being induced

[charlotte_]

i'm booked in to be induced on monday, and the way things are going i don't think it's going to happen naturally in the mean time.

i'd like to hear your experiences with being induced? anything you wish you'd known/taken with you?
i really didn't want it to come to this, and i'm sort of nervous.

 

[jodie_honey]

hi hun, i was induced (on a monday woop) lol
i have never gone naturaly so cnt really compare but i to be honest i dont think bein induced made any difference to how my labour progressed, i think it wud of done that regardless. just wanted to say goodluck and keep psitive and open minded, take lots of snacks and things to do coz its a lengthy process and u will be fine xxx

 

[lindseylou]

Hiya

I was induced with Jess. Had to go for a membrane sweep on the Monday and was then booked in to be induced on the Thursday but had to go in the night before (don't know why they work it like that). Was dreading it as she is my first and was told that if induced labour would take alot longer. Went in the Wed night @8pm sat around and was eventually seen at 10pm (bloody NHS ha ha) they eventually put me on a monitor for a while see how bubba was doing then said would give me gel which might start contractions. Had really bad tummy ache while on monitor thinking just nervous and need the loo (sorry TMI) she gave me the gel and later tummy got worse and worse so they gave me paracetamol and said it was just my cervix but not contractions. Well got even worse had pain every few minutes so they gave me pethadine SP? which made me sleepy inbetween what I now realise WAS contractions but didnt really help the pain. They found I was 2cm so arrange for me to go delivery and by time I got there it was about 5am and I was between 5cm-7cm so ringing my OH to get there. By 7.15am bubba arrived! So all that rubbish of long labour!

Not an ideal situation but as she was my first I was in the end glad to be in hospital so didnt have the panic of when labour started and knowing when the right time was to go into hospital etc.

Good luck hun hope all goes well! Xxx

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Ive been induced twice and for me being a control freak I actually didnt mind either times as I knew exactly when I would be in labour

My first I was given a gel inserted onto the cervix and I almost instantly went into labour, full on and had my son 4 hours later.

this time they tried to do a sweep first a week before which gave me a false start and a bit of bleeding but nothing else, I then had to wait to be induced and it kept being postponed because the labour suite was full of natural starters

When I finally got down there they used a pessary this time but couldnt get it far enough up to get to my cervix as it was high, I wasnt as quick to start off, i was given it at 7pm and had painful but managable tightenings until 1.30am when my waters broke. That labour was 8 hours but Lo was twice as big.

The only problem i had with both expieriences is that with my second DH had to go home after I had the induction as i was sent back to the ward and it was after visiting hours. I didnt need him during that time but it was part of the birthing expierience he missed and I can only imagine how being sent home away from your wife when you know your baby is imminent must feel, not like you are going to get much sleep is it !!

being monitored didnt affect me as I have a massive desire to stay in one position (curled up in a ball with my head buried in the pillow) when Im in labour I obviously know how gravity and movement help but its just how I cope.

There are theories that it hurts more being induced but i coped fine with my first I had one shot of pethadine which didnt work as I gave birth to DS very soon after the injection and with DD I would have had an epidural but I had a shot of pethadine to keep me going a couple of hours in and couldnt have anymore/anything else as they were short staffed So both times did it relitivley on my own as I hate gas and air.

They are not induction related but the best thing i packed this time was my own pillow and we wished we had packed spare clothes for DH as Esme pooped on him

 

[hennaly]

I was induced with a couple of mine and didnt mind atall in fact it meant i knew i was at least going to be in hospital when my waters went etc
It wasnt any more painful than natural labour (except with one of my daughters who was born very quickly) and i would be happy to do it again

 

[peanut1982]

Hi hun, I was induced with my baby last month. I had to go into hospital at 8pm the night before and they woke me up at 6am to strap me to a monitor for 20minutes to check baby. After this they had a feel of my cervix (which was 2cm dilated) then inserted a pessary. I was happy to hear I was dilated but as baby wasn't at all engaged I didn't hold out for anything happening any time soon.

I had to lie on my back for an hour then got up and had some breakfast. I quickly became uncomfortable and kept needed to go to the loo which I put down to nerves more than anything at the time! At about 10am I noticed some jelly stuff when I wiped and assumed it was the pessary gel coming back out but think now it must have been my plug!!

I was really uncomfy on the bed by then so found a gym ball to sit on and try to do some sudoku! OH arrived at 11am and we decided to go for a wee walk. 2mins out of the ward and I was hugging the handrail and wondering how on earth I'd manage to walk back again!!!

Midwife was coming back to check me again at 12 to see if I needed another pessary, but by this point I was clambering over the back of the bed with contractions less than 5 mins apart!! She had a check and I was about 6cm dilated
We then had to get up to labour suite, which was a task trying to get there between contractions! Finally got there at 1.10pm and was given gas and air which was heaven!

I continued bouncing on the gym ball, had tea and toast at 4pm then a shot of diamorphine as the gas and air seemed to have lost all effect for me by then! At half 6 they forced me off the bouncy ball and onto the bed where they burst my waters and pushing commenced!!! My little boy flew into the world on a tidal wave of water at half 7.

I was dreading being induced and although I have no experience of a non-induced labour I certainly don't think it was any more painful or longer than it would have been had I not been induced.

Hope this helps ease you're worries a little!

Sarah x

 

[soverign]

I was induced with my LO. I dont have anything to compare it to but if anything I found it quite painless. I managed on gas and air and I dont want to sound full of myself but I found it really easy. I don't know if it was because I was induced though! I would think that it is better to be induced as you are in a safe place when you are in labour incase anything does go wrong. Hope everything goes just as well for you hun.

 

[charlotte_]

peanut, that really helped, thankyou. made me smile & feel a lot better about the whole thing!
and araminta, thanks for mentioning what happened with your OH, that was something i was wondering about.

i have to go in at 8am, and it says your 'supportive persons' visintg hours only start at midday on my notes. surely they're not gonna make him go all the way home to come back four hours later!

 

[NIE]

90PM: Induced
100PM: Got painkillers.
110PM: Got more painkillers.
00AM: Morphine.
60AM: Morphine.
8:54AM: Pushed baby out after 2 pushes.

DH was sent home at 10pm and wasn't phoned to come in until 8:40am as they kept saying that I wasn't having contractions as the machine couldn't pick them up. DH made it with 3 mins to spare.

Hope everything goes smoothly. There wasn't anything I wished I had taken...to be honest I never gave it a second thought. xxx

 

[Strangeness]

Charlotte I had to go in at 8am and my dh was allowed to stay with me. One of the women who hands out the tea said "You do know visiting times don't you?" but ignored her as I was being induced he was allowed to stay. I hadn't gone into established labour by 8pm that night though so my dh had to go home with instructions that he could be called at anytime in the night to come back up. I eventually got to phone him at 8am when they were transferring me to the labour ward to break my waters to kick it all off. He stayed with me then until she was born at 7.22pm and then he was allowed up on the ward with me for a bit but went home at 10pm when he knew we were settled and I wanted to sleep lol.

Being induced isn't that bad. I was induced with both my children and both were different experiences. My son was a c section in the end and my daughter a natural delivery. With my son I had every drug going and my daughter it was gas and air and diamorphine. Best advice my midwife gave was to hold out for pain relief until they knew I was established because it can slow everything down which it did with my son and I ended up with a c section for failure to progress. My daughter's labour was just under 9 hours from waters being broken to placenta being delivered. I pushed her out in 17 mins. It was a fab experience for me!

 

[maldives]

Hi hun,,
I was induced with my baby and I reaaaaaaaly hope ur read my post before monday LOL.
ok first thing expect not to get any sleep day before as you would be too nervous and excited as you know ur having ur baby that day LOL.

day before don't eat anything fatty or has any kind of spices or strong taste. I had penne arabiatta and while i was induced i felt it all come back in my mouth and felt like all the time so be careful and don't eat alot the day of induction and don't expect to eat anything till u give birth!

Induction brings really severe contractions all in a sudden. u won't feel it immediately once the gel is inserted. it might come few hours later but you should keep an open mind about epidural! I wouldn't have survived without it!

well I guess thats all i can say about it. it's nice and exciting but also painful as for the contractions but as i took epi i was fine!

also keep in mind that some cases end up as c-section as they don't dilate fully but normally you should.

best wishes and GOOOOD LUCK