Partial Induction?

gaylew5

Hi Ladies,

I see my OBGYN doctor on Thursday afternoon (40+2).  At last week's visit she said that next week would start talking about inducing.  After watching The Business of Being Born, the sequels, and as part of my time in L&D and NICU as a resident (I'm an ER resident who spent a month in each place, so i have had a little exposure), I would like to avoid epidurals and pitocin all together.  And C sections scare me.

Anyways, I have a limited amount of time off, and I've spent the whole week chilling in my house by myself, thinking that I am one week closer to going back to work.  

I was thinking about asking my OB to consider a partial induction.. like maybe cervidiol and a foley bulb, send me home and just see what happens.  Last week i was 2cm and 20% effaced, not sure where i will be at this week.  Does anybody have experience with this "light" version of an induction?  Can I just be sent home afterwards?  If I skip the pitocin is there any chance that these will be effective?  I was thinking about waiting until 40+6 or 41 weeks to start, so there is a chance I may go naturally before this.   Thanks.

dancegurl1118

As far as I understand with the foley, it does not start labor. It manually dilates you to make the cervix more favorable to be induced with pitocin. I have seen probably 2-3 inductions not needing pitocin after the foley , and all were multiparrous women who's membranes had ruptured already. Hoping you go into labor on your own!

Eta: I do not have much experience with cervadil/cytotec as we don't use them for inductions. We strictly do foley then pitocin or only pitocin if the cervix is already favorable.

mrs1374a

Thanks for the mental note of a c section... Mine is in 12 hours... Lol

klkonwi

Yeah... That was a little harsh for our fellow c section moms!
We do cytotec frequently for inductions. We never allow anyone to go home with a foley bulb.
You would need to be monitored in l and d for a very long time after cytotec. We only allow ppl to go home if their cytotec / cervical ripening is absolutely not working and we can consider it a failed induction. Cytotec induces a few contractions as well.
I would say your not going to be allowed to go home unless you've been there forever and it's deemed failed.

klkonwi

I suppose it depends on your doc.
Any med they give you and send you home with is a risk.

gaylew5

Thanks for the responses so far. Sorry for the c section description, will edit it when i am on my laptop.

rpazzaam

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rpazzaam

Give yourself a bit more time, remember due dates are just estimates and can be off. Give yourself that two weeks before you try anything you may regret. You can ALWAYS OPT OUT and choose to wait a few more days. The baby will come eventually. I have the same concerns about cervidil and inductions. Maybe just have them sweep your membranes first and see what happens after that. Try some evening primrose oil. Take each step before medicine induction if you can. Use c section as a final resort if natural methods aren't responsive.

gaylew5

@rpazzam, i wholeheartedly agree with your philosophy.  it's just hard to know that half of my maternity leave would be spent pregnant. =(   such is the life of a resident.

rpazzaam

I understand. I am of the thought that I don't want that kind of regret if things go diff then expected with induction, so I would rather take it a few more days.

I was 42+3 with my son 3 years ago when I was given a half dose of cytotech,.I was already contracting so it just kinda helped things along. I arrived at 10am and gave birth around 4pm. It went well it was a natural labor.

iamthewalrus2

Good question! I'm looking at a probable induction as well, they're going to start me off with cytotec the night before and I'm hoping if it comes to it that maybe that alone could get things going or maybe minimize the need for pitocin to a very small amount.

btm013

If you really want to go natural then wait a few more days. Once they started my pitocin I lasted 8 hours on it before I needed an epidural. The contractions were much stronger. I also ended up needing a csection. I don't think it was bc of the epidural though. My son wouldn't descend and I never progressed more than 4cm. Mind you I went in at 2cm and spent a total of 17hrs in labor. By the time I got the epidural I was at 3cm. I know csections sound scary but you get through it! That wasn't the birth I envisioned but such is life! All will be well.