induction at 37 weeks - what to expect?

[ktwiltshire]

i know that 37 weeks is term in term of the lungs and not premature

i am going to be induced at 37 weeks and i was wondering if there is anything about the babys condition that will be different from induction later, say at 39/40.

ive been induced before, but that was with DD1 and i was 41+1.

im not worrying persay, just wondering if anyone had delivered similar to this time and your experiences with the baby

thanks

Hi kt, I was induced at 37 weeks as I had pre-eclampsia and the baby wasn't doing well. With DS, the difference was that he was tiny (4lb 14oz on leaving hospital), and too sleepy to breastfeed, but that probably would have been the case even if I had gone into labour naturally. I don't think it made much difference to anything else in hbis development and he is now a happy, breastfeeding, playful chatterbox at 11 weeks.

So it really depends on the reason for the induction...

I went into spontaneous labour with DD at 36w5d and she was just perfect. A teeny tiny for my family - was 20.5 inches but only weighed in at 5 lbs 12 oz...her thighs were about as big around as my thumb! The only difficulty was that as she hadn't yet developed the reflex for rooting/suckling yet, so breastfeeding was a huge struggle. We ended up staying in hospital for 5 days to get it established/waiting for her reflex to kick in (midwife/bf counsellor explained that the reflex usually develops sometime between 37-38 weeks, give or take a few days, so not at all uncommon to not have it at 37 weeks). Her weight did drop to 5 lbs 2 oz before we left hospital, and I was warned that because of her small size, to never let her go more than 3 hours without feeding - which meant trying every 2 hours or so as it took nearly an hour to get her on every time! But she very quickly caught up and zoomed up thrugh the centiles to be on the 91st for weight by 12 weeks (using the full term chart points!)

Good luck to you both!

thanks girlies. the baby herself is fine and healthy, on size for the number of weeks. i will be being induced for the SPD i have, as im almost completely immobile and bed bound, wheelchair and taking huge amounts of codeine to get through the pain.

the consultant figured it was reasonable to get her out earlier rather than make her spend anymore time in the womb drugged up on codeine than needs be as techncially the lungs are developed enough.
my other option is to go for straight CS at 39 weeks, but as the days go on im leaning towards not waiting, im going mad and being drugged up all day is fine, as if i have to change painkillers my only other option is morphine and i dont want that for me or the baby