tell me about induction.

[dribbleface]

just got back from consultant's appointments due to low platelet's, had low platelets in my last pregnancy but they remained over 100 so no concern. this time they are lower so told they will induce at 40weeks if not had it by then. my only knowledge of induction is via a very normal friend who had one baby spontaneously and one induction. she hardly sold the induction thing but to be fair this was before i had children. so all in all I'm terrified! is it really that bad? my mum says i was an induction and she thought it was fine but she would say that! anyone wanna share their experiences with me? I'm keeping my fingers crossed i go into labour naturally by then, induction booked for 40+2 which funnily enough is when i had DS.

There are such a massive range of induction stories that you will hear, from good, bad and everything in between. (My experience of it was fine, but I only had the first part of the process). It is good to find stuff out, but not if it makes you feel worse. No one knows yet how it will be for you. The main thing to remember is whatever you go through it will all be for a reason - the safe delivery of your baby. Keep that in mind whatever else you hear! Good luck!

I was induced with DS (or was he the one who was induced??) anyway, it was absolutely fine. I was in Spain so might be different here but basically, they broke my waters (that bit was actually by far the worst of the whole thing) and then put me on a drip. I went in to the hospital at 930am and he was born by 330pm. I had an epidural but that's basically par for the course in Spain - no water births, gas & air, TENS machines or anything like that over there.

I think induction can be very disappointing for people who had their hearts set on a home birth/water birth/whatever, but for me, the most important thing was that DS and I were both alive and well at the end and we were, so I was happy.

Also, my induction may have gone so quickly because I was induced due to medical problems (in my case, obstetric cholestasis) rather than because I was overdue. I have since heard from a consultant here in the UK that inductions for OC do tend to go very quickly but sometimes inductions for people who are overdue can take much longer.

thank you, your right i guess it's like birth stories and to be fair i found the birth bit preferable to pregnancy! guess i just thought I'd know a bit more as to what to expect this time. but i resigned myself to having to do whatever they feel is best, and your right the safe delivery of my baby is all that matters. thanks for calming me down!

I was induced on wednesday whilst 0 cm dialted. started off at 1.30pm, and gave birth at 5.30pm ( 4 hours from start to finish)

This was my third pregnancy. My first two were quick, and didn't need pain relief for either.

Due to baby being transverse, they basically did an ECV ( turning babys head down), and then broke my waters, then straight on the drip.

I found breaking the waters the most uncomfortable - not painfull. Due to me being 0 cm, the doctor had to put her hand inside my closed cervix, to make sure the head was first to come out - not hand/ cord etc.
My membranes were tough, so took her ages with her hand up there ( very uncomfortable)

As soon as the waters broke, the put me on the drip,and monitired the hart beat, and movement of baby.
I asked to stand up, and sit on birth ball, as I wanted gravity to start it off.

They found it difficult to keep the moniter still, so I was asked to lie on the bed.
Reluctantly I did - but found I relaxed more, and the contractions started coming every minute, for about 40 seconds.

I was worried that it would be like this for hours,so asked for some gas and air. The contracions wernt too bad, so stopped the pain relief ( made me feel sleepy and sick).
I had a small urge to push ( but nowhere near as strong an urge as with my other two natural labours)
I started to push anyway, and he was born after about 5/6 pushes.

I think it was worse, going through it all in 4 hours - as you dont have any distractions like you would at home, or timeto potter about have a bath, sleep etc.

But I personally didn't find the final, last stages of strong contractions that painfull. Midwife kept asking if I was feeling it, as the monitor was showing strong ones, but I just felt the peak for some reason?

Sorry for the long post, but it is still really fresh in my mnd, so thought I'd share my detailed account!!

As soon as baby is out, the pain is all forgotten. So I just kept thinking of that, and how relieved I would be to see my baby

Del1 congratulation's! just saw your news on the 1st signs of labour thread. i guess I'll just have to wait and see, hoping things may start off by then as having lot's of twinge's etc.