the tears. I feel absolutely awful for agreeing to have a sweep when I didn't really want one. This was at 13:45 and I am still sore and uncomfortable and I feel sick. I have lost my appetite too. I really don't want to be induced as I was hoping to have a water birth. This is my first baby so I have no experience of induction. Is anybody else in a similar situation or has been and can offer some advice? Just to hear your experiences might help me feel better about it all. :(

Also I am getting sick and tired of everyone texting, emailing and calling to ask 'Have you not had that baby yet?' I think this may have influenced my rash decision. Grrrrr.

Hi Dreya, I sympathise, I've been in a similar position to you first pregnancy, had a sweep after a couple of days OD , very unconfortable and unsuccessful. A bit of a shock for me at the time because it was a few years ago and not such a common practice, I didn't know they were going to offer it , knew very little about it, and felt unprepared at the time. However I think if your body/baby are ready it's a good way to avoid induction, so don't be too hard on yourself about following their advice to try it.

I went on to be 40+17 before I was induced and at that point only needed a pessary to get things moving, went on to have a straight forward labour and birth...

This time third pregnancy, they offered a Stretch & Sweep, I knew what to expect and again would like to avoid induction so gave it ago, I had it on Thursday, spent last night feeling painful tightenings,generally uncomfortable and a show but yesterday all settled down and still waiting.
I'm not dreading induction, it was fine last time, just would be nice to labour at home as much as possible.

Not sure how my experience will help but wanted you to know you're not on your own.. and your beautiful little one will be here before you know it, making all this seem so worthwhile.

PS I've gone into hibernation, ignoring phone, email and text as much as humanly possible, told family & friends we'd let them know as soon as any news....

Monrning Mama. Thank you for posting. That is why I thought I would have the sweep, to avoid induction. I am rather reluctant to have the second one next Friday but perhaps it might get things started. For me that would be better than induction as I would still be able to have a water birth.

I was in such a foul mood yesterday I unplugged the land line and have put my phone on silent. As for Facebook, I feel like deleting my account entirely!

When was your due date? How are you feeling now?

had the exact same experience as you. i'm 40+10 today and had first sweep 4 days ago, which couldn't be done as cervix was closed.

so, i went for a reflexology appointment (which was great for relaxing if nothing else), had a long walk and 3 days later had another sweep. this time, cervix was favourable and everything had changed. yes, it was still uncomfortable, but seems to be having the desired effect. i've had a show and am now having contractions.

my phone has been in the bin since last week, landline unplugged and facebook duly ignored!

MW said that if things continue to progess as they are now, that the most they may need to do for my booked induction (scheduled for this Monday) is break my waters. I really want a water birth too, and they haven't ruled it out.

please don't lose heart. very soon you will have a beautiful baby.

I was induced 2 years ago in feb 12th - 10 days overdue. Sweeps made no diff. After pessary then a day and half of contractions not progressing they broke my waters, put me on drip and eventually gave birth mid day 15th feb.

All took ages and was exhausting but baby was BIG so prob a good thing I was induced in the end. Can't say I was that happy with it all. They let me labour for far too long before breaking my waters.

You do need to be assertive!

Hope not too negative. I was glad not to have c section or ventouse or forceps so in long run it turned out well.

Oh good luck Dreya. Hoping it all shifts for you naturally really soon.

I would say that it's best to try not to mind too much about your labour - so many of my friends were disappointed by losing control of the whole process and it bothered them for a while after the birth. I was the same. If you can focus on getting a healthy baby out safely by whichever means. Easier said than done. And bossy of me to say so.

Hi Dreya, hope you feel a bit better this morning, any sign of the sweep moving things along for you? I agree with some of the others that a sweep probably helps make induction more straightforward if it does come to that, more likely that a pessary is enough to get things going.

I had a terrible nights sleep, gone down with a cold ( typical after 40 weeks of healthy pregnancy, I would choose this week to get sick!) On a more exciting note but with a bit TMI I did lose the mucous plug this morning but no sign of contractions...not sure I've got the energy for labour today though, might just go back to bed, although I guess I should be going for a brisk walk or something if I really want to get things going!!!

Sorry you had such a horrible time yesterday. I am booked for a sweep on 14th - nice & romantic day for both of us

I was induced with dd2 and found it quite positive, although I wasn't planning on a water birth. I just had two gel packs, was only briefly monitored and kept active the whole time.

Hope you feel better this morning and don't worry about the baby, mine hates anyone trying to feel its position etc and goes into a real huff if anyone tries to have a wee prod or poke, refuses to make any movement for about 8 hours or so after each midwife appt, always put the fear of God into me. Not sure I signed up for such a wilful baby

hi dreya and wigglesrock fro Feb thread!

Glad I found this thread - it's been really useful. Got sweep booked for Friday when I'll be 40+7. Was dreading it, and any form of future induction, but now feel much better .

We'll get there!

Crystylline CONTRACTIONS! Great news. How are you feeling now? I went out for a little walk today (well actually it's more a shuffle these days!)I am going to go for a long shuffle tomorrow. Reflexology sounds interesting too. I have been feeling like I could do with something like a massage or a facial, a bit of pampering would be so nice. I might look into that.
Dycey I've been told I am having a big baby too. DH is 6.2 and was 10lb and I was a 9 pounder so I can't say I was too surprised! Thanks Tad I hope so too.
mama Sorry to hear you are poorly. No signs for me as yet. I was getting some period pain like cramps on and off a couple of days ago but they have stopped completely. Any contractions yet? How exciting! Did you go for your brisk walk?
wiggles Good to hear a positive induction experience. I feel alot better about it all today. Like dycey said it's more important to focus on delivering a healthy baby. So very true and I need to be bossed about a bit from time to time dycey!
Cookingfat good luck with your sweep on Friday. I might be having a second one then too. Such fun!