Mums who were induced....

[mandspice]

I'm booked in first thing Monday and a little nervous.

I'd love to hear your experiences.....

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
How long did it take for contractions to start?
Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
What pain relief did you have?
How long was total labour time?
How long were you in hospital for in total?

Thank you, I'd love to hear any other tips / experiences you have! xx

 

[SarahH]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am) - I was told to go in for 3pm and had my first lot at 4pm
Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it? Pretty much, they hooked up a monitor to my tummy to hear the baby's heartbeat and came back every so often to check on me.
How long did it take for contractions to start? Hehe, they didnt with the gel... I ended up getting the drip and as soon as that was in I was off - I think I had 4 shots of the gel
What pain relief did you have? Gas and Air made me sick, so I had 2 shots of the morphine stuff over the duration of the labour
How long was total labour time? Errrmm... I went in on the Thurs, and nothing happend until the drip which was put in at friday at about 1.30pm and then Arianna was born at 2.32am on the Sat morning.
How long were you in hospital for in total? Thurs at 3pm til Sunday 2pm, could have gone within 6hrs as I had no stitches, but there were no docs avail to examine me to let me go sooner as the hospital was really busy

 

[daftscotslass]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)

I was told to be in at 8am and wasn't started until 2pm. There were lots of emergency sections.

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?

Pretty much here as well! I was on the monitor for an hour a time and they only really came in to check that and take me off it only to put me back on it an hour or so later each time.

How long did it take for contractions to start?

I only had mild contractions with the gel so was started on the drip at 2am (so 12 hours after the gel). Like Sarah said normally they'd give you a couple of tries on the gel first but as my waters had gone they went straight to the drip when the prostin didn't work.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?

n/a

What pain relief did you have?

Asked for an epidural, they couldn't site it and anaesthetist gave up. In the end I just used G&A. Had the TENS on for a bit too but it didn't really do much for me except distract a bit.

How long was total labour time?

My waters went 2am Friday morning and she was born Sunday 1.17pm. "Officially" I was only in established labour from about 4am Sunday so about 9 hours.

How long were you in hospital for in total?

5 days - I got out on the Wednesday. This was because of complications following the failed epidural attempt.

My biggest tip really is don't be a hero with pain relief - have what you think you need. If you think you need an epidural INSIST on it - I was talked out of it repeatedly and they ended up having to do it when I was having long contractions every 90 seconds so it was nigh on impossible to stay still which resulted in them not being able to get it in. Mine wasn't the nicest story but in the end I was quite proud of myself for doing it on just G&A! Two of my friends were also induced and their labours were pretty straightforward.

 

[Misslarue]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am) I was already on the ward due to my water breaking 4 weeks early. They took me down at about 7am as I was having mild/strongish cotractions

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it? I was IV induced straightaway, no gel. They hooked me up and called OH. Baby was montoried constantly, I wasn't allowed to get up and had to use a bed pan.

How long did it take for contractions to start? Pretty much straightaway. With IV they 'up' your contractions in regular intervals.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
No comparison as Dan is my first. I won't lied to you though, it was pain so excruciating. I actually can't believe I'm planning on doing it again!

What pain relief did you have? Gas and air, which was great Pethedine which was awful and then about 14 hours in, an epidural. In the end Dans heart rate had fallen so I was prepped for a C-section, but luckily when we got down to theatre he was born with the help of forceps and an episiotomy.

How long was total labour time? 18 hours

How long were you in hospital for in total? A week, but that was because Dan was 4 weeks prem and had low blood sugar and jaudince.

 

[Misslarue]

My biggest tip really is don't be a hero with pain relief - have what you think you need. If you think you need an epidural INSIST on it

I agree with this so much. I waited 14 hours to have mine as through my pethadine induced haze I felt like I had failed. I wanted a natural birth and felt I'd given in by having an epidural. The fact that being induced meant I wasn't having a 'natural' labour anyway, had completely escaped me. Next time I will not hold out for an epidural if I really need it

 

[elaine22]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am) - I went in at 8am, they checked bp and urine straightaway, then left me on the monitor for a while, and finally inserted the pessary at about 9.30
Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it? Yes, they inserted it and then left me to relax. I think they internally check you every 6 hours, with some time on the monitor in between.
How long did it take for contractions to start? I had irregular contractions fairly soon after the pessary was inserted, but they didn't become strong and regular until my waters were broken and I was put on a drip at 3.30pm
What pain relief did you have? Just gas and air as labour progressed too quickly for me to have anything else.
How long was total labour time? from waters breaking to baby arriving was 3 hours.
How long were you in hospital for in total? I was discharged the next day at about 1pm

 

[Xena]

Pregnancy number 1

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital?
I had to be there earlyish, I forget what time it was about 10am or so, and they started with the gel at around 2pm

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
Every so often you get monitored - they put this band thing around your stomach and it monitors the baby's heartbeat and also it monitors 'tummy tightenings' (contractions).
They leave it on for about half an hour, so you have to stay in bed that time, and then they take it off and you get left alone for a while. Then a bit later you have it on again, and then it comes off, and then on again etc.

How long did it take for contractions to start?
Contractions started straight away after the gel was inserted, but they would come, and then die down until they disappeared. It was really annoying. They'd get all excited going 'OOH you're contracting really well' and then a few hours later it would be like "erm you stopped contracting!" It happened several times. And I wasn't dilated at all, so they had to give me more gel 3 more times over the next 2 days before FINALLY I was dilated a TINY bit so that my waters could be broken, and then I was put on the drip to keep my contractions going.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
sorry I dunno I've had two inductions

What pain relief did you have?
gas and air, and pethidine, and epidural

How long was total labour time?
from the start of induction it was 3 days 18 hours, 35 minutes
(from when my waters were broken it was about 13 hours)

How long were you in hospital for in total?
5 and a half days (most of that was before the baby was born though!)


Pregnancy number 2

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
This time I was there at around 11am and the gel was inserted at about 12 or 1pm

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
same set up as first pregnancy - I was monitored on and off

How long did it take for contractions to start?
Contractions started straight away after the gel was inserted, then died down overnight. So the next morning they gave me a sweep (I'd already had one sweep at 41 weeks - prior to being induced) to see if that would help, and that did indeed set labour off properly

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
again sorry I'm no help here

What pain relief did you have?
gas and air, and epidural

How long was total labour time?
from the start of induction it was 1 day and around 10 hours
(from my sweep which set labour off properly it was around 12 hours)

How long were you in hospital for in total?
2 and a half days

 

[greendayrock]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am) They told me to be there at 9pm at night then got a phone call to come at 6am the next day

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it? I was given one dose of the gel and then monitererd for an hour then examined and intervals till gave birth

How long did it take for contractions to start? They started pretty much straight away,

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
I think the natural labour was more painful as had pain relief with first.

What pain relief did you have? Gas and air, then had pethadine but was given to late and never started working till after tyler was born.

How long was total labour time? 12 hours.

How long were you in hospital for in total? About 24 hrs.

 

[littlepip]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital?
Had to phone the hospital at 7.30am to make sure it was still ok to go in for 8am just in case they were rushed off there feet but it was fine.

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
As soon as i got there they took my bp, urine etc and monitored me for an hour to check baby was ok. The they inserted pessary and let me to it for 6 hours but did monitor baby every so often. then checked me at 4 and at that time i had no pains what so ever. but when they checked me i was to far gone for a pessary so they broke my waters and within 5 minutes of them doing that the pain came thick and fast!

How long did it take for contractions to start?
About 5 minutes.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
Not sure as ryan was my first but it started with full blown contractions and they didnt get worse or better so i would imagine it jsut went into full blown contractions

What pain relief did you have?
I had gas and air and pethidine. Then about 5 hours later they put me on a drip as i was progressing and gave me an epidural which didnt work so used gas and air still. The had section

How long was total labour time?
They section me after 10 hours of labour as i was only 4cms and ryans heart rate kept going down really low

How long were you in hospital for in total?
5 days

 

[maldives]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital?
I was asked to go in at 7 am .. both Dr and midwife were late so we started things at around 8:30

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
After the gel is inserted i had a midwife with me coming and going to check until i was transferred to the delivery room where i had the monitor on and MW was with me all the time.

How long did it take for contractions to start?
hmm can't remember exactly but it took a while at least an hour and a half..though i expected it to start immediately but it didn't..but i was told that every women is different to when and how intense their contractions get.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
It was bareable until the second gel was inserted and waters broke..then it got really intense and thats when i asked for an epidural.

What pain relief did you have?
epidural..i tried gas and air as well but didnt know how to breath through it LOL

How long was total labour time?
9 to 10 hours approx

How long were you in hospital for in total
3 days

 

[happy-chick]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
They monitored me for 30mins then gave me the first prostin pretty much straight away.

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
I was on a monitor for 1 hour after the prostin then I was free to do what i wanted until I was checked 6hrs later.

How long did it take for contractions to start?
About 2hrs.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
Not experienced both sorry.

What pain relief did you have?
Codine, Pethadine, Gas & Air then Epidural

How long was total labour time?
From the start of induction to birth it was around 53hrs. I was induced 1pm on Thurs and gave birth 6:16pm on Saturday.

How long were you in hospital for in total?
I was in hospital for 4 nights. I went in on Thursday afternoon 1pm and was home on Monday at tea time.


Good luck hun, you'll be fine.

 

[purple13]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
i arrived at the hospital at 8pm on monday night. i was put on the monitor after a short wait and left for an hour or so. (i was being induced cos of high blood pressure) they sorted a room out for me and at around 11pm i was given my first prostin

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
yup, i was given the first one, with a sweep. then left to sleep.

How long did it take for contractions to start?
i had a 2nd prostin at 6am on tuesday. then i had a 3rd prostin at 6am on wednesday. i also had 3 more sweeps in this time. at 11am on wednesday they were contemplating sending me home again (not that being in hospital had done anything for my blood pressure ) as, although my cervix was favourable and 2cm dilated, nothing was really happening. i was given one more sweep at midday on wednesday and the midwife managed to break my waters - this finally kicked things off. i was given an hour to see if contractions would start on their own; they didn't, so i was put on syntocinon. at which point they started immediately. the syntocinon levels were doubled every 1/2 hour.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
this was my first baby. from what i've gathered from other people, the contractions i experienced were more intense in that there was no build up - they were every 1.5/2 minutes and lasted for at least a minute. i only really had about 30 secs between each one. after 6 hours of this, i was only 3cm dilated

What pain relief did you have?
i spent the first 6 hours on paracetamol and my tens machine, with g&a after 3 hours. when i found out that i'd only dilated a further 1cm in this time i knew that i couldn't handle it like that any longer (my birth plan had been for as little pain relief as possible ). i had pethidine - which made things worse, then i had an epidural at about 10pm (i'd sworn blind that i wouldn't have either!). i had been forewarned that most people who are induced tend to need/want epidurals - i thought i had a high pain threshold and would be ok without. and maybe i would have been if it hadn't been for that 1cm in 6 hours but it was BLISS when i had it; if i'm induced with any future babies, i don't think i'd hesitate to have an epidural sooner rather than later.

How long was total labour time?
16 hours - but only 25 mins of pushing.

How long were you in hospital for in total?
4 days - 3 days of induction. i had connor at 3.54am on thursday, then persuaded the medical team to let me go home early thursday evening. i should really have stayed in til friday, but i hate hospitals and i'd really had enough by then. i just wanted to be home with my OH and knew i'd recover better there.

 

[mandspice]

This is really helpful, thanks ladies! I was hoping it'd happen quite quickly but looks like it could take a couple of days so at least I'll be prepared x

 

[JoAnn&Aimee]

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
- My time was for 2pm, arrived at 1.50pm and was taken to my bed straight away.

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?
-It was the tablet I got so I don't know what the procedure for the gel is but once I had my tablet placed I was left to it with a midwife checking my blood pressure and bump every so often.

How long did it take for contractions to start?
-I started getting contractions after an hour but they were very mild. The monitor read them between 20-30. Just felt like bad period cramp.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?
-It was my first so I can't compare.

What pain relief did you have?
-Gas & Air (LOVED IT!!), pethidine and epidural.

How long was total labour time?
-12 hours.

How long were you in hospital for in total?
-4 days.

 

[hanti-boo]

With Nichola i was induced due to waters going with m=no contractions happening after a whole day. But this is what happened to me....

Did you have to wait your turn or do they start things off pretty quickly when you arrive at the hospital? (they've told me to be there at 8am)
i was told to be there for 9am, had the prosten(sp) capsule put in at around 9.30 after i'd been examined and on the monitor.

Do they just insert the gel and leave you to it?they put in the capsule and told me to go for a walk and keep mobile. also ended up on the drip as i wasn't progressing quick enough. i had already been left with my waters broken for 24hgours when i went in to be induced.

How long did it take for contractions to start?i was told any pain i'd get wouldn't be proper contractions but prosten pains. they started around midday. i couldn't stand up or sit down.

Was it painful / more painful than natural labour for those who have experienced both?it wasn't too painful at first but then it got worse. it didn't help that my contractions were 2 mins apart from "start of contractions" til birth.

What pain relief did you have?
i had gas and air then 2 lots of pethedine in my bum. (TMI-sorry)

How long was total labour time?
well i went in at 9am monday 23rd may and had nichola at 4.50am tuesday 24th may morning.

How long were you in hospital for in total?was let home on thursday evening 26th may. i had to be put on observation as my waters had been 'open' for over 48 hours when i had nichola.

hope that helps in some sort of way.