Propess induction experiences

[babydays123]

So here I am...39+1 at hospital having just had Propess inserted to get this induction moving.

I'd love to hear your positive experiences of propess inductions if you have one.

How long it was from inserting to contractions?

Did you need a drip?

How long from start to finish?

Any and all details please, be nice to read so positive experiences whilst I'm lying her in hospital x

Hi I had a balloon induction so not exactly the same but from the stage where they could break my waters they did and I went on a drip from going on the drip to baby arriving was 3 1/2 hours. So I went from 3cm to 10cm quickly. My advice would be if you want more pain relief than gas and air ask for it early things move quick(or at least did for me)
Good luck 🤞

Hi! It took maybe 10 hours or so for contractions to start but then I started to over contract (I didn’t realise this was a thing!) so they gave me medication to slow them back down meaning I needed another pessary inserting the next day. I did then need putting on the drip roughy 36 hours later finally giving birth 47 hours after the induction started. As much as possibly try and keep relaxed and go with the flow. Good luck!

12 hours for contractions to start and then 3 hours of labour.

It can happen quickly if your body is ready… in both my inductions it was 6hrs from the pessary being inserted to the baby being delivered.

Probably 4 hrs waiting for proper Contractions to start then they came very quickly and pretty Full on. It was manageable though and to be honest I think I prefer not that was to hours and hours of slightly less painful contractions.

Good luck I am sure you’ll do great. Your body is built to do this xx

For me both times, propess in at 8pm, contracting by 10pm. First one ended on CS at 9cm, and second normal birth.

However, the propess is a prostaglandin, and it’s aim is to change your cervix so it is favourable for you waters being broken. You may not have pain with it at all. Some women go into labour with it, but the aim is just to make your cervix softer, shorter, and a bit dilated. Go for a good walk after your CTG, up and down stairs, curb walk, lunges and squats, have a bounce on a ball, get some food on the try for some shut eye. Good luck. I’m a midwife, so do a lot of inductions!

I was 42 weeks and had had lots of false starts so my body was definitely ready.

Propess in on the Sunday at 2pm.. I read, listened to music and bounced on the birthing ball. 6pm Mild cramps but nothing to write home about. 7.30pm they’ve turned into contractions, by 8.30 they’ve intensified and are definitely real ones I have to breathe through. Totally copable with as long as I keep moving so I am pacing my little bay and bouncing on the ball.

Intensifying!

10.50pm paracetamol to hopefully make me able to sleep
Managed an hour or so

1.30am wake up because the surges are getting quite intense
Can’t lie still

2.40am Coedine to help me sleep a bit again. Managed an hour sleeping

Then contractions ramp up again so I have a few hours waking up to breathe through them and sleeping in the 2 min gap between them

Immense pressure

At some point the propess thing came out and I lost rest of plug

6am ish vomited
Gone cold and a bit shaky

Don’t know really how I got through so many hours but the next thing was examination at
About 12.45pm (with the blessed gas and air which I then kept clamped to my hand/mouth from then on)

Midwife very surprised to report I am 7cm - let’s get you to delivery

Call DH to set off on the one hour drive (this was covid lockdown times so he was only allowed in when I was in delivery room)

Try and get me in a wheelchair - no chance

In the bed in the lift to delivery - can’t have the gas and air!!!! Get to delivery suite and get my gas back, get sat on a ball, then they come back and tell me that actually, even though I’m technically slighter over the 42 weeks limit, because I have no other risk factors I can use the birth centre and the pool! I’m so chuffed! But have to give up the gas and air to get back on a bed and back in the lift. Agony having contractions with no gas and air and not being able to move around

Arrive in birth suite - it’s so lovely. They run the pool for me - it’s now about 1.30pm and I’m getting worried DH won’t make it

Get in the pool
Blissful relief
Quite soon feel need to push
High as a kite on gas and air
Feel waters break
DH arrives and sits in front of me
So happy he has made it just as I’m starting to push
Can feel baby coming out and for some reason get the urge to stand up! Stand up in the pool and little did I know the head was being born right at that minute so they shouted at me to get my bum back in the water

Then they tell me to reach down and with one more push he is there in my hands. Cannot believe it. I scoop him up and cuddle him close. He is here and we did it. DH made it for the last ten minutes.

All in all a very very positive birth. This was my second baby, the first I had a spontaneous birth that was nowhere near as “easy”. Because I panicked. The second time I did hypnobirthing techniques and that was what made the enormous difference (that and them letting me use the pool. I had come to terms with not being able to use it but it really did help and ease the surges).

Good luck op

Thanks everyone.

Currently in hospital with quite strong period pain type cramps coming every 5 mins and feeling like a bit of a wimp. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to sleep through these 😆

Third pregnancy, but there's an 11 year gap so fully rose tinted view of how painful the labour is going to be.

Just thought I'd pop on to tell you all how it went with me.

Friday

6pm Propess inserted. 1 cm dilated. Bishop score 6

10pm cramping starts and continues throughout the night

Saturday

8am cramping starts to get a bit more intense and quicker

10am start walking round ward at doctors suggestion to try and get cramping to increase.

11am starting to feel tired for lack of sleep night before and cramping getting stronger so try to have a nap

2pm wake up. Realise cramping has stopped. Head to toilet to find pessary in my knickers 🙄

3pm second pessary inserted. Cervix 2cm

4pm cramping starts again

6pm wheeled into delivery room and pessary removed and waters broken. Told I'll be left for 2 hours to see if body remembers from previous pregnancies what to do.

8pm nothing changed. Hooked onto drip. Start at low rate but nothing happening so increases level up to highest rate over the space of 2 hour

Saturday:

5am. Contractions still manageable. Midwife checks progress, still 2cm

8am: 12 hours of drip and still not in established labour. Still only 2cm ans cervix has length still.

9am: doctor comes round and suggests C Secrion based on 2cm and the food try we've given to get labour i action.

At this point I'm exhausted and in full agreement.

Taken off drip and get 2 hours sleep whilst I wait my turn for theatre.

10.30am. Chat with anaesthetist about choices and risks. Wheeled down to theatre and prepped.

Husband joins after spinal given and bed set up.

Procedure takes about 30 minutes, baby handed to be straight after observations whilst they stitch me up. All very calm experience.

Midwife told me the baby had the cord round his neck and a knot in his umbilical cord (True Knot) so we were very lucky as it would have likely ended up in an emergency section if labour had progressed.

11.30am out of theatre and into post op for an hour before heading to ward.

All in all a very positive experience. I was sick with tiredness on Sunday but after some sleep I started to feel normal again.

The pain from the cut is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be!

Congratulations OP, pleased you had a positive experience despite the long process!