Double thread really !! Anyone early with 1st baby ............?? Experiences of induction ??

[Boop33]

Hi all ,

I'm 39 weeks today and have recently developed high blood pressure and been given tablets to lower . Been in for check today and bp ok but doctor wants me to go back Tuesday with a view to been induced early ( due next sunday). I am now worried about been induced as its really not the way i expected my pregnancy to end .

Just wondering :-

1. what other people's experiences of induction are including length, pain, methods of pain relief used etc.....

2. Still holding out hope for natural birth ....so anyone been early with 1st baby ??

Many thanks

xx

Not what you want to hear but I was inducted with #1 (after waters breaking and me not contracting on my own - was 40wks) and it was horrible although I was induced using drugs rather than pessary/sweep which may have contributed to this. The contractions with 'fake' (drug-forced) labour are generally thought to be worse than 'normal' ones so it was vv painful: I got to 36hrs without pain relief and then had an epidural since I was beyond exhausted.

I was also on a drip for the drugs so was very limited to the amount I could move around, which obviously slowed things down considerably.

I pushed DD out in the end, but it wasn't a nice experience.

That being said, we were working against the clock (hospital's policy was that baby had to be delivered within 48hrs of waters breaking - she was born 42hrs after) due to risk of infection, so if you don't have that, you may be induced differently. My friend was induced via pessary/sweep, which kick-started a 'natural' labour and had a much better experience. She was induced early too due to GD, so you may well have her experience.

So if your induction is tricking your body into going into labour, then you've got a better shot at a good birth experience I think.

Inducted???

Induced.

And I'm not even on my phone...

I was induced 2 weeks early for exactly the same! Had 3 pesseries about 6 hours apart and everything was great! Laboured really quick and easy!

whatchagonna- sorry to hear about your experience does not sound good :-(. I will be having a sweep first and i'm still holding out hope that this will kick-start naturally ..............I have heard that the drug route can also be worse . Thanks for your support :-)

Poppy - thank you there is hope ! So how long did it take for labour to commence ............?? Its been in the hospital 'waiting' which fills me with the most dread !
xx

I've not been in your situation, but my first baby came 6 weeks early, so it does happen! I also have a couple of friends whose first came at about 39 weeks (& a few more who went over and were induced though).

We were expecting DC1 to.come early as nobody in my family has ever reached their due date, although weren't expecting quite that early!

I was induced just as you describe, for high blood pressure, and like you, I was really upset at not getting the natural birth I'd hoped for. But once i accepted that things were not going to be the way id planned, it did end up being a positive experience.

Good luck

Hi Boop, i was induced with my first i had prom at 37 + 3, they left me 24 hours in case i went into spontaneous labour, i didn't, so then they tried the pessaries, that didn't work either so they put me on the drip at midday 37 + 6, dd was then born at 17.42, so very quick, i had gas and air and a shot of pethadine, it went from fine to painful really quickly but i found swearing really helped

Thank you all for the positive responses . it really is helping

bionic- I'm really hoping head is 3/5 engaged and wasn't at all at the beginning of the week so a move in the right direction.

jinglesticks - I know what you mean DH keeps asking if i a ok but i keep saying i just need to get my head round the idea and not feeling quite as bad now i have had chance to get used to it a bit more . I will find out what is happening on tuesday when i see consultant

squeak - quick sounds good to me i can cope with quick !

Thanks all- its just that i have had a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy and this has all come as a bit of shock xx

Im sure it will be fine, make sure you come back and let us know how it went x

I was induced at 38+1. Had one pessary overnight. Then had my waters broken, 3 hours later DS was born.

After my waters were broken (this was unpleasant, but only takes a few seconds) it went very fast and got painful really quickly. I wanted an epidural but the anaesthetist was busy with someone else, by the time he got to my room I was already in active labour.

In hindsight I guess I'm glad I didn't get the epidural because stuff went so fast, but it was SO painful because I guess I didn't get much time to get used to the pain? Gas & air took the edge off a little bit.

Being induced doesn't necessarily mean a very long labour, although that was what I was preparing for as it is common. In case it does turn out to be really long, just remember to reserve your energy. Get the epidural so you can sleep through the pain, bring plenty of easy to eat snacks/drinks.

Good luck! I know it's really intimidating to face an induced birth but really, even a birth that takes a long time it is SUCH a fraction of the time compared to the pregnancy and obviously the life you get with your beautiful baby at the end of it!

I know more people who were early with their first then late, hope that makes you think it can happen, my dd was 3 weeks early
My dsis was induced and didn't have a bad experience, I think it's the waters breaking that seems to be the most uncomfortable and causes the most to happen

rreow wow that really was quick ! if i knew it wasn't going to last for long i could prepare myself for that ................but obviously not! Thanks for the tips altho' really don't want an epidural will have one if i need it !

KittyKat :- I live in hope ..i see the consultant tomorrow so will find out exactly what the plan is then but realistically i have a few days tops for it to kick off naturally as they not going to let me go past due date and depends what bp is like tomorrow .

Thanks all for the support and I'll keep you posted .................xx