Induction....tell the truth. Well, maybe.

[ali23]

Going in to be induced tomorrow unless this child starts moving out of its own accord this evening. Very nervous/excited but have heard various horror stories of those who've been induced. Is it much harder than a normal labour? I've managed two back-to-back labours but still feel bit nervous now it is all so imminent! Still, can't wait to finally meet my baby.

I've had 4 inductions, the two that were done at term + 17 and +14 respectively were quick, 1 or 2 pessaries and over and done in less than 12 hours.

I was induced with all five of mine.

Ds1 was a three day long nightmare but normal delovery in the end.

Ds2 took 7 hours, 9lb 3oz very straightforward.

Ds3 it took 3hours 9lb 5oz and I was home four hours after I had him.

Ds4 it took less than an hour, had him in pool, 10lb 13oz.

Dd three hours, she was back to back and the midwife said she would have shot out jad she been the right way round. 8lb exaclty.

My experiences were good :)

Expecting my first, I'm diabetic and being induced a week on Monday if I haven't gone myself by then - and that's not looking likely based on the internal examination I had in Friday. Can't decide if I'm glad I read this or not...

Good luck tomorrow OP.

I am going to be induced in the next couple of weeks and I am very anxious about being left for days not quite in labour. I will be asking for an epidural constantly though as with my first labour it was the only thing that got me through!

Thanks for all the best wishes! Looking forward to coming out the other side

I think from what I've heard the pessary is more natural than a drip induction. I was induced with my first as waters went but no real action for over 48 hours. I think I was a couple of cms dilated as I was past the point of a pessary apparently. It was awful as I had the dose upped and upped until it was the maximum and then the consultant got permission to increase past that. Think they aim for 3 or 4 contractions in 10 mins so keep increasing until they reach that. You could be fine and only need a little though. Anyway, I ended up with an epidural after totally losing it with the pain, it was bliss and I had a nap. So if I had to do that again I wouldn't be letting them near me with that drip until the epidural was in.

Yep first time I had the drip and it was awful, no epidural and forceps. Second time just the pessary and it was fine good luck!

Hi can I jump in?
I'm currently 9 days over due and I'm due to be induced on Thursday. With the pessary! I was told that the pessery is more natural as it just releases a hormone to get things going mw said usually within 24 hours I should work. and I can still have a water birth

But the drip is artificial and makes contractions worse and have to be constantly monitored so I'm really hoping to avoid that

Had my 2nd sweep today and mw said that cervix is very soft and paper thin and very ready so if I don't go into labour in the next 48 hours I'll be very unlucky!!

Ah, came back too late

If I was back earlier, my personal opinion (not medical advice!) would be to wait unless there was medical need for induction. A big baby isn't really a reason for induction (DS was 11lb 7oz) - hope all goes well for you though

I was induced at 41 weeks, pessary didn't work, breaking my waters didn't work, had hormone drip in the end. 2 hours after I was hooked up I had my first contraction. An hour and twenty minutes later I held an 8lb 3oz baby boy.

I went in to be induced at 41 weeks. When they examined me to see how favourable I was, I was 4cm dilated already without any pain! They broke my waters and DD was born within 5 hours.

Two weeks over with third, pessary at ten, nothing all day, waters went pop at five and all over with, gas and air only, two hours later. Easiest birth of all three. I think he just needed a little nudge along :)

I have been induced 4 times now, my body doesn't bother on it's own lol My first two I had an epidural and a lot of complications so I was determined to do the second two without and they popped out easily. I asked for the gas and air long before I really needed it so I could get into a good routine and barely felt my contractions... With later babies, you don't need so much of the drug either so, less painful.. good luck :)

I was induced at 40+12, second baby (first baby was horrendous labour, not induced, 26 hours and forceps). This time around I was already 3cm when they examined me so they just broke my waters, I asked if I could be given some time to see what happened before the drip, which the midwife agreed to. I started walking around after 20
mins of monitoring, then contractions started coming thick and fast almost immediately and baby arrived 2hours later, it was amazing! It was intense but not scary or unbearably painful.

I would say try and get them to give you a bit of time to progress before moving on to the next stage, once you're in a 'managed' labour it can feel like you're not in control and if you want to minimise the intervention you have to ask for that yourself.

Hi, am 36 weeks with diet controlled GD. All scans are normal and blood results are all firmly out of diabetic range. Blood sugar levels also well controlled. My GP told me to speak to the obstetrician about a sliding scale during labour to make sure I wasn't put on one. Saw obstetrician today and was really shaken up. She showed no interest in my blood results or scans and instead she was fixated on my GTT result and said that hourly blood sugar monitoring was protocal with GD regardless how well it was being managed. Feel completely bamboozled. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Mine was totally fine. Contractions as soon as they did the pessary. 12 hours in total, 3 hour labour. Only needed gas and air.

This was at 38+4 - baby came out at 6lbs 1 oz.

jenni; its really important to measure blood sugar closely during labour, regardless of which type of diabetes you have, as if its elevated the baby will produce excess insulin which can continue after birth and result in a hypoglycaemic baby.

however, if you have not needed insulin thus far then you shouldnt need it during labour unless your blood sugar is elevated. what exactly did the consultant say about the sliding scale?

Jenni,I'm a type 1 diabetic and my blood sugar was monitored regularly when in labour as it can go a bit nuts,I'm assuming it would be the same with GD as well. Had excellent control while pregnant.

My induction went pretty well. 1st pessary at 11am,pains started about 1pm and rapidly cranked up. Examined at 5pm and NOTHING had happened so second pessary and warned to expect a third the next day. Pains cranked up again and 1cm dialated by 9pm. At 3am was 4cm and moved to labour ward,examined there at 3.30am and was 8cm. Tried to get epidural as warned baby was still pretty high up and could take a while but in the end there wasn't the time. 4 attempts at getting epidural in later I was pushing and baby was crowning,waters broke on their own and baby followed 20mins later at 4.30am on the dot! So much for my epidural,all I got was some liquid morphene at 10pm and all the gas and air (bloody wonderful stuff) I could inhale!

another was that on the sliding scale? i wore my pump throughout and kept bg between 4&5.5 during labour..im pretty sure the sliding scale is the culprit for crazy blood sugars (seeing as it is basically complete guesswork by people who know nothing of your body's individual insulin requirements). sliding scale is notorious for being utterly shite.

Mainly that it was protocol. She didn't say anything about the baby being hypoglycemic. Guess I'm not sure how you can control your blood sugars during labour. Won't the stress alone send them haywire?

im confused...is she suggesting that you will be on the sliding scale drip, even though you have never needed insulin before?

the possibility of the baby becoming hypo is if your own blood sugars are higher than ideal in the period prior to and during labour. im very surprised that this was not explained to you as it is after all the entire reason for such close monitoring in labour!

during my labour (which was 20 hours long) i gradually adjusted my pump settings downwards. this was quite minor tweaks to start with but was down to about 50% by the pushing stage.

this was all quite predictable and as expected. i certainly didnt require more insulin in labour.

btw i had a drip that did not contain glucose/other carb sources; the only thing that would mean you needed extra insulin was if you were pumped full of excessive glucose?

Ilovekittyelise
She said that my blood sugars would be monitored every hr during labour regardless of my blood sugar levels leading up to this point and if they were over a certain level I would be put on a sliding scale. I am not currently on insulin or metformin.
The only reason why I know it has something to do with the baby becoming hypoglycemic is because I looked it up myself.

oh thats ok then....the monitoring isnt an issue just do it yourself and show them readings, sounds very unlikely that you will need the drip if its all been fine up to now, so try to relax and not worry. do your best to keep your blood sugars in the right place and everything should be straightforward!

Failed induction here. May as well have been putting chocolate buttons up there 5 days later still not even able to break waters so given a c section. Just added this message as I had no idea inductions ever failed so wasn't prepared. Good luck.