For those who were induced - please share your experiences

[Noodles]

I got scanned at 36 weeks and he weighed 6lbs 3 oz and I got scanned again today (at 39+1) and he now weighs 5lbs 12oz. I'm not sure how that is possible but never mind!

I'm being induced tomorrow as they couldn't get a bed for me today and I was wondering what to expect. I got a leaflet which was a load of crap so I'm basically going in blind. He's not engaged but he is head down.

 

[Gem25]

I would mentally get your head around giving birth if you get me? It's hard to explain i was induced (1st time mum) and i think because your body is forced into labour i personally mentally found it hard. I knew i was being induced but through excitement/nerves i didn't really think about what was happening to my body i'e the fact that i was going into labour. Once the drip was put in i had my little man within 6hours so even though it didn't feel it at the time it was quiet quick.

Good luck xxx

 

[CeriB]

I was induced 2 days after my waters broken at 40+2. Erin was not engaged, but was head down. I had the gel at 5.30pm, contractions started (properly) about 10pm, was 5cm at 1am and Erin was born at 7.17am. I literally went like the clappers once it got started! I did it on G&A only, but can't remember much more I'm afarid. The contractions were really strong as soon as they started being regular, but it was fine! MWs later said that I went quite fast due to the fact that my waters had already gone - but, who knows.

I hope all goes well for you and LO. Maybe talk to MW about pain relief before you get induced so you know your options and they know your wishes should it all go really quickly. Good luck!

 

[Gem25]

I would mentally get your head around giving birth if you get me? It's hard to explain i was induced (1st time mum) and i think because your body is forced into labour i personally mentally found it hard. I knew i was being induced but through excitement/nerves i didn't really think about what was happening to my body i'e the fact that i was going into labour. Once the drip was put in i had my little man within 6hours so even though it didn't feel it at the time it was quiet quick.

Good luck xxx

 

[MrsNovBaby]

I was induced as I had hyperemisis (Sp?)

I was given 2 sweeps (not pleasant but OK) then I was given a pessary, then given another as the first did not do the job.

Then I started contractions, when I was dilated (not sure by how much - it is a blur) they broke my waters. I had gas and air and baby was monitored during all the procedures.

Hope that helps.

Good luck tomorrow.

xx

 

[shortie1990]

What are they inducing you for?
I was induced at 40+7 a day after my waters broke, it was m choice though as I diet want to wait any longer for things to progress, they were starting but very slowly!

I was put on a drip at 6pm and he was born at 11.42 (inwas examined at 3pm and was 3cm dialated)

Apparently the drip makes the contractions more intense, but that was just was I was told

Not really sure what else to say about it that was Pretty much it

 

[Mel+Bump]

I was induced at 42 weeks and just had the pessary. I was taken down to labour ward at 11am at 2/3cm to have my waters broke and at 1pm I was 10cm starting to push.

Dont forget that you are still in control of your labour. You can take it slow and if the pessary works and you dilate well then you can refuse the drip and also you dont have to have your waters broken. These 2 things will speed up your labour so if your going at a good pace and like it how it is, try not to be afraid to tell them you want to carry on as you are and see how things go. If your not on the drip I dont think the theory of labour being harder is true.

Good luck!

 

[mrsraggle]

I didn't have a great experience with induction. I was 40+14 and I just don't think my body was ready yet. She was head down but not engaged.

But then a friend of mine was induced at 38 weeks and gave birth within hours! Her baby was engaged and her cervix etc was all ready to go.

Best of luck for you x

 

[kerrie24]

OOh how exciting!

I was induced (by drip) with ds1 after waters leaked.They put the drip in at 2pm and he was born at 8pm no different to normal labour except I wasnt allowed to walk to the loo cos of the drip and the monitors I had on.

Good luck hope it goes smoothly x

 

[Noodles]

What are they inducing you for?
I was induced at 40+7 a day after my waters broke, it was m choice though as I diet want to wait any longer for things to progress, they were starting but very slowly!

I was put on a drip at 6pm and he was born at 11.42 (inwas examined at 3pm and was 3cm dialated)

Apparently the drip makes the contractions more intense, but that was just was I was told

Not really sure what else to say about it that was Pretty much it

I've got IUGR (Inter Unterine Growth Restriction) basically he's not growing and they don't know why.

 

[shortie1990]

What are they inducing you for?
I was induced at 40+7 a day after my waters broke, it was m choice though as I diet want to wait any longer for things to progress, they were starting but very slowly!

I was put on a drip at 6pm and he was born at 11.42 (inwas examined at 3pm and was 3cm dialated)

Apparently the drip makes the contractions more intense, but that was just was I was told

Not really sure what else to say about it that was Pretty much it

I've got IUGR (Inter Unterine Growth Restriction) basically he's not growing and they don't know why.

Hope the induction goes well, I'm sorry, I just noticed your massively obvious signature flashing at me! what a plonker

 

[tristansmum]

i was induced at 40 wks for obstetric cholestasis.
Went in at 7.30am
they did blood pressure and dipped my wee
then she did an internal and put the pessary in... this did not hurt me. my cervix was soft and stretched but still far back.
then i was put on CTG (baby monitor on tummy) for 1 hour. wasn't allowed to get up during this time otherwise the pessary could come out.
then my husband and i went walking for a couple of hours and i had some food. Also had a huge poo (sorry TMI but i was so happy cause my fear was pooing during labour! LOL)
at midday i went back and had tummy ache like bad period pains. had a bath which helped lots.
at 3pm i was 2cm and they wanted to break my waters- this internal did hurt
unfortunately there was no bed on labour ward and so they wouldn't break my waters. at midnight i started to get contraction like every 20 minutes. had some painkillers.
by 4am they were every 5 minutes and quite painful.
at 5am they got me my bed. waters broken at 5.30ish. I requested gas & air for that after the last internal so i felt nothing but a very warm rush of fliud. very odd LOL
once my waters went the contractions came more frequent and much stronger. i asked for gas & air but they said not yet
I had to stay on continous CTG which was hard. i had wanted to walk around and have a bath but i was not allowed.
luckily i never needed the syntocin drip.
i got my gas & air after a MW change at 7.30am.
Around 9 or 10ish i asked for pethadine as i couldn't cope. this allowed me to sleep between my contractions which were every 3 minutes or so. I was so tired from being up for over 24 hours.
then my labour is a blur til i started pushing sometime around 4ish.
I tried all sorts of positions but after 2 hours they scanned me and found him with his chin tilted and unable to decend.
Taken to theatre and given a spinal block (amazing!!!!!) and forcepts attempted but he was not moving so had emergency c section.

So my induction went well. got to 10cm with no major issues. it was just unfortunate about his position.

best of luck tomorrow. hope this helps xxxxx

 

[skydragonfly]

I was induced for my 4th child because my pelvis collapsed. I loved the birth, no worrying about spontaneous labour. I went in a 7am, had a pessary at around 11am, nothing happened so had another 6 hours later and then another 6 hours after that. Still nothing so they decided to let me sleep the night and see how I was in the morning. Still nothing so at 11am the next day they broke my waters, contractions started up on their own with no need for the drip and I delivered him at 11:35am after 30 minutes of labour.

My 5th child was induced for IUGR too, they thought he would be around 5-51/2lb at 38 weeks. They were more concerned because my other children had been quite big, biggest being 9lb81/2. However after a similar experience to my previous induction, he too was born after a 30 minute labour weighing a not so tiddly 7lb4oz.

 

[babyerin]

First of all, good luck and don't panic!

I was induced at 39+4 due to PIH/pre eclampsia.

I had 2 pessaries which did naff all apart from give me twinges so they broke my waters for me, unpleasant, but they gave me gas and the consultant did it so it was over quickly. I had the drip which kickstarted the contractions, which got gradually more painful as you'd expect and I had her in 6 hrs 30mins I had gas and air and a half dose of diamorphine which IMO did nothing, I felt no affect whatsoever. Gas and air was amazing.

I was mobile, bounced on the birthing ball, stood up, all fours etc, they just put a clip on Erins had to monitor her...otherwise they want you strapped up xx

 

[Noodles]

Thanks girls!

 

[WW1]

I was induced and my one piece of advice is don't expect anything to happen quickly! It might do of course, but equally labour could go on a bit!

I was given a pessary on the Wednesday at 12pm. The following morning I was put on sytocin (sp?) and this was continued for a further 24 hrs (ish). I only got to 6 cm so was failure to progress and ended up with a c section.

As it was my first labour I've nothing to compare it to so can't compare it to a non-induced birth I'm afaid.

Good luck tomorrow - enjoy meeting noodles jnr #2

 

[Broodypants]

OK, so here's a general induction process (as I believe anyway!)

They will do a stretch and sweep if possible and insert the first prostaglandin gel pessary, if nothing has happened after six hours they will insert another and then if nothing has happened six hours after that they may try and break your waters to get the contractions started or they might go straight to the syntocinon drip.

If either of the gel pessaries work then you should be able to have a fairly active labour (i.e. they won't need to monitor the baby constantly) if you want to and you should be able to use any of the facilities that would be available during a naturally induced labour. If they have to break your waters or put you on the drip then you will have to be monitored constantly so won't be able to move far from the bed.

I was induced at 40+13 and the first gel pessary worked for me, I was given a stretch and sweep at the same time and I started getting period pains about twenty minutes later. Six hours later I was 4cm's dilated and taken down to the delivery ward, I got in the birthing pool and after about an hour I couldn't cope with the pain so opted for an epidural. Once that had taken effect they put me on the drip to keep the contractions coming and I got to 10cm's about an hour later, the midwife gave me an hour to rest and then I started pushing, she popped out about half an hour later.

I was a bit worried about being induced, but it was a very positive experience overall. It was quite quick too, almost exactly 12 hours from the gel going in to Erin being born.

Good luck for tomorrow, I'm sure all will be fine. Oh, and don't pay attention to those growth scans at all! They can be out by a long way, I was told Erin was 7lb's at 36 weeks and was worried I was in for a 9.5/10 pounder! She was 8lb 2 so not big at all.

Any questions feel free to ask! xx

 

[peanut56]

I was given Cervadil (inserted to ripen my cervix). 20 minutes later, my waters broke and contractions started immediately. The pain was all in my back. I had an epidural which was the best thing EVER, and after 17 hours, LO was born. No section or forceps or anything needed. For me, the induction was a mainly positive experience.

 

[emilyjade]

heres my birth story, sorry its long! good luck hun and dont worry x


Wednesday the 9thMarch i went to the hospital for my CTG and consultant appointment as baby was not growing as well as they hoped and only put 11oz on in four weeks! The routine CTG i was having every other day to make sure everything was fine. Had the CTG which was normal again and then waited to see the consultant. I never would have guessed he'd want to send me for an induction the very next day!

So i got home and took all babies’ 0-3 things out my bag and swapped them for the small pile of small baby clothes we were given and tried to have an early night. I slept for about 2 hours the whole night, with a mixture of excitement and nerves.

9am 10th march was our time for induction so left an hour early and headed off to the hospital to be greeted by a huge traffic jam! Finally got there and got the propess inserted around 12 mid-day. Nothing seemed to be happening so i kept on the birthing ball and talking walks around the hospital for an hour at a time.

By 10pm that night i started to feel little niggles but was told nothing was still happening even though they didn’t examine me! Had a rubbish night sleep again that night and my room kept going from red hot to freezing in seconds!
11th march - 11am i was checked over and told to remove the propess myself as the doctor was caught up and would be a while and a midwife examined me and say i was 1-2 cm but she could feel my waters and that they could be broken so she sent me to labour ward.

1pm i was transferred still having little niggles but nothing dramatic and was told there wasn’t anyone available to break my waters as id need to be on a hormone drip too and they needed one on one care for me. I was sent for another walk to speed things along.

7pm they finally broke my waters about 7-15 ish and then the contractions started coming through faster but still didn’t feel too strong to me, by this point i thought it would never happen and i was never going to meet my baby girl!

11pm they inserted the hormone drip and explained that the contractions would be really intense and kept offering pain relief, i looked up to the drip stand and saw no bag of hormone so asked when they was starting it and they told me they already had and it was a syringe driver! i felt so thick lol! By this point they was really taking their toll on me and i couldn’t talk through them and had to wiggle my toes as that seemed to be the only thing that helped me feel comfy! I explained to the midwife and student that i was getting pressure in my bum, getting hot and need a drink really bad and they looked confused as on the CTG the contractions was only showing up really weak and only picking the odd few up! I begged the MW to give my an internal to tell me how far along i was and she said 4cm i could of cried! she asked if the student could feel how far along i was, so i agreed and she was convinced i was further that 4cm!

The pressure at this point was unbearable and started getting really anxious as i NEEDED to push but i knew being '4cm' it wasn’t a good idea! i had gas and air at this point and there was only 7 contractions left till she was born! The midwife ran off to get the birth pack ready and my body took over and i started to push. I could feel her head crowing and the student MW was on her own at this point and pressed the emergency button on the wall when loads of people ran in! In between the contractions i couldn’t stop pushing like in my other birth they just kept shouting stop Emily! Next thing we know our little girl just flew out lol! She was born and no one caught her! She landed on the bed she came that fast!

I had no stitches or anything which i was shocked as the stinging after she was born was unreal! The MW poured warm water over me and it felt amazing! My OH was amazing and was so choked up when he saw our beautiful baby girl! MY mamma cut the cord as OH didn’t want to and is very uneasy around the sight or blood! They told us she weighed 6lb 7 but have later found out she actually weighed 6lb 4 by looking on our photos!
i breastfed her for 20mins and was left for skin to skin for over an hour. She is the best gift i could have ever asked for; she is so contented and happy! i was in hospital for 3 days altogether and had to stay an extra night after she was born because her temp dropped in the morning to 35 but everything is fine now

 

[whoops]

I was induced at 41 weeks for IUGR - they didn't want to make me wait any longer.

I was given the first dose of gel at about 10am in the morning. I had to lie down for an hour after with a trace on and afterwards, I took to the corridors, walking up and down stairs and doing everything I could myself to make labour start. I had to return for monitorring every half hour.

Contractions started a few hours later but were quite mild at first. They did increase in strength and by the time I was given my dinner in the ward at 5pm, they were bothering me so much that I didn't want to eat at all.

They checked me just after 5pm (should have been earlier but the doctor was busy somewhere else) and I hadn't progressed enough to have my waters broken, so they gave me another dose of the gel. At this point, I presumed the contractions I'd been having were just cramps caused by the gel as they hadn't progressed me and the trace wasn't really picking them up.

After the second gel, the contractions continued - they were coming in bursts of three about a minute apart with a couple of minutes break before the next lot. I just breathed through them and because I thought pain relief wasn't an option yet (nobody thought I was in labour) I kind of put myself into a trance to deal with them.

At 9pm, I started feeling pressure and thought it was that my waters were going to break. After a few minutes, I realised that it felt like I needed to push but I didn't think it was possible. The midwife checked me, all set to break my waters and progress things, only to realise that I was 10cm dilated and ready to deliver my baby.

A wheelchair was got, I was sped into the delivery room and as soon as I got on the bed, I allowed myself to start pushing. Five contractions later, my little girl was born. I was given Gas & Air in the delivery room but could not figure out how to use it so in the end, gave birth with no pain relief at all.

The speed of it in the end caused me to go into shock, but looking back, it's one of the best experiences of my life. I'd do it again tomorrow!

Good luck!

Oh, and my LO was 5lb 14 when born. She's now about 12lb and an intelligent, strong and beautiful 4 month old.