Induction fears

[Bambi11]

Hello, currently 40+5 first baby and low risk. They said they would let me go over 12 days and have an induction booked on the 12 day (if no slots this will be sooner)
had a sweep at 40 and one today but they said I’m just the same, cervix not short and 1/2cm dilated.

Im so scared about being induced as I’ve heard it can be a more painful Labour, longer and more likely to end up in c section. I didn’t want a lot of intervention but baby is way to comfortable 🙄

anyone been though the same? Or had a good experience with induction?

@RandomMess i have no idea what my pain threshold is so I’m very open to pain relief if needed

@PurpleBananaSmoothie thank you for the details. I have an appointment Saturday so I can ask all the questions then. I have ear plugs at the ready in my bag as I’m a terrible sleeper.
only reason I’m scared of an epidural is my sister and a couple or her friends had horrid experiences with it.

I've had 2 inductions. Both started at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia, both positive, but very different to each other. Wall of text inc.

First baby I had two rounds of gel to ripen the cervix (aim is to get to 2cm to allow for waters to be broken). I got to not quite 2, but as the delivery suite was empty that night, they bought me down anyway. Had a controlled ARM (midwife pushing down on bump to force baby to engage, while another breaks waters) and then waited 2 hours to see if contractions would start. They did not. From there it's a choice of drip or C-section. I choose drip. I also chose not to have an epidural. I work in obstetric theatres, and felt I already had enough risk factors for an assisted birth without adding one more. I did not want to see my colleagues! I feel I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so I wanted to see how I would cope. I did ok. Contrary to expectations, contractions ramped up slowly and gently as the drip was turned up. Not the immediate 100% I was led to believe. I used gas + air for as long as I could, then asked for something stronger. I was 5cm and chose diamorphine over the epidural. It was my birth plan to escalate pain relief rather than go straight to epidural, so it felt good to at least stick to that. Diamorphine was wonderful. I was asleep between contractions! During contractions I was sucking on my fingers as I kept forgetting which hand was holding the gas + air mouthpiece. Good times. Baby got a clip on their head at some point as they kept wriggling away from the monitoring. Five hours later I was 10cm, the diamorphine was wearing off, and it was go time! 20 minutes later I was holding my baby girl. Second degree tear, and the placenta took its sweet time coming out, but everything was fine.

Second baby I had one round of gel, and got to 2cm. Hooray! Except this was in March when it seems everyone went into labour that week. 4 days later I made it to delivery suite. Another controlled ARM, and after an hour had the drip as no contractions. Contractions ramped up slowly again which was nice. Unlike with DC1, I was moving around instead of curled up on my right. Eventually things got too painful and needed ramped up pain killers. I was 5cm again. Except this was after nearly 12 hours of labour instead of 6 hours with DC1. Second babies come quicker and easier? Not for me! It was a choice of meptid or an epidural. I chose the epidural. There was no guarantee I would get to 10cm before the meptid wore off, and I needed certainty. It wasn't pleasant going in, but that wash of coolness when the drugs went in was sheer bliss. Grabbed a couple of hours kip, then the call was made to go to C-section. I was still 5cm, and baby was showing signs of distress. Not the way I wanted to go, but it was the way it needed to. Turns out baby was back to back and had his head tipped back. No way he was coming into the world any way other than the sun roof. Recovery pain wise was fine. Wound did get infected, but has healed up nicely since. I still see it as positive as the labour itself was actually quite good.

Best of luck with everything. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

I was induced with my first at just over 37 weeks. I had the pessary in for 24hrs which didn't really do a lot, I then had the gel put in around 7.30pm, by 9.30pm my contractions had started and I was 1-2cm, by 12.30am I was fully dilated.

Baby girl was born at 1.07am and I had both pethidine and gas & air!

Im likely to be induced this time around also!

I'm going to go against the grain, not to scare you but so you're somewhat prepared for alternative experiences.

I was induced at 39+4 as I had gestational diabetes (baby wasn't measuring big though).

Had pessary put in at around 10 am and it was painful for me. Was having painful contractions for 24 hours but wasn't dilating much. Had drip started at around 12 noon the following day and took three separate attempts to break my waters (also extremely painful). Not long after, I had epidural and contractions were coming thick and fast. Baby's heart rate then decelerated and examination confirmed cord prolapse, caused by the breaking of my waters. Was whisked off for emergency c-section and healthy baby boy born not long after.

I found it difficult to deal with for a good month afterwards. I didn't get to hold baby for a few hours after birth as my blood pressure kept going really low and I was shaking uncontrollably and being sick and it just wasn't the experience I had imagined. I was also really not wanting a section (I'd had an operation years ago and ended up with DVT and pulmonary embolisms post op so I had a real fear of another major op).

thanks for all the honest stories ladies.
had my 3rd sweep today and she said it was much more favourable and got round babies head.
she also said if I do end up having an induction they will try me with one intervention first and if it starts things off I can still have a water birth/ use the midwife lead unit rather than Labour ward so this has made me feel much better.
just got to keep in mind I’ll have a baby by the end of the week!

trust your body and relax as much as possible. All the best OP.