Being Induced on 14 Jan at 38 weeks - tell me your stories?

[ttcchapter1]

Being induced due to a low platelet issue. How bad is it? Is it worse than going into natural labour? What part hurts the most? 👀

I got induced at 41+3 weeks didn't have baby until 41+6. Not went into natural labour so cant compare, all I can say is it can be a long painful process for some like myself. I did require an emergency section after it all. Really didn't like getting my waters broken.

Wish you best of luck op. Lots of people have really quick inductions too and fuss free. Got my fingers crossed for you.

Hello, I have been induced with both of my children so can't compare to a normal labour, but my first was quick and I was given gas and air from 4cm and that was all I needed throughout, was a straightforward and stitch free labour.
Second was more intense as wasn't given gas and air until 6cm, and I didn't feel like pethidine did anything for me, but was still a straightforward labour.
Didn't have my waters broken with either, was given pessary for first which worked straight away, I was overdue and likely due to go into labour soon anyway, and 2 pessaries for my second at 39+6.
Best of luck, try to go with the flow and not to worry x

I was induced at 39 weeks as my first baby was huge and I hemorrhaged/ had to stay in hospital to recover so my doctor thought DS should be slightly smaller! I was on a drip, it was intense but quick, all over in three hours ( from when they inserted the drip). I didn’t have pain relief or gas and air so the contractions were strong- but he popped out easily. The main thing I noticed was how quickly I recovered afterwards. I was up and showered the next day, home by the evening.

So it was fast and furious, but ultimately fine.😂

I was induced with my first, I had the pessary around 6pm and by the early hours after the contractions became quite strong (although not unbearable) I was stopped by a midwife en route to the toilet as I felt I really needed to go for a poo. I was 10cm dilated, which was a shock. I managed to walk to the delivery suite ok but things did slow down and the urge to push (or poo as I thought it was at the time!) wasn't so strong so I was put on an oxytocin drip. I did get pretty tired because by then I had been up all night, and they gave me increasing doses of oxytocin which made it all pretty painful (no pain relief). I had him at 6.30 am after the pessary at 6 the night before so it was a pretty long night!
My next baby came along without intervention or pain relief and was less painful. I do think the drugs to bring on the contractions interfere with the body's own ability to gradually build up natural pain relief. If I did it again I would just take the pethidine or whatever!

@AlwaysLatte completely agree, the contractions are different for an induced labour to a natural, so don't feel guilty or afraid to ask for appropriate pain relief, you are not being a wuss, they are artificially ramping up your labour and your pain relief should reflect that!

My induction didn’t work. They first tried a Foley catheter but couldn’t get it in as cervix completely closed. So they tried the pessary. Unfortunately within minutes I had a reaction to it, something called hyper stimulation of the uterus apparently. I had violent sickness and absolutely excruciating pain. They had to remove it within an hour and left me with some painkillers to let my body settle down.
This was all after lunchtime, I was probably facing a CS as they were reluctant to try the drip but it was busy so I was waiting for a consultant. I didn’t like the lying around so paced the corridors all afternoon and then had a bout of diarrhea.
About 9pm my waters went on their own but no-one believed me , in the delivery room by midnight after a short bath (I was 2cm when got in the bath, almost 6 when I got out. I was begging for gas and air but they said it was too soon until they reluctantly checked me and realised I was 6cm) and baby born 6.5hrs later with no interventions. All rather surprising!
My labour was fast for a first baby, and it was excruciating as I had almost constant contractions from the start (I went straight to every 2 mins then they got closer) but my recovery was also just as fast so all is well. It was too quick for an epidural though which was my plan.

Unfortunately I had a failed induction (I was 38 weeks when they decided to induce due to high blood pressure).

They inserted the pessary at around 7pm on the Friday night, I began having tightenings but nothing else really happened so after 24 hrs they then gave me some of the gel and then after a further 6 hrs they gave me another dose of the gel which started mild contractions. Around 9am on Sunday they checked and I was still only 1cm dilated so they decided to break my waters.

I then started having quite strong contractions but after 4 hrs I was still only 1 cm dilated so I was given an epidural and put on the hormone drip, this continued throughout the Sunday night, by the end of which the effect of the epidural was starting to wear off. They ended up delivering via emergency c section on the Monday morning as my cervix never dilated past 1cm.

It was such a long process and I felt so drained afterwards.

Fingers crossed you will have a better experience! Whatever happens, it will all be so worth it once your baby is here . Im 7 weeks on now and it seems like a distant memory

Sorry, I have no ideas why those stars have posted there like that !

My first child I went into labour naturally, I had a drug free birth and of course it was very painful.

My second I was induced and it went from mild contractions to intense rather quickly so I opted for an epidural after 2 hours. The labour was relatively fast and quite good as after the epi I could relax and just focus on my baby without having any pain.

My third I was induced. Had the balloon catheter over night which got me to 3cms. Started the drip 2 hours after catheter out and waters broken. I wasn't even feeling any pain and opted to get epi before I started getting pain (within 30 mins of drip starting) as I didn't want to be have to wait if I got to a point where I wasn't coping. So I got the epi. 45 mins later my baby was born, super easy, pain free.

I had a positive experience being induced. I was 40 + 2 and my cervix was already slightly dilated so they were able to get the Foley catheter in on the second attempt. I stayed overnight, went down to birth suite the next day and they broke my waters (after giving me the gas and air because it was a bit tricky) and started the drip. We watched tv for two hours and then I started contracting. The gas and air was great and after two hours I had some morphine. I dilated to 4cms pretty quickly but then failed to progress any further. My midwife explained that my body was involuntarily pushing causing my cervix to swell and strongly recommended an epidural to try and stop the swelling (otherwise it may have ended with c section). I had the epidural and in 90 minutes I was 10cms. We waited another 90 mins for the head to descend a bit by itself and then I pushed the baby out in 35 minutes without any assistance. I had a small tear to my labia which required a few stitches. Active labour was 5 hours in total, 9 hours from starting the drip to baby arriving.

I find these threads interesting, because I wasn’t offered any options except for the drip. No mention of pessaries or catheters, I went in, they put me on the drip and that was it!

I have had 3 normal labours and one induced. Honestly the induction was 10x better than the ones that started naturally.

@Cameleongirl - My understanding is that the pessary and balloon are used when you are not yet dilated enough for them to break your waters. They will trigger labour in a small percentage of women but generally they need the drip too.

Ah, I must’ve been somewhat dilated then, I forgotten some of the details. What I do remember is DS throwing a major tantrum within seconds of being born. DD was a placid baby, DS made his feelings clear immediately. 🤣

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences has really put my mind at ease! ❤️❤️