Induction of Labour

[Peonies94]

Currently have an induction planned for tomorrow! I am having a propess inserted and I am not currently dilated at all! In fact baby is not yet engaged really, but is head down! I am almost 40 weeks! I’m looking for anyone who’s been in a similar position and can share their experience? I’m told to expect it to take a few days, maybe longer!
Also I’m being induced for medical reasons!

No words to share but also booked for induction tomorrow and wishing you lots of luck and good thoughts x

I had my DS in 2020 I was induced at 39+2 as they said DS was measuring around 13lbs and considered that he was high risk of shoulder dystocia.
All I have to say it was a very long 5 days for me. Think of the friends Episode when Rachel went into labour and 5 other women gave birth within the time she was there. Yeah that was me. I had several sweeps and the pessary didn't work for me. I had irregular contractions I eventually had an epidural and had ventuse assisted delivery. DS weighed 8lbs 8.
For me it was a very traumatic experience as it was in the middle of the pandemic I wasn't allowed my husband to be with me until I was in active labour. It was a lonely and traumatising experience for me. I am currently pregnant with my second and I am slightly anxious this time round. However, this was my experience this should not put you off as each pregnancy and experience are different. You'll be fine.

If you haven't started antenatal expressing then you could try this tonight and tomorrow to try and get your cervix a bit more ready, there are some good videos on YouTube.

It can also help to get your nipples used to "being handled" a lot to help prepare them for breastfeeding if that's what you want to do.
Best of luck, excited for you that you get to meet your baby soon!

When you say medical reasons, what are they? A lot of inductions aren’t necessary at all.

I was induced with my 2 boys, both at 35 weeks for medical reasons,both followed the same pattern I had the pesserys which did start me & got me to where I had my waters broke & had the pitocin drip,the drip is not pleasant & I managed on gas & air for a few hours on it & then had an epidural on my first,I knew on my second to just ask for the epidural sooner,I've always heard of inductions taking days but mine were both under 24 hours,my first was 20 hours from start to finish & second 17 hours,very smooth deliveries 3 pushes on first & about 5 on second. No disasters,few decelerations on baby 1 where drip was turned down but that's about it. My inductions as a whole were very positive honestly

I was induced at 39 weeks for medical reasons. It was totally fine! I had the pessary in the morning and was due to go to the next stage of the process 24 hours later, but actually my waters broke by themselves that night and baby was born in the early hours with just one lot of paracetamol and dihydrocodeine and a bit of gas and air. I know not everyone has positive experiences of induction, but I hope it helps to know that they exist. Best of luck!

My advice would be if you need the drip get an epidural before they put it in rather than after. The pains on those drips aren’t like normal labour pains in my experience. I didn’t get any pain relief but I wish I had.

I was induced on my due date and very similar to you I was showing zero signs of being ready. I went in Sunday evening and gave birth Thursday evening. The first couple of days were fine, had propess and it took doses over about 48 hours to get my cervix to open a couple of mm so they could break my waters and get me on the drip. No pain or contractions before then so I just tried to take walks, read books and generally chill. Once my waters were broken it was a standard first labour really, took time and I needed forceps delivery but he was 10lb 2oz so more to do with that than anything I reckon.

@halloumi1 good luck!
@Manifest828 ive been told to expect a long few days! Not looking forward to it! Sorry to hear you had a negative experience, covid not helping either! My fiancé has been able to sit with me for the days, so that’s been good!
@Notellinganyone high blood pressure and issues with placenta beginning to fail. I’ve also already been in hospital for a few nights having baby monitored every 2 hours, so have hardly slept for days!
@Fridaysgirl17 i have already said I’ll be requesting an epidural before a drip is involved! I’ve heard the drip is really painful! Thank you, that sounds really positive!
@Persipan that’s another really positive story too! I’ve been told to not expect it to happen quickly, due to my cervix being completely closed, but hopefully it’ll happen quicker than expected!!

I was induced at 41+1 due to waters going then my body not doing much else.

Had the gel then 8 hours later a baby in my arms! Over 9 pounds and only 20 mins pushing with g and a so that was intense! Overall a positive experience.

@royalrecording thank you! I’m expecting a simular time frame I think! Good to hear the first few days were okay! Hopefully simular experience here!
@thebloodycatwontstopmeowing wow so quick!!
@bakewellbride another really positive experience! Thank you!

If you are having the propess then it can only be in for 24 hours and then you have to go down the route of being induced in hospital.
I had it at 9am went shopping lunch went home first proper contraction at 7:30 pm had him just before 9pm was my second baby though and I was 12 days over

My DD was head down at 39+0 when I was induced.

The pessary worked and she was born within 11 hours.

Unfortunately most of the stories you hear about inductions are negative. Those of us where the induction part was fine don't really speak up.

@Glitterstars im in hospital anyways, ive been in for a few days! They said they could insert a few if the first one didn’t do anything after 24 hours, a second could be inserted! This is my first baby, and almost due date, so I’m imagining it’ll be a little longer!

I have had a CS and a VBAC with induction. The VBAC was lengthy (turned out she was back to back) but once I was in hospital I kept myself busy with reading, bouncing on a birthing ball and listening to nice music on my phone. On paper my VBAC induction should have been traumatic but I found it really nice to actually spend that time focusing on all the stages of labour and then got the best outcome at the end--my lovely DD.
My best tip is to totally refuse to let them put you on the drip until you have an epidural in so they can't fob you off and tell you to "see how you go on gas and air". I went from 2cm to 10cm in 2 hours and it was intense, my epidural actually didn't work very well (it only seemed to numb my cervix but at least that was something) and syntocin contractions literally squeeze your breath out of you so I ended up using the G+A anyway. Oh and if they offer you pethidine to help you sleep at any point go for it. I really think natural pain relief has to go out of the window if you're on the drip.

@Reugny thank you! I’m trying to think that it’ll take a few days and expect it to be a long process, then anything else will be a bonus! I’ve already been in hospital a few days, so hoping it won’t be too long!

@ReamsOfCheese very helpful, thank you! Will push for pain relief definitely! Thank you!

I’m glad you’re asking for an epidural! No point suffering if you don’t have to. Good luck xx

I was induced at 39+1, DS was not ready to come out. Cervix was barely a cm when they put the pessary in. He was born at 39+3 and things progressed at a good pace. Pessary at midnight, waters broke 3pm next day, moved to delivery about 7pm, had epidural and the drip (and fentanyl top ups cuz ouch), left to dilate fully and then another couple of hours for him to descend as much as he was going to on his own. Born at 5.35am. I think that works out as 29.5 hours in total? It wasn't a terrible experience and I'd have an induction again if need be

Ah I see no I was able to go home but they said if it did my work would then go down the other route of inductions. All hospitals are different though

I was induced at 38w1d due to my placenta not functioning properly. I also had Gestational Diabetes which I managed through diet and because of these issues, my doctor said being induced was the best option.
I had the Oxytocin drip and it wasn't pleasant! They had to stick the cannula in my veins twice cos the first time, they couldn't get to it properly!
I started with gas and air, I didn't want epidural, I was ok with pethidine - the midwife suggested remifentanil which was between a pethidine and epidural (which wasn't discussed at my Antenatal class) but she wasn't able to supply it until I have read the leaflet and agreed to it. By then, my contractions from the drip had really kicked in so my husband had to read it to me (whilst making me laugh! Weirdest experience to be in pain and laughing!) and by then, it was too late to take any pain relief as I needed to push.
8 pushes later, my beautiful boy was born. The entire experience was just amazing and I would do it all over again!
Good luck to you, I hope you have an amazing Labour journey 🥰

@TwilightSkies thank you
@TeddyBeans that sounds good! Thank you!
@Glitterstars i think you can here in some circumstances too, however I was already admitted into hospital with other complications before an induction was decided! The baby is being monitored every few hours due to the complications, so I’m not able to leave because of this!

@Cheesywholemealbread placenta issues here too! Thank you! Sounds like it happened pretty quickly for you too!

thanks everyone, lots of positive experiences amongst other experiences! Hoping mine is kind of straight forward, but open minded as I know each Labour is different, so guess I’ll just see what happens!

Please look into hyper stimulation before going ahead if you haven't already. I don't want to frighten you but this was my experience and it was terrifying. I believe it's quite unusual but best to be as informed as possible especially if there are alternatives for you.