Were you induced?

[FlyingDumbo]

Ummmm ... wait a minute. YOU asked for personal stories from people and they shared not only what happened when they were induced but also why they were induced. But YOUR reasons for inducung labor are private, double-secret with just you and your OB and "nonayabusiness" for the rest of us. Nice.

If your doctor has a good medical reason for inducing labor then you have it done . It really doesn't matter what everyone else's experiences are. Everyone's labor is different.

I am still processing all of my personal information and weighing all the factors. And I think a lot of times it is easier to look back and say this is what happened and this is what I wish was different. It is scary when you are facing it.

And again, you don't have to share if you don't feel the need. I appreciate those that have been able to share with me. After the fact I will probably do the same. But the issue at hand for me was that here on these boards there is always someone that comes along in each thread to be "that guy" the one to be rude about you asking a question about "insert topic here" on a message board, when they in fact, are on the same message board. I found that post offensive. Might be the way I read it, might be the way they intended it. Either way, carry on.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

I was induced with both babies--one the due date was off, one was no longer growing in utero. Contractions are rough with pitocin--strong and powerful. I got an epidural at 4-5 cm with both (wasn't dilated at all before going to the hospital) and was dilated to 10 in under 2 hours after the epidural. I pushed for less than 5 minutes with both. Start to finish was about 7 hours.

Btw--high tech ultrasounds are pretty good now. DS was measured a few days before I was induced. His birth weight was within a couple of ounces.

I

I was told that with the 4d ultrasound the margin of error is about 1/2 lb in either direction. They are more accurate now I guess than in the past.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I was told that with the 4d ultrasound the margin of error is about 1/2 lb in either direction. They are more accurate now I guess than in the past.

I don't know if what I had was 3d or 4d but it wasn't the "old fashioned" kind. Radiologist said my son was 10 lbs 12 oz. He was born 2 days later, 8 lbs 15 oz.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

I don't know if what I had was 3d or 4d but it wasn't the "old fashioned" kind. Radiologist said my son was 10 lbs 12 oz. He was born 2 days later, 8 lbs 15 oz.

That is a pretty big margin off there!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

That is a pretty big margin off there!

Yep. I just wrote the story over on the thread asking about amniotic fluid. My midwife told me from the beginning I had a lot of fluid, but not so much she was worried about anything. I had that ultrasound at 41 weeks 4 days and the radiologist tried to admit me right there for a c-section but I refused. He was born 2 days later, no induction.

 

[robinb]

I am still processing all of my personal information and weighing all the factors. And I think a lot of times it is easier to look back and say this is what happened and this is what I wish was different. It is scary when you are facing it.

OK, fair enough . Labor is scary and I think the more educated you are the better off you are.

And again, you don't have to share if you don't feel the need. I appreciate those that have been able to share with me. After the fact I will probably do the same. But the issue at hand for me was that here on these boards there is always someone that comes along in each thread to be "that guy" the one to be rude about you asking a question about "insert topic here" on a message board, when they in fact, are on the same message board. I found that post offensive. Might be the way I read it, might be the way they intended it. Either way, carry on.

I don't think that any of are really interested in why your OB thinks you should be induced but it just struck me as ... snarky ... to accept everyone else's stories and then tell us that your reasons are private. FWIW, while I think that jodifla's comment was a little blunt I don't think it was meant to be insulting. If there is a medical need according to your doctor, then do it. No number of anecdotal stories will change whether it should be done or not. And in her defense, it did seem that you were confused about the necessity of the proceedure. I wish you a smooth delivery no matter what you decide.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I was told that with the 4d ultrasound the margin of error is about 1/2 lb in either direction. They are more accurate now I guess than in the past.

Take what they claim with a grain of salt. My last one was determined to be just under 5lbs at 4 different ultrasounds by 4 different people right up until the morning of delivery. I was 4 weeks early @ the induction. The baby was almost 8lbs!

 

[FlyingDumbo]

Take what they claim with a grain of salt. My last one was determined to be just under 5lbs at 4 different ultrasounds by 4 different people right up until the morning of delivery. I was 4 weeks early @ the induction. The baby was almost 8lbs!

 

[HelenePA]

I guess all 4 of mine were pretty much elective inductions... my first might have been a little medical (she had a known congenital heart defect and was already 5 days late when induced my bp was going up I had been having non stress tests every 3 days since 33 weeks, no joke! Plus dr apts every 2 days, ultrasounds every week.. I was BEYOND done. So many hours spent in a car driving to Hershey.. SO SO DONE!!) Anyway... first induction was about 7-8 hours long. easy... peasy.. told my dh I would do it again right after delivery.. I did have an epidural for her. She was very tiny 6.8 but we knew she would be smaller

2nd born at 40w6d already at 6cm with no labor in sight... they broke my water, loaded me up with pitocin and 2 hours later and one epidural later she was born with 2 pushes at 7.8

3rd (and what I thought would be my last haha!) 39w5d they broke my water, pitocin, and he was born 2 hours later with 3 pushes. 8.6 no epidural

4th (surprise!) he would have been my biggest baby if I went to term or closer to term... 38w6d broke my water, loaded me up with pitocin and 2 hours later he was born with one push 8.5.5 I begged for them to induce me.. it was a terrible pregnancy. I was having gall bladder attacks everyday and they sucked big time along with restless legs.. it was horrible!!

 

[NYEmomma]

I wouldn't trust an ultrasound for baby's weight, no matter whether it's 2D, 3D, 4D or 10D! I haven't heard of a single person who was told a weight and had it actually be somewhat accurate at birth -- especially when they're being induced for said reasons.

I was induced with me 11 month old twins. I was very afraid of an induction because I didn't want a stalled labor and c-section. I was adamant about avoiding a c/s at all costs and felt like an induction was pretty much setting me up for one. But I had been 4cm since 34 weeks and at 39 weeks nothing was happening yet. Except that I had SPD so bad that I couldn't walk. I was so enormous that I could breathe, couldn't sleep... I remember just crying and crying and crying, begging the girls to come out because I couldn't stand another minute of the pain. So my doctors decided induction would be best for my health. They said that for twins, there's not enough additional growth between 39 & 40 weeks to warrant putting the mother through the pain of another week pregnant.

They started the pitocin on me at 9 a.m., I had BH ctx to start, but eventually got actual ctx and had my epidural placed at 1 p.m. By 3 p.m., I had only dilated 1 additional centimeter (to 5cm) but by 4 p.m., I was complete. I pushed 3 or 4 times with Baby A and she was delivered by vacuum at 4:51 because of some bad decels. Baby B I pushed 2 times and she came out without an assistance 14 minutes after her sister.

All in all, I'd say my induction was a great experience, despite my fears. Looking back on it though, I wish I would have toughed it out another few days to say I made it to my due date with twins!

(btw -- Baby B was 7lb 10oz... my last u/s with them, they were both said to be around 6.5lb. My Baby A was, but B definitely was NOT)

 

[jodifla]

I am still processing all of my personal information and weighing all the factors. And I think a lot of times it is easier to look back and say this is what happened and this is what I wish was different. It is scary when you are facing it.

And again, you don't have to share if you don't feel the need. I appreciate those that have been able to share with me. After the fact I will probably do the same. But the issue at hand for me was that here on these boards there is always someone that comes along in each thread to be "that guy" the one to be rude about you asking a question about "insert topic here" on a message board, when they in fact, are on the same message board. I found that post offensive. Might be the way I read it, might be the way they intended it. Either way, carry on.

I didn't mean it to be offensive. I meant it sincerely. Especially since some posters were insinuating the doctor just was doing it for his own convenience.

There are a million variables in labor. I hope you have a doctor you really trust and can rely on. Yes, you should get different points of view, but if my doctor wanted to induce, I'd weigh it carefully.

In my case, my water broke, so the baby needed to be born within 24 hours. I didn't even feel the pitocin.

 

[HelenePA]

I was induced with my DS a day before my due date because they deemed him as failure to thrive. He weighed 7lbs 3oz. I was at the hospital at 7am & the two worst things about it was the mandatory enema & they waited too long to give my epidural. I dilated from 5 to 10 in 30 minutes & he was born at 11:59am. But, I was quick with all three of my kids. My last labor was only 2.5 hours.

I do not think they are mandatory anymore.. I've NEVER had one

 

[Colleen27]

I was induced with my last. My blood sugar was borderline, literally within a point or two of meeting the clinical criteria for gestational diabetes, and a late ultrasound gave my doctor reason to worry about DD possibly being too big. I was worried about that too, and about getting to the hospital because with my second labor was all of 2 hours start to finish and we live an hour from anywhere. So I reluctantly agreed to the induction. It was by far the most painful labor experience of my three, bad enough that I was asking for an epidural which is really saying something because I'm so phobic about needles that I can barely handle having blood taken, but labor was so fast that there was no time for the epi anyway. I think the reason pitocin gets such a bad rap is that you go from nothing to agony seemingly in minutes... I went from 2cm to holding my baby in about an hour's time once the contractions started.

The punchline? After all that worry about an u/s estimate that put DD at over 8lbs at 37 weeks, she was born at 39 weeks weighing a whopping 6lbs, 15oz - the smallest of my three kids by a full pound!

 

[pigletgirl]

Yes. It was very scary in the end. If you want details pm me.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I was induced with both kids.

#1- my water broke at 38 weeks at 8:00 am. I spent several hours at home with little, weak contractions before going in around 12:00. I walked the halls till 4:00, with nothing going, so I got started on Pitocin. It was rough. I had an epidural in the late evening at around 4 cm and delivered easily at 4:00 am. DD was 7 pounds, but she and I both had a beta strep infection due to my water having been broken so long. That was not fun for either of us! The induction would've been smoother if I had been more dilated/effaced, but since my water broke on its own, there was nothing else to do.

#2- induced with Pitocin at 38 weeks due to DS being large (and my pelvis is very small). This time I was already at 3 cm and 100% effaced. The Pitocin worked and once I got to about 5 cm it was turned off. Labor was so much easier without it! I won't lie. I did spend 4 hours at 9 cm (Pitocin turned back on then), only to deliver via c-section because DS was just stuck- he was 8 lb 10 oz!

 

[Sydnie]

I was induced with my first son because I had severe pre-eclampsia.

Honestly it was a breeze. I was already 3cm dilated when the induction started at 3 in the afternoon and he was born just before midnight. The contractions are very strong if you have Pitocin, but it's nothing a little epidural can't fix

My next two came on their own, and while I did slightly prefer my natural labors I wouldn't hesitate to be induced again if I were overdue or there were another medical indication for it.

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I was induced because my water broke before my labor started. They had a really hard time getting my labor going. I was induced at 5 am on a Monday and my son was born at 3:10 on a Tuesday. I was lucky to have a patient dr. Because I really didn't want a c-section. My nurse said a lot of dr's would not have waited that long. Once things got going it was pretty standard. Monday night was really hard, and by the time baby came I was REALLY hungry and extra sleep deprived. I don't think the labor was anymore painful just extra long.

 

[Aladora]

I was induced. My water had broken 24 hours before and I never progressed past 1 cm.

To be very blunt, it was a terrible experience. I went from 1 to 10 cm in less than two hours and the pain was so intense that I actually lost half an hour of my life. I have a period of time that I have absolutely no memory of. I had an epidural but I don't remember either asking nor getting it. I looked up at one point and saw a new doctor in my room. I said hello to him and it turned out that he had just put my epi in and he had been in the room for at least 20 minutes.

I do remember asking for a csection at one point. Okay, maybe I was begging.

There are many reasons that I only have one child and my labour and delivery is one of them. Because of having breast cancer, I can't have another baby but if life had been different and I was able to have another one, I would push VERY hard for a c-section.

 

[staley7580]

Ive been induced 3 times.. and all three times its been fine. Ive had 4 big healthy babies, and my labors were short. Sure it hurts like a mug.... But your pushing a baby out. Is gonna hurt. In the end, you have a baby... as long as baby is healthy, that's all that matters!

 

[DragonMomma]

Okee dokey, I guess I'm probably going to be one of the worst case scenarios.

It was determined that I was going to have to be induced because I, too, was pre-eclampsia. My son's father wasn't going to be there in time as he lived in a different state, so I did get the doctor to approve pushing it back a day for his arrival. I don't know how much wiggle room she really would have allowed, but there it is.

I wasn't very responsive to the drugs that get you to dialate, ectera. They literally tried it for THREE days before it really kicked it. In the morning they would hook me up, insert, and I would wait, wait, wait. Worst part was no food or water until around 6pm, when they would 'give up' each day, unhook me, remove the insert..and let me eat! Hospital food never tasted so good. Oh, and the changing of the guards (nurses) sucked. I'm a pretty private person. Nothing like meeting a new nurse with each shift and immediately having them check your progress. That's a fine how-da-ya-do to adjust to!

Day three, in the late afternoon (I can't tell you what time, because it was just a BLUR) I started to dialate. FAST. And they suggested walking and using my exercise ball thingamajig. WOO! Those contractions came on hard and fast while I was halfway down the hall! I can't even recall when they broke my water, I just remember them doing it.

I was SUPER lucky with my epidural. Could. Not. Feel. A. Thing. I couldn't tell when to push except for their coaching me verbally when it was time. I couldn't even tell if I WAS pushing. So they started to turn down the epidural and WOWEE, I wailed like a banshee for them to turn that sh!t back up! LOL! They ended up having to do the plunger method on my son. I don't recall the medical terminology for the tool or process, but if you go to birthing classes, you get what I mean. Poor kiddo had a bruise on his little noggin.

He had a little bit of a cone head and a bruise, but that went away pretty fast with sun exposure daily. I'd say within a week.

It wasn't a horrific experience, but definitely dramatic. Totally surreal memory, looking back.