sophable has obstetric cholestasis, please tell me about induction...

[Heathcliffscathy]

almost certainly have it liver results and itching indicate. liver scan tomorrow.

shite and fuck

i think this means no homebirth (absolutely gutted, not because i'm a lentil quiche wearer but because i do not feel safe in hospitals).

i'd really really appreciate any info you have on this and even more so any info about induction...is there ever a great outcome birth and breastfeeding wise???

if they do this at between 36 and 37 weeks it's going to be nightmarish isn't it and prob end up in c-section.

any help gratefully received, mars, mears, anyone else at all, i really need all the info i can get.

gutted gutted gutted

Oh poor lovely sophable!

Ds1 was induced, and while I won't pretend it was the best ever birth experience, the actual pushing was fine.

I can't tell you about breast feeding because I chose not to, but you're not VERY early at all, only a few days, as 37 weeks is considered to be term.

DD1 was induced at 39 weeks

Took a while to get going, and they broke my waters. Ended up on the drip to speed things up. It made contractions HELL ON EARTH and I had an epidural. THen slept for the next 8hrs until they woke me up telling me to push as baby getting distressed.

DD1 wasnt breathing when she was born as the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. All fine within a few minutes though.

Im not telling you to scare you, and I really hope you can get a positive birth experience, but wanted to share my experience of induction.

Oh that you can't have your hb etc.

I was induced with dc3 at 37 weeks because of preg-induced kidney problems.

It was a "normal" 12 hour labour following induction with a pessary. I had gas&air but nothing else. Apart from what started it off it was very similar to me labour with dc2.

I breastfed within minutes of birth and went on to do so for 2 years.

Tip: immobility then mobility! I stayed in bed, flat on my back, for 3 hours after I had the pessary (6am-9am). Then I walked around incessantly until 5pm, she was born at 6!

So sad it isn't going to work out the way you wanted, but it needn't be a total nightmare either.

All the best.

oh poor you sophable i really feel for you

there is some info on the homebirth website about OC which may help?

oh weegiemum that's so reassuring...did someone advise you flat on back for the first bit.

x

Oh pants Sophable.
I was induced with dd. I did end up having an emergency (only emergency because it wasn't planned, no great drama, dd got a bit tired and stuck and I wasn't dilating further than 8cm) section but it was very calm, dd was great on the apgar thingy afterwards and I was breastfeeding within minutes of being wheeled into the recovery room. My own recovery was straight forward and dd was happy and healthy.

Sorry that you are not getting your Hb Sophable.

I have had 2 inductions @ 37 weeks and both were vaginal one was a long labour but out in one push and the other was shorter but nice for a birth .

Breastfeeding was good with nice birth (I didn't bf first time around) just kept in mind everything I had learned about bf on MN and took it from there.

Good luck hopw all goes well and will be thinking of you .

Hi Sophable,

Last time we spoke it was about fish .

Sorry to hear about your OC.

I had an induction when I had DS nearly 2 years ago - my case quite different as I was very overdue, waters broke but contractions never established.

I'd hoped for a water birth in midwife lead unit so inductions was a lot more medicalised than I had hoped for.

It was fine though.

The best thing was having a mw with me all the time which was quite reassuring as it was my first time. I had G&A. I did find it quite painful towards the end but it was manageable (although I do remember silently wishing for a C-section at one point).

I did have a few problems with breastfeeding initially but I think it was more to do with ventouse delivery/my inexperience than with induction (and I think the ventouse was probably necessary because I had no waters left to help DS move down).

The one thing I felt was an issue was that I felt the syntocinon (sp?) was making me want to push before I was fully dilated and I forgot all the techniques to slow that down so might be worth asking about whether that is a common occurance with induction and preparing yourself for it if it is.

Took 8 hours from induction to DS's arrival.

erm, what else?

Oh, and I had hospital fear but it cured in some ways - I'm now expecting DC2 and actually want to go to hospital this time!

If the OC is manageable they might wait until 37 weeks anyway (speculating).

Good luck .

Sorry you're going thru this, Sophable. I looked a lot at induction when I thought I was going to go to 42 weeks; I wouldn't want to experience it, either, but there are A LOT of very positive stories about it going fine and the after-experience being good too.

Good luck.

hee hee no!

I was so tired after 37 weeks of kidney stones, admissions, looking after a 1yo and 3yo, having an emerency transfer to another hospital etc ...... that I fell asleep after they put hte pessary in (shows how chilled out i was!!)

But the doctor did say that not getting up let the pessary work better as it stayed in contact with the cervix better - I went to the loo before they put it in.

I was induced, had an epidural, a pain-free birth, pushed dc out naturally and breastfeed for years a LONG time!!

All the very best.

I was induced (albeit at 2 weeks overdue), was really worried about the cascade of intervention having hoped for a homebirth too, but didn't need any -- contractions started an hour or so after the pessary, and then had relatively short labour and pretty easy birth.

A friend of mine was induced about 3 weeks early due to cholestasis, she did need a syntocin (sp?) drip to get the contractions going, and opted for an epidural before they started that (the contractions can start very strongly with no gradual build up with the drip), but again beyond that no cascade of intervention, pushed him out herself just fine.

Hope that helps

Best of luck to you

I have been induced in all 3 of my labours. DD I was induced due to pre-eclampsia at 34+4. I had a 24hr labour, DD spent 2 days in scbu due to breathing problems (preemie) and jaundice. I was induced at 40wks dead on with DS1 due to extremely severe hyperemesis gravidarium, I won't lie, his birth was the worst, but it turns out I should have been sectioned with him as he was upside down with his hand on his head. my labour with him was 72 hours very long. I was also induced with DS2 at 40+2 due to HG. My labour with him was really easy, and I was watching the bill until 5 minutes before he was born, and my labour with him was 5 hrs from first contraction to holding him in my arms.

You poor thing.

I had OC in my second pregnancy and it was horrible (itching drove me mental).

I had a c-section at 37 weeks (had been planning a VBAC, but the baby had to come out and the hospital wouldn't induce me after a previous section because of the risk of scar rupture).

My previous section was after a very long failed induction, so my experience of induction is somewhat biase...I would rather have a section than go through an induction ever again. But I think I am in a minority, to be honest.

What does your gut tell you?

I was induced - had looooong labour, epidural and syntoci drop resulting in c-section. Labour was only so long as dd was back to back and they forgot to tell me. Had she had been in a good position I think it would have been a v quick delivery as I was dilating very well.

However, recovery was v quick and breastfed for a year with no problems establishing feeding.

Try not too worry about it (daft I know) - we spend so much time thinking about the birth that most of us forget about it within a few days and then spend the rest of the time thinking about our new arrival

syntocin drip.

I too would have a c-section again rather than induction.

thanks for all the feedback ladies. so is it that early inductions need syntocin more and are more nightmarish? and ones that are due to overdue the baby is cooked and doesn't need to much encouragement.

am not thinking straight so that may not be the consensus at all, but it seems it to my addled mind.

I was induced at 37 weeks for pre eclampsia. Finally got going on 3rd gel, (first gel given Monday pm, dd born Wednesday pm) but when started labour Wednesday 3pm labour for 2.5 hours. dd born 5.25pm. Wasn't great but wasn't bad either!

Mine was late and nightmarish

I was induced at 37.5 with DD1 (pre-eclampsia). It was a very long labour as I needed 3 pessaries. I had an ARM and was contracting nicely but Drs insisted on syntocin. Midwives told me to ignore Dr but I was too scared. Reckon I eld have managed ok had I listened to midwives. Anyway, syntocin made contractions unbearable so had epi. Epi totally numbed ne and it was my first birth with a huge baby and all that meant I needed forceps.

While not a dream birth I can say BFing was fine from the instant DD was pulled out.

I am glad I didn't have a c section.

This is yr 2nd child so pushing shld be easier and an instrumental delivery is unlikely. Just don't get forced into syntocin unless absolutly necessary.

I had a syntocin-induced delivery with DS. He needed lots of encouragement, and took a long time. I had an assisted delivery in the end, but long term it was all fine, as was breastfeeding. I honestly found my natural delivery with DD much harder to handle, which does go against recieved wisdom somewhat. And I didn't experience the difference between the induced and non-induced contractions that other people talk about.

I was able to keep mobile btw, even with monitoring, although with both my labours I experienced very severe pain in my legs which limited it for me.

not had chance to read whole thread , but IIRxc, some recent research has suggested that early induction is not necessraily safer or better.. if you do end up being induced, then mobile active and upright are your mantra.

will try and find out some more info if possible

I think there's more likelihood of needing syntocin drip with early induction, but that doesn't mean it always ends up with a lot of interventions, so needn't be nightmarish (though the contractions are full on very fast, so may be worth considering an epidural as soon as the drip goes up, if indeed the drip does go up, depends how high your pain threshold is). You're doing the right thing to find out what might happen, then you can plan for the worst, but expect the best. The scariest part, as I recall, was realising it was going to be an induction -- once it's all in progress, you just get on with it, you have no choice!

I hope you get a lovely supportive midwife and before you know it you'll have your baby in your arms and labour will be a distant memory

Sorry you're having to deal with this Soph. That's really shite.

I have no experience of this soph but there are some reassuring posts on here.

I wish you all the very best because you're great. x

My induction was at 37 weeks bang on adn was one pessary. They told me my cervix was "highly unfavourable" but luckily no-one told my cervix!

I had syntocin in my 1st labour (a back labour lasting 37 hours) and it was awful, so was very glad I didn't need it with the induction.

I think having given birth before helps - your body knows what to "do". I can't remember if you have kids already or not?