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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Being induced at 37 weeks. What should I expect?

23 replies

nehagarg · 01/05/2016 09:13

Doc has decided to induce me at 37+1 because of OC. Mine is very mild with AlT normal and Bile salts measuring 13, 10, 7, 7 and now 13 again in the past 5 weeks. All except the first week was without any medication.

I am not quite sure what to expect here. Eill baby be ok? I know 37 weeks is considered full term but there is a readon nature keeps them in there for longer. Will he have issues being born at 37 weeks? Or have to spend time in the NICU?

Appreciate any voices of experience.

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Original poster

nehagarg · 01/05/2016 09:14

Sorry about the typos. That's

Will (not Eill)
Reason (not readon)

OP posts:

KayTee87 · 01/05/2016 09:15

My friends baby was born naturally at 37 weeks, she was only kept in 2 nights. Baby was small at 5lbs3 but healthy (mum is v petite too), they were told just to take extra care of baby's temperature and not to give her too many baths for a while.

sunnydayinmay · 01/05/2016 09:42

Ds2 was born at 36 weeks, naturally. 7lb 4oz, and home within 12 hours.

kiki22 · 01/05/2016 10:02

I was born naturally at 37 weeks I had some feeding issues because my digestive system wasn't quite ready but apart from that fine and even the feeding issues were monitored and sorted themselves within weeks.

A friends sister has hers naturally at 36 and he was tiny but fine in for a few days to monitor but no issues. That's all the experience I have hope it helps

Original poster

nehagarg · 01/05/2016 12:54

Thanks all. Gives me a fair idea. Didnt want to go in thinking the baby will stay in 2-3 days and then they keep him for a week. I would have worried myself sick.

OP posts:

Vanillaradio · 01/05/2016 17:52

Ds was born at 37 +4 due to preeclampsia. It was an ultimately failed induction followed by c section. Be prepared for a c section as induction is less likely to work the earlier it is. He was 7lb 5 and came straight to the ward with me. He had mild jaundice which needed no treatment. We were in for 4 nights due to feeding issues and we ended up giving up on breastfeeding at 8 weeks because of these. No other health problems at all, he's now a healthy and feisty 2 year old.

NapQueen · 01/05/2016 17:54

Buy a couple of vests and sleepsuits in Tiy Baby size (usually for under 7lb). Even newborn size swamped my 6lb11 dd and was still baggy on 7lb8 ds.

DrRanjsRightEyebrow · 01/05/2016 17:57

Ds was born at 37+2 after premature rupture of membranes at 37 and induction 24 hours later. He was 6lb 15 and totally healthy. I stayed in for 2 nights (the first being the night he was birn at 10.14pm) just due to struggling to get him to latch as he was very sleepy. He remained sleepy until his due date when he suddenly woke up and became lots more alert!

wonkylegs · 01/05/2016 18:04

Both my sons we're born at 37wks
DS1 waters broke at 36wks, very long induced labour ending in emcs at 37wks - was fine just tiring. He was 7lbs, we stayed in 4 days because we struggled to get the hang of breastfeeding.
This time my ELCS(due to problems with my hips) was brought forward to 37wks due to Polyhydramnios due to GD but my waters broke naturally the morning before the section anyway. I was in for 24 hours and so far everything is good (he's now 11days old) feeding well and generally good. I'm sore but that's to be expected with the elcs.

wonkylegs · 01/05/2016 18:06

Oh and this one was 6lb 8 when born - so again a good size for 37wks.

bruffin · 01/05/2016 18:12

Dd was born naturally at 37 week and she was fine except for posital talipes but that was sorted out with a few weeks of manipulation. She was 6lb 9 which was exactly the same weight as her brother who was induced at 38.2 weeks for pre eclampsia. That took 3 days and was in for 4 more days but i had been in hospital since 32 weeks

PerspicaciaTick · 01/05/2016 18:12

My induction started on the Wednesday night, waters broke on their own on Friday morning and DD was born Sunday evening. It wasn't a speedy process, but I went into a bit of a very calm, serene sort of state and quite enjoyed trundling round and round the ward (in an effort to get things moving) and chatting to assorted people.

Frazzled2207 · 01/05/2016 18:29

I know two babies born naturally at
37 weeks both fine.
One just over 5lb kept in for 3 days just to get feeding properly established as he was fairly small.
Other nearly 8lb and discharged following morning.

Frazzled2207 · 01/05/2016 18:32

Sorry thought of two others, these ones induced.
They were fine just on the small side 5/6 lbs and were kept in a few days to get feeding established but no NICU.
Both now normal 3 year olds.

CutYourHairAndGetAJob · 01/05/2016 18:36

I've had two early ish babies. The second one (37+5) was a home birth.

Both babies were a little jaundiced and needed to be woken for feeds for the first week or so.

Bf was a little harder to establish, with my first I had to express milk initially and top her up after each feed. Both got the hang of it eventually.

They both met their early milestones according to their adjusted age (so they smiled at 8-9 weeks instead of 6).

Good luck

f1ddlesticks · 01/05/2016 18:40

I was induced at 37+5 because of pre-existing diabetes, ended up with EMCS. As a PP said there's a higher chance of C section with early induction. That said, DD was back to back and the midwife couldn't even find my cervix when she did the sweep a day or two before so it wasn't looking likely from the start! DD was 7lb7 and spent a night in SCBU but that was diabetes related.

My friend was induced at 37 was because of OC and it went fine. Her DD was smallish but a good weight nonetheless and healthy.

The best advice she gave me was to ask for an epidural when they started the syntocin drip - pre-emptively. Was definitely necessary, though I'm sure others have managed without!

Good luck!

Original poster

nehagarg · 03/05/2016 15:07

Thabks very much everyone! Gives me a fair idea of what to expect. I'll keep an open mind neverthless.

Cant believe I will have a baby before the end of next week. Eeeek!!

OP posts:

Coldest · 03/05/2016 18:19

Best of luck nehagarg. My LO was born at 37 weeks. She was very small for her gestation just under 5 lbs and v had to stay in hospital for a week due to various issues. However once she went to NICU I and her was looked after really well by the staff there and I was given a separate room.

sepa · 03/05/2016 19:37

I had DD at 39 weeks after being induced.
Your OC is not a reason to be induced that early if you don't want (I had OC and my bike levels were way higher and only induced because my waters broke)

Re what to expect with induction. They will do pessary first (be prepared for a lot of people to feel up you) and if that doesn't work they will put you on oxytocin drip. Once you start oxytocin you can't come off till the baby is here. No food allowed when you have this either and the monitor your fluid intake (mine did anyway)
Take the epidural to begin with if they do this as I found that contractions were bearable until they were horrendous in an instant.
As other posters have said, be prepared for a c - section (I had one after being induced but my friend who was also induced didn't need a c-sec)

HereIAm20 · 03/05/2016 19:44

I was induced at 37 weeks for my second because of problems I had during first birth. It did take a while to get going and they ended up breaking my water but plain sailing from then on with just gas and air and only a couple of stitches. A really lovely experience unlike first birth. Son was 6lbs 7 oz. We went home the day after the birth (although induced on Saturday and contractions stopped in the middle of Saturday night. they broke waters Sunday evening (were too busy in the interim) so take plenty of reading material etc (and snacks)

unimagmative13 · 03/05/2016 19:52

Take plenty of read stuff iPad etc, mine took 4 days. That is very normal.

Look up your hospitals c section rate.

Mine was too high and they had a target, it was the end of the month they were not interested in giving me a c section at any point!

unimagmative13 · 03/05/2016 19:54

Also to correct the above, you can had up to 5 pessaries, they can send you home aswell if it fails. No more than 2 pessaries in 24 hours. Then they put you on drip.

I went nowhere on the pessaries so be prepared for that too x

BusyBea · 03/05/2016 20:05

I was induced at 37 weeks due to OC too. I went in on the Friday morning, had two pessaries which didn't do anything apart from giving me some mild contractions. I had to wait to have my waters broken as I was essentially at the bottom of the list of priorities on the labour ward, and it was done around 3pm on the Sunday. I was kept in the whole time as I had to be monitored. Ended up on the drip at around 5pm as broken waters didn't move things along, and dd arrived at 1am that evening. She was 8lb 7oz! I was also worried about her being a bit early but there was really nothing to worry about. The worst bit about the whole thing was the waiting around. My only advice is think seriously about pain relief if you end up on the drip as your contractions come fast and very painfully, and also take lots of things to entertain you just in case

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