Induction tomorrow. Any advice

[Mummy2bePL]

Hi everyone I'm booked in for an induction tomorrow at 12. Anyone got any recent induction stories they can share . Thank you so much

If you have to go on the drip I would recommend the epidural first.

No advice but wanted to wish you luck. How exciting, a potential valentines baby.

Epidural fitted before drip (if you end up having the drip). If they give you gel/pessary, keep active up and down hospital stairs and bouncing on ball, do not sit in bed this will not help you...My induction process took about 48 hours in total, take snack and download movies for the times where you're resting and waiting around x

My induction process took 5 days ... take plenty of everything!
(Snacks, drinks, entertainment - i wasn't in labour til day 4 but wasn't allowed to leave)

Good luck! I was induced in December. Pessary and gel had no effect. Was told that ordinarily they'd then break my waters and start the drip. I asked for a sweep which got things going then had my waters broken. Asked them not to put me on the drip after straight after waters. Main thing is to remember YOU can decide how to progress at each stage if the pessary doesn't work. Also, I kept hearing a midwife telling people ' induction can take a long time' and it does! You've got to be patient and prepared to be in for a few nights. I went in Friday 8pm, labour started Sunday 6pm (absolutely nothing before then ) and gave birth Monday morning 4am. Do you mind me asking why you're being induced?

Thanks everyone
@listeningtowind I'm being induced due to baby not meeting weight they predicted between scans .
Does anyone know if they will offer me the epidural before the drip or shall I stare way before that I would like one

Think I've recently shared my (positive) induction story on another thread you were on, so I shan't bore you with the details again. So I'll share advice instead.

Lots and lots and lots and lots of walking. While the pessaries didn't work so well for me, I did get a handful of contractions while I was power waddling around a nearby field. Hopefully it'll work better for you.

Make sure you bring lots to do while you're hooked up to the CTG. Also, if you need to stay overnight, but you're not in labour.

Relax. I know it's a bit daunting going into the unknown. 23 weeks ago I was you, but you will be fine. And at the end of it all, you will have a beautiful baby to cuddle and smush their cheeks.

Patience. It might take some time. And that's OK. It's very normal.

Be aware of your pain relief options. There's no prizes for going without. Only you know what you can handle. Make your general wishes known, but you have final and absolute say in all matters.

Good luck for tomorrow. Keep us posted on how it goes (if you can/want to). I know I'll be thinking of you. ❤️

I think you should ask for it beforehand. At some point I asked what each stage of induction was and told them I'd want an epidural before I was given the drip. The midwife was in total support and her response made me think it's a norm request.

I got the impression that induction works quicker for women who are due/overdue. I was induced a well early but friends who went over and were induced had quite quick inductions.

I was induced on a Monday morning did all the walking bouncing etc nothing happening so Wednesday at 2pm consultant cane had a look said hasn't worked have 48hrs break try again. Well.....
My dad came to visit about 4:30 he sat on my bed luckily by my feet and omg. I remember saying dad I've just either wet myself or my water's have gone. Called a midwife. Got the gas n air on the go definitely take some lip barm.
Dad called hubby to come to hospital

Son born at 6:33pm.
Good luck xx

Agree with epidural before drip. I've been induced 3 times and 2 of those had the drip. Both times I had to ask for the epidural, and I would definitely say that you want it from the outset as it can take a while for anaethetist to be available. The second time in August I said no drip until epidural is in.

Take spare clothes, I took what I was wearing, post birth pjs in case i stayed in and something to go home in, but they broke my waters and told me to go for a walk and I soaked through what I was wearing.

Bring a book, something to keep busy.

The only other thing is be prepared that they may be busy and send you home. I was induced in August and psyched myself up to be induced only to be told they were busy and to come back the next day. Fortunately they called me back mid afternoon so I was induced that day after all but I wasn't emotionally prepared to be sent away so cried a lot, even though I knew it was perfectly sensible on the hospitals behalf.

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow x

Just thought I’d share my positive experience (all I could find were horror stories before I was induced about how long/painful induced labours were which didn’t help my nerves!)
I was induced at 3pm, contractions started at 4pm and baby had arrived before midnight. No epidural/drip needed as the pessary did the trick. I’d recommend lots of walking or circling on a swiss ball to get things moving. And eat plenty in the early stages even if you don’t feel like it! If a water birth is your thing lots of hospitals still allow this even if you’re induced as they have wireless HR monitors they can use in the water.
Good luck!

I was induced but went straight onto the drip (I was too far dilated for the pessary/gel and my waters had broken over 24hrs earlier so time was an issue). In some ways this was good because it meant that I gave birth 9 hours after induction started, rather than it taking days like it can when you try the other induction methods first. I know a lot of people would rather avoid the drip but might be worth considering going straight for it if you’re planning on having an epidural anyway.

I wanted to have a go without an epidural and made it to 6cm before asking for one, I think I was lucky that the anaesthetist was available straight away so I’d probably ask for it a bit earlier on next time. I think it was good to have a bit of time (around 5 hours I think) to labour without the epidural first so I could keep mobile, I think it helped move things along faster.

Good luck! Try not to worry, I’ve had 4 inductions and none where horrendous.

1st, 2 pessarys, waters broken, drip (no epidural) DS born 6 hours later. (39 weeks)
2nd exactly as above but 3 pessarys (42 weeks)
3rd 1 pessary, went into a super short labour and baby born after 20 mins! (42 weeks)
4th waters had been broken naturally for 3 days with no sign of labour. Hooked up to drip (with epidural!) for 22 hours! It was great having epidural. (40 weeks)

If you can just enjoy the quiet. DH and I just enjoyed hanging out together with no distractions.

Hope it all happens quickly for you!

Oh and remember you can say no to anything t you don't want. I didn't realise this with my first and I'm not happy with what happened but I was naive.
This time I'm more prepared.

One more thing - They gradually turn the drip up to increase the contractions but I didn’t realise initially that they can turn the drip back down. When I was waiting for the epidural and was struggling, I asked and the midwife turned the drip down for a while to make the contractions more manageable until the epidural kicked in.

My first was an induction at 38 weeks for various reasons, midwives said it could take days. I hated that idea 😬 I had pessary only and it was 12 hours from start to finish with only gas and air ... I can recommend keeping active as you can for as long as possible! I pounded those corridors! Walked the hospital grounds a million times! Tried to do as many staircases as I could 😁 Lots of luck x

I would wait on the epidural personally until you feel you need it as you may not. I had the drip it was turned up to 7.5 I think and never had an epidural just pethadine and gas and air. Drip was started at 11am and DD was born at 4.15pm

Process pessary went in at half twelve. Just a waiting game I suppose

Good luck!

Walking is good but also remember to sleep/rest when you get a chance. My induction was four days, and I regretted not resting more at the beginning, I was exhausted. I hope it goes faster for you, though - it often does!

I also had the epidural before the drip - a very good decision for me, particularly as if already been there multiple days.

Lots of snacks and entertainment and clean clothes.

And ask them to explain risks/benefits and options if you are at all unsure. In my case, I was happy to take all their recommendations, but I felt much better understanding exactly what was happening when.

Suffering with a bad back now and slight bleeding, hopefully little one decides to make an entrance tomorrow, but I highly doubt it

Good luck!

Hope all is going well. Back pain (for once) is a good sign. So I hope it's not too long until you're holding your little one!

Good luck OP!!
I've had two inductions and two positive experiences.
While the actual process took a couple of days my active labours were short. The second with only a couple of puffs of gas and air at the end.
Keep calm and breathe. Sounds wanky but it works. Stress produces cortisone which tries to make muscles contract in a different way. That's what causes pain!

Oh and you don't get a medal so take all the drugs you think you need. It's a very personal experience.

Good luck!!!!

I was induced on drip with first and artificial rupture of membranes with second. No epidural with either but things were already starting. They just had to speed things up as there were complications