what happens when you are induced?

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

i have been told today i have Obstetric Cholestasis and will be induced aroung 37-38 weeks,what do they actually do and what should i expect please?

 

[daftscotslass]

They will probably examine you and maybe try a membrane sweep if they can. Usually the first actual intervention they give you is a prostin pessary or gel which is supposed to help your cervix thin and dilate. For some people this can kick off contractions but it only started little ones for me. Depending on how long the doctors want you to go on for if the first attempt with this doesn't work they might do it again once or twice. They might also break your waters if you're dilated at all. I think in most places you'll be attached to a monitor or monitored frequently to keep a check on baby's heart rate.

The biggie is the syntocinon drip which brings on contractions. They up the dose gradually but it does bring on big contractions quite suddenly so keep an open mind about pain relief. It's supposed to be more intense than if things started up naturally but I had nothing to compare it to as she was my first. I ended up with just G&A though I'd wanted an epidural.

I think that about covers it but just remember everyone's experience is different

 

[charlotte_]

i went into the hospital in the morning at 8am, and was put on a ward with three other ladies, i was given a sweep and some gel was put in my cervix, then i was left to my own devices for most of the day. my OH was allowed to stay with me, we went for a few walks, watched some telly on the patient line & read magazines, it was pretty boring tbh. if i have any advice, REST!
we were pretty much left to our own devices, apart from a few blood pressure checks, and i had to be on a monitor for an hour or so when the gel was initially inserted. the gel did nothing for me, and i was sent up to the delivery ward at 1am & put on a drip, which the midwife increases reguarly to speed up your contractions, then everything kicked off. you won't be able to move around much once you're on the drip (if it comes to that), you'll be monitored constantly, it was really difficult unplugging me from everything everytime i needed the loo! the contractions were intense & painful, towards the end they were overlapping, be open minded about pain relief, i didn't want anything, but ended up with everything!
give my birth story a read, it might help
i was nervous about it too, and didn't want it to happen, but it's not that bad at all hun, good luck!

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

many thanks both of you for your replies.

it has helped to sort of know what to expect.

i am very open minded about pain relief and have not ruled out anything,i cannot say i have had an actual birth plan as such,its a good job now as i would have to change it.

many thanks again.

has anyone else got an experiences they can share with me please.

 

[Naterjack]

I was induced on the 23rd December, this was my experience

Arrived at hospital at 9:30pm and was taken into induction ward with 3 other women.
I was internally examined and had my first dose of prostin gel which was to help the cervix thin. I was told i couldn't get up / pee for at least an hour to give it a chance to work, so to bed it was for me.

I was examined again 12 hours later at 9:30am on 24th (they usually leave you for 8 hours but labour ward was manic) and given a 2nd dose of prostin gel - a couple of hours later at around lunchtime i was monitored on a CTG machine for bubs HB and contractions. At this point they noticed i had regular contractions starting to show, so they didn't use a further dose of gel, but kept monitoring me - however my cervix still wasn't thinning out

My contractions got worse throughout the day and by 10pm i was in agony i'm afraid and begged for some kind of pain relief and got given pethedine to help me sleep.
Next day they gave me the syntocinon drip to bring on stronger contractions, upping the dose half hourly. My contractions got worse and they gave me an epidural, broke my waters and monitored me in labour ward, however my cervix was dilating far to slowly and by 11pm they decided enough was enough and wheeled me in for an emergency c-section - i was relieved to say the least !!!

The other 3 girls i was with on the induction ward had their babies ok but my labour didn't progress enough for me to have him naturally. So that was my experience of it all - induction CAN bring on strong painful contractions as i had, but it works well for lots of women.

Hope this hasnt worried you but definately think its good to know what to expect if at all possible
Good luck though hun - bubs will be here soon.

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thanks naterjack,and congrats on your xmas baby
its strange as i dont feel scared anymore about labour,i just want to get on with it so i know my bubs is okay,this condition (OC) scares me so much

thanks again for your story,it helps to know what to expect.

 

[charlotte_]

The other 3 girls i was with on the induction ward had their babies ok but my labour didn't progress enough for me to have him naturally.

when i was induced the other three girls delivered after their first lot of gel, and i remember saying to my OH 'statistically, one of us will end up having a c-section & i bet it's me!'

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

The other 3 girls i was with on the induction ward had their babies ok but my labour didn't progress enough for me to have him naturally.

when i was induced the other three girls delivered after their first lot of gel, and i remember saying to my OH 'statistically, one of us will end up having a c-section & i bet it's me!'

grrr!
that will probably be my luck too!

 

[avaandnevesmum]

Hi, thought i would reply cos i was induced first pregnancy then saw u have cholestasis-i had this both times with my pregnancies and delivered healthy girls at 38 weeks each time. Its a scary condition because of the stories u can read online and the awful mention of stillbirth. Please try not to worry too much, do u know what ur liver levels are? My alt went to 250 and my babies had to suffer me getting it early than usual at 9 wks! I had liver scans, bloods twice a wk and was monitored constantly. The main thing is to push for early induction around 37 wks, that is where risk comes in. My doc went on holiday and the new doc wanted me to go to 40 wks i had to really push-in fact i said i would sue if anything happened to my baby and they didnt like that! Ur baby will be fine, and ur liver will completely recover. My birth story is on forum for Neve 4th august. Any questions feel free to ask x

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

Hi, thought i would reply cos i was induced first pregnancy then saw u have cholestasis-i had this both times with my pregnancies and delivered healthy girls at 38 weeks each time. Its a scary condition because of the stories u can read online and the awful mention of stillbirth. Please try not to worry too much, do u know what ur liver levels are? My alt went to 250 and my babies had to suffer me getting it early than usual at 9 wks! I had liver scans, bloods twice a wk and was monitored constantly. The main thing is to push for early induction around 37 wks, that is where risk comes in. My doc went on holiday and the new doc wanted me to go to 40 wks i had to really push-in fact i said i would sue if anything happened to my baby and they didnt like that! Ur baby will be fine, and ur liver will completely recover. My birth story is on forum for Neve 4th august. Any questions feel free to ask x

many many thanks for your reply and reassurance,im so sorry you have had to go through OC aswell.

wow you got it so early! its a reassurance to see your 2 LO's were okay though.

i only got diagnosed yesterday so am going to ask next time at my appt what my levels are,im sure she told me but it all seemed to be a bit of a blur as i was so tired from lack of sleep from the itching and im so emotionally drained with it all. (worrying myself)

i am definatley going to press for the induction at 37 weeks,its scary to think they wanted you to go to 40 weeks.

thanks again for the reply,i'm going to read your birth story now

 

[xmcnickyx]

I was induced at 38 weeks due to gestational diabetes. I went in at 7pm on the 17th November, had a dose of the gel inserted and was monitored for a while to check the babys heartrate and to check on any contractions. I had another dose of gel 6 hours later and again was monitored for a little while to check everything was ok before they left me to rest.

Morning of the 18th they examined me and I was almost 1cm dilated so they broke my waters at around 10am and put me on the drip to start of contractions. Within about half an hour of being put on the drip I was getting contractions every minute. They weren't especially strong but went on too long. When they next examined me 4 hours later, I was 2cms dilated and asked for an epidural.

My epidural didn't work so well so had to have it re-sited twice. Once it finally worked I just watched the contractions on the monitor as they increased the drip. After about 8 hours I'd not dilated any further so I was having a lot of contractions but they weren't doing much, the epidural had worn off and Molly was back to back so it all got pretty painful again!

Around 10pm I was still 2cms then by 2am I'd gotten to 4-5cms. Then it all went a bit wrong and Mollys heartrate dropped below 50bpm twice so I was whisked off for a c-section. By the time I got to theatre at around 4am I was 8cms.

So it took a while to get going but once I did, it seemed to progress pretty quick. Like others have said, keep an open mind about pain relief. Once I knew I was being induced, I'd pretty much decided to not even bother with gas and air. I breathed through the contractions for about 6 hours and then had the epidural(s)! They weren't incredibly painful one by one but because they were non-stop it was difficult to deal with.

Sorry about the essay! Hope that helps. Check with your midwife or consultant what the procedure is in your hospital though as it can vary.

 

[nori]

Hiya hun,

Well i was induced but i was already having contractions. I was given the drip to speed things up and get my contractions closer together and stronger (Ollie had passed mechonium so they didnt want to leave it to progress naturally) I was pretty out of it on gas and air but i remember them increasing it every so often and me asking whether the pain was as bad as it would get and they said i'd had the last lot so wouldnt be having anymore. I had been in labour for hours and hours so decided to have some pethedine (was dead set against pethedine or an epidural but my whole birth plan had gone out the window at this point) The pethidine helped no end but i was pretty spaced out like i was drunk.

Well a few more hours later ( cant remember how many as its a bit blurry) i was still only 4cm dilated so had to be whisked off for a c section as id been in labour over 20 hours. "Failure to progress" was written on my notes.

I have to admit the pain of the actual labour was not half as bad as i thought it would be. My advice is to concentrate on your breathing and just "go with the pain rather than fight it" Thats what my mum advised me to do and it helped (even though i ended up with a bloody c-section!)

Good luck,

Claire x

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thanks xmcnickyx and claire for your replies,it helps to sort of know what to expect,i just want to get it over with now.