Let's talk induction!

Tawny87

I have my induction set for Friday the 10th and have a few questions for those who have gone through a scheduled induction before.
1: What is the timeframe it took for things to get started between drugs administered to contractions starting? (Obviously everybody's bodies are different)

2: Did you find you wanted a book or craft or something of the like to pass time while things were getting rolling? If so, what items did you use?

3: Any words of wisdom or advice for those of us going into an induction without much happening on the labor front?

rbflei

Ha ha. I have my induction Thursday if I get any wiser with my one day ahead of you believe me I will share.

Jgar2u2

I had an induction with my son. I got a balloon foley induction around 10PM. I was given some meds to help me sleep that night, I believe. (This was 3 years ago so trying my best to remember)  In the early morning (8-9AM?) the balloon broke and my OB broke my water. I think I was 3cm at that point since the balloon fell out. I was able to get an epidural a few hours later when my contractions were too painful. I slept until I was ready to push. Baby was born at 3:36PM. I didn't really want to read or anything. I think I tried to watch some TV but ended up falling asleep and took advantage of my time before baby was born. I knew I wouldn't get a lot of sleep afterwards. I guess my words of wisdom would be to get your rest while you can. It was a long process for me but I did like being able to just know that baby was coming. With my daughter I was not induced and the waiting game was difficult because I'm so impatient. 

Tawny87

Thanks for the info! 

26pointrunningfor2

I go in for mine tomorrow night at 9 pm. Anyone else feeling depressed or not excited? I am pretty disappointed about being induced and feel like it's taking all of the joy and excitement out of having a child. I feel selfish, but it's just really bummed me out that this child birth is basically becoming like a scheduled surgery. 
Hopefully I will feel different tomorrow and get over myself.

rbflei

Honestly, I feel like my induction is a gift. I know when I will have my baby. I have time to finish all my loose ends so I can relax and focus on one thing at a time. Sometimes, I feel like because woman traditionly go on their own and "naturally" it is unfortunately felt as a personal failure if this exact thing does not occur for you too; but it does not change the outcome one bit. I just get the privilege of planning, so all my ducks are in a row. I know I am in the minority, but feeling bad for inducing is like feeling bad for putting in a stint to pass a kidney stone. Some people need a little extra help and thank goodness we can make that happen! I am excited. I have an awesome ob/gyn, an epidural with my name on it, an induction waiting Thursday, and hopefully. I get to meet my healthy little girl soon. Hope you all are excited too for whatever your planned or unplanned childbirth includes.

lisa1625

I was induced on May 23, my water broke and I didn't have any other signs of labour so the midwife and Doctor said I was starting from scratch basically. I started pitocin at 9am on Monday, they took me off at 11pm to give my body a rest and see if it would do anything on its own, started the pitocin back at 6am Tuesday and she was born Wednesday at 7:30am. 

My my induction wasn't planned at all but a craft would have been great! My husband played cards most of Tuesday.

I thought being induced meant I would have fast and furious contractions but I didn't, everyone is different. 

Best at of luck! It's going to be awesome and you get to meet your baby!

RNfromMN

1) 1st induction took over 30 hours. I thought that was insanely long, but was later told that's typical for first time inductions. My other 2 took about 8-12 hours start to finish. 

2) We don't have cable & the hospital did, so that was plenty for us to pass the time. I don't ever remember being bored, but I also can't tell you what we did to pass all that time. Probably just talked about the baby. 

3) I highly recommend not putting off the epidural. Everyone's different, but I really thought I'd be able to go without anything for the pain...not only was that not true for me (like, at all), but with all 3 of my inductions, I never really started to progress until I got my epidural. #2 was actually born < 1/2 hour after getting it. 

Tawny87

Thanks everyone! I'm a VBAC so I'm excited they are willing to do low dose pitocin on me, although it would be nice if my body decides to get it together before Friday. My section last time was an emergency c with twins so I guess this labor will still seem relatively "normal" to me. I am excited for him to get here how ever he comes but at this point sooner is better!!! Good luck to those having your babies this week!

kayla2536

I'm being induced at 41 weeks tomorrow at 7:30am! 

waldropra

They started the pit around 10am and DD made her appearance via cs (after being stuck on my pelvic bone) a little after midnight.

I don't think I would've been able to concentrate on reading a book or anything like that while being induced. I watched a little tv and tried (unsuccessfully) to sleep during mine. 

My advice is to ask them to take it as slow as possible to try to let your body do things as much on its own as it can (it seems like they're already doing this and taking caution with you having a previous cs though). 

best of luck!!!!

Bee112309

I was an induced VBAC with my 2nd daughter. They induced me at 41 weeks exactly; I was not dilated at all when I went in. I got there at 5:30pm on a Monday night, and they placed a Foley balloon overnight to help me dilate. DH brought his laptop and we had Netflix, so we sat and binge-watched TV shows until bedtime, then when I went to pee in the morning, the balloon fell out because I had dilated to between 3 & 4cm. They started me at a low dose of Pitocin around 8am, and I progressed very slowly. I finally opted for the epidural at around 9:30pm, because I was exhausted and tired of being in pain. I dozed for a couple of hours, and woke up a little after midnight with the urge to push, I was between 9 & 10cm. Unfortunately, she had rotated to sunny side up while I was resting, so it took me 3 more hours to push her out. It took about 35 hours from the placement of the Foley until delivery, but I got my VBAC!

If I have to be induced again this time (which I am hoping to avoid, but it is what it is), I will opt for the epidural sooner. I really believe that it allowed my body to relax enough to finally dilate, and allowed me some much-needed rest. Good luck, mama!

MynaBird

Thanks for starting this thread, and thanks to those who are sharing! My OB and I decided yesterday to schedule an induction for my due date, since they don't want baby to go too far past 40 weeks due to his urinary tract issues. I have a feeling baby will come earlier than that (although WTF do I really know? I've only done this once before), but it's great to hear some advice in case I do end up with that induction -- particularly the recommendations about not waiting on the epidural. I would be inclined to hold off as long as possible, but it sounds like that might not be the best course of action in this case. 

HeartLikeMine3

I was induced with my first I went in 0% dilated and 0% effaced. I went in at 8pm at night and the cervaquil was placed all night I slept terrible with all the monitors going off and nurse Checks. The next morning they removed the cervaquil, broke my water and started pitocin. I was all happy and reading magazines visiting with family etc until maybe about noon when my contractions got very intense. I got my Epi around 2pm dilated to a 5. At that point I just wanted to sleep while I was in no pain I took a nap and woke up about 1.5 hrs later in pain because I was at a 10 and ready to push he was born at 530pm. Good luck 

Tawny87

Thanks everyone this has all been really great advice!!!

26pointrunningfor2

I'm headed in for my induction shortly. Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm feeling better about the whole thing now. Good luck to those of you inducing in the next few days-- hope we all have wonderful experiences birthing our little ones! 

little_bren

I went in the night before but the medicine they gave by mouth did nothing and it sucked not sleeping due to being in a hospital bed and uncomfortable. I got pitocin at 7 am, water broke on its own at 830 and DD was born at 2:39. DH and I watched several movies after I had my epidural until it was time to push.