being induced late

[kmac625]

My midwife has told me I'm at a higher risk of needing inducing since I'm now overdue and baby still hasn't engaged and it's my first. That would mean a transfer of care to an ob (midwives can't do inductions here). I'm worried that the ob will automatically use pitocin instead of the gel because the medical standard is to induce at 10 days over and for midwives it's 14, and he/she will already think I'm too far along. To make matters worse, the midwife is going by my ovulation due date of July 30th but my 12w scan said July 26th. Going 14 days past July 30th will put me at 18 days past the due date the ob would've probably used and I'm worried that they'll do whatever they can to make my labour go fast/jump to a c-section sooner than necessary if I'm not progressing fast enough for them. I'm still hoping to go into natural labour but am not feeling very hopeful about it at the moment.

 

[halas]

hope you go in to labour on your own my lo never engaged until i was in labour this was my first baby also even tho she didnt engage until i was well into labour my labour was still quick, just d lots of bouncing on a b irth ball walking if possible might help. btw she came on her due date

 

[milkmachine]

they can only advise induction you dont actually have to go along with it xx

 

[stardust599]

I don't have any advice, I hope you go into labour naturally hun. Can the midwifes not to a stretch and sweep of your cervix - this is a 2second procedure that can be done at home and usually helps to bring on contractions.

Also, try and get bubs to move by using a birthing ball and look online for positions and exercises you can use at home to get bubs to move down. Have you tried all the natural induction remedies like acupressure, walking etc?

xxx

 

[kmac625]

I don't have any advice, I hope you go into labour naturally hun. Can the midwifes not to a stretch and sweep of your cervix - this is a 2second procedure that can be done at home and usually helps to bring on contractions.

Also, try and get bubs to move by using a birthing ball and look online for positions and exercises you can use at home to get bubs to move down. Have you tried all the natural induction remedies like acupressure, walking etc?

xxx

They won't do a stretch and sweep unless baby is engaged as there is a risk of cord prolapse otherwise. I've been bouncing like a fiend on my ball for weeks now and go for walks most everyday and swim once or twice a week (well, I float on a noodle thing in the deep end, I'm a little too big for much real swimming lol). I've been taking evening primrose oil (and inserting one at bedtime) and am going to look into the accupressure points. Thanks for the advice.

 

[summer rain]

Hi

try borage oil and nigella sativa oil capsules; they contain the same prostglandins as evening primrose but in a much much higher concentration, although its not a pleasant way to know these things work; I had a missed miscarriage and after 6 weeks not much was happening so I took 8 each of the above along with 8 flaxseed oil, it worked within 2 hours and the whole thing was pretty much over in less than 4 hours. Obviously do make sure of the safety of taking that much to actually induce labour but I haven't heard of their being any risks such as you get with castor oil. I do hope you go into labour naturally and its very much possible; with my eldest his head wasn't engaged (at all) until the pushing stage, yet with my middle son his head was engaged a couple of weeks earlier. I know loads of people this has happened to so I do wonder how much truth there is in if its a first baby their head always engages weeks before the birth.

Soph x

ETA: Nigella sativa is also known as 'black seed' you may have best luck getting it from an Indian or Islamic outlet either in real life; or online....

 

[KandyKinz]

That's strange that they won't do a stretch and sweep as the risk of that rupturing your membranes is quite small!!!! I've done dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of stretch and sweeps and never once have the membranes ruptured!

In regards to the gel or cervidil... (many obs in ontario now use cervidil cause it can be removed if contractions get too intense) that's entirely dependant on what your cervix is like as opposed to how far along you are. They use the Bishops Score to rank whether you need cervical ripening or if you can start straight with pit. The bishop score looks at how dilated you are, how soft your cervix is, the postion of your cervix and the effacement. Most first time cervixes do need some ripening. However, sometimes if your cervix is favorable they will go ahead and do an ARM (break your waters) and that will put you into labour but if baby is still very very high they won't consider that.

Anyways, like mentioned above no one can force an induction on you.... Do your research. There's pros and cons to both inducing and waiting.

And just keep trying stuff at home. Continue the evening primrose oil... Have lots and lots of with nipple stimulation! And if worst comes to worse and you don't want a medical induction there is always castor oil! But only use that as a last resort!

Oh and apparently there is an enzyme in pineapples that can help things along!

 

[KandyKinz]

Also, if you are absolutely certain of your ovulation date I would agree with the midwives in using that date... Ultrasounds are only accurate to +/- 5 days at the 12 weeks mark... so since there was only a 4 day difference it's best to keep the ov date.

 

[kmac625]

Well I'm back from today's midwife appointment and baby is still not engaged and my cervix was posterior (she had trouble reaching it. It wasn't remotely dilated but was 30% effaced. She couldn't do a stretch and sweep because she couldn't get her finger into it, but she did try to pull it forward. I go back on Thursday morning for them to try again. I also get an ultrasound Friday and again on Monday to make sure baby and placenta are both still healthy. Hopefully I've gone into labour by then and can cancel the appointments.

 

[KandyKinz]

Well I'm back from today's midwife appointment and baby is still not engaged and my cervix was posterior (she had trouble reaching it. It wasn't remotely dilated but was 30% effaced. She couldn't do a stretch and sweep because she couldn't get her finger into it, but she did try to pull it forward. I go back on Thursday morning for them to try again. I also get an ultrasound Friday and again on Monday to make sure baby and placenta are both still healthy. Hopefully I've gone into labour by then and can cancel the appointments.

Hopefully! In the meanwhile remember to like bunnies! Ejaculate contains prostaglandins which help soften the cervix to get it ready to dilate and orgasm helps to stimulate the uterus.... Plus can be alot of fun when you're just sitting around waiting!

 

[kmac625]

Lol kandykinz, we tried the other day but I had to stop my hubby half way through because I got a sharp cramp on the right side of my bump that was unbearable. I think hubby is afraid to try again. In the meantime I've been taking epo with each meal and inserting one at bedtime to help soften my cervix.

 

[Pretty Sakura]

Hoping your body gets things moving on it's own instead!!!!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

My baby wasn't engaged at all until labour, which I went into naturally at 8 days past my due date. You can decline induction anyway. Hope you go into labuor soon!

 

[kmac625]

Well, I managed to get a sweep this morning to 1 cm dilated, but my cervix is still really high. I'm gonna get another one on Saturday and if I still haven't gone into labour I have to go to the hospital and get the gel on Sunday afternoon. Monday morning is my induction with the pitocin and I don't really have much choice as if I refuse they don't have any other openings for inductions later in the week (they only do 2 a day at the hospital) and my placenta might stop working well by then and I don't want to put baby at risk. On Monday I'll be either 10 or 14 days overdue. Here's hoping I go into natural labour first.

 

[Pretty Sakura]

Hoping and praying you go naturally!!!!!! Hope that second sweep does the trick!!!
Sending truckloads of labor !!

 

[summer rain]

Hi

its actually not common for the placenta to stop working properly; even if you are very overdue; and there are ways they can test for such a possibility such as a non-stress test. Over here I know several women who went up to 44 weeks because they agreed to go into hospital either every few days or daily, rather than have an induction. For some of my friends the hospital advised them to do this; as they had had previous c-sections and for medical reasons another one was risky; but induction is considered a no-no if you've had any previous c-sections due to the heightened risk of a ruptered uterus. So the doctors weighed it up and it was less risky for them to go into labour considerably late, albeit being closely monitored than have a repeat c-section. In some of the cases their baby was born smaller than their other children, the placenta was fine and they didn't have any other signs of overdue-ness such as flaky reddened skin, very long nails etc so its possible they may have been actually on their due date or even slightly early, especially if you have irregular cycles they never can tell. I have heard in some countries they now only tell you your due 'month' and not due 'date' for this very reason...

Soph x

 

[kmac625]

I'm going for a biophysical ultrasound tomorrow to make sure my placenta is still healthy. I'm positive of my dates though since I was temping. Also, I couldn't be a couple weeks wrong as I had a bfp at 9 days post-ov so I couldn't have ov'd more than a couple days later at the most even if I got my temps wrong. I don't have the energy to fight an induction, especially as I would have noone on my side. My hubby just wants baby to be healthy and the midwives are recommending this (they are pretty sure I have a minimum 9 pounder in me lol) and the docs at the hospital don't even know me and will already think I'm further gone than should be (they would want to induce today if it was up to them). Anyhow, thanks for the support everyone. Here's hoping I go into labour on my own before Monday morning and the dreaded pitocin drip.

 

[Zen_Jenn]

Good luck kmac! I was 11 days late, and had to fight off induction from the time I was 40weeks. I was scheduled to go in for induction on Monday evening, but thankfully went into labor naturally Monday morning. I had a very similar situation to you, the hospital was booked up all week, co I wouldn't have been able to delay the induction any more.

I too used evening primrose oil, in addition to bouncing on my exercise ball 3 hours a day, and walking 6km the day before I went into labor. I also dtd, and once contractions started, used nipple stimluation to kick them up a notch.

Hopefully having a deadline will convince your body to go into labor before your induction . I had meconium in my waters, likely because the baby was so overdue, so there are tradeoffs in waiting too long.

 

[hannah76]

i have my fx'd for you still! c'mon clara!!