July 2011 Moms

Induced mamas... help? Please?

I hardly ever post on this board... getting anything lengthy out is hard with a toddler! :D

But... I am a little bit terrified, and I don't know what to do! With DS, I went into labor at 40+3 and he was born the morning of 40+4. I took Bradley classes and planned a med-free birth. I did what I was supposed to, got to the hospital at 5-6 cm, was at 8 cm two hours later... aaaaaand then stalled at 9 cm. For 8 hours. I got the epidural around hour 6 of that disaster, when they started talking c-section and I got scared the anesthesiologist would have to rush if I waited and something worse happened. Turned out DS was stuck because he had his arm wedged beside his head, which is how he eventually came out. Lots of stitches, yadda yadda. Anyway... worst experience OF. MY. LIFE. Honestly. It resulted in my perfect DS and I still feel that way.

Long story (kind of) short, the reason we went Bradley is because I have a phobia of needles. Not a fear, a genuine "I'm in therapy and we talk about this" problem with needles. I can't get a flu shot without anxiety meds. This time around, I planned to try med free again. Objectively speaking, I had a GREAT experience with the epi- no joke, rationally, I know it was totally fine and 1000x better than laboring without. Couldn't feel it going in at all, worked just right the first time. No side/after effects. But I'm still irrationally terrified of getting the f-ing thing again. Bradley classes, incidentally, not helpful with that. :/

Here's my ?: My induction date is Tuesday at 41w. I am 40+3. DD is measuring big, which she has been all along and I can definitely -feel- compared to my DS (who was a respectable 8 lbs. 3 ozs.) Head is 90th%. At my last appt. (40w) I was 2-3 cm, 70-80%, and -2. I am so, so, SO scared to be induced. I honestly think it's keeping me from going into labor on my own. Dr. says the plan would be to break my water if I'm scared of the meds since I'm progressed enough for that to work, but then I have 24 hours before it's a c-section. Labor with DS was 30, but my water didn't break until right before he came out. So what is being induced like? Is it horrible? Anyone labor naturally with the first, and induce with the second? Help! Please! I wish it were contrax keeping me up and not anxiety :P

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Re: Induced mamas... help? Please?

  • I was scared of induction, and ended up being induced at 41 weeks.  I had a fairly easy induction.  It started off with pitocin, which they steadily increased.

    I checked in at 6:30 AM.  Pitocin started at 7.  I didn't feel much pain until 11:30AM.  I got the epidural at 1:00PM.  My water broke around this time.  I was ready to push at 2 PM.  I had 3 push sessions with a nurse, then spent the rest of the time waiting for the doctor.  Then, when the doctor came, I had three push sessions, and she was born at 3:05 PM.  I'm a first time mom, so I was surprised at how short it was.

    Now, obviously, induction doesn't always turn out like this, and I was fairly lucky.  I just wanted to show you that induction doesn't always turn out badly.

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    DD born 07/2011 DD due 11/18/2013
  • Maybe you could ask your doctor about cytotec instead?  A few girls on here have had success with it and it's pretty widely used.  Its just a little pill that gets put up by your cervix that ripens it and causes contractions.  Most of the time pitocin by IV isnt even needed.  Just a thought.
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  • Thank you for sharing your experience :)

    Something like that, I think I could handle. I guess I'm just more scared of the unknown than I am of what I've already been through, even though it was awful. For as many "horror stories" I've read online/in birthing books about induction, I have yet to meet (IRL or "personally" on the internet) someone who had a truly negative experience with induction.

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  • I asked, but he said he wouldn't use that since I'm already very soft and well effaced? Maybe if I asked to try as a "last ditch" to jump start things...
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  • are you mixing up cervidil (the ripening gel) with cytotec (the pill that gets put inside)?  
  • I went into labor naturally with DS 3 days early and this time I was induced 10 days late. I had some bleeding like my bloody show when I got to the hospital though so I think things were starting to kick up on their own. I got pitocin at 8 and the contrax were different than natural ones, much closer together. Since I planned to get an epi anyways I didn't wait very long (and the pain stepped up quicker). I was prepared for a long labor but from start to baby it was 6 hours with 15 min of pushing so not bad at all! I guess it's true the 2nd is usually easier
  • Being induced was a piece of cake for me. I got cervadil to ripen my cervix, and just hung out watching movies and hanging out on the Internet while that did it's job. Pitocin was started at 4 cm, and I elected to have the epi at the same time. I never really felt any painful contractions. That's backfiring on me this time, because I don't even know if I'll recognize what a contraction feels like as a second time mom. I have to confess, U I howled like a baby when they were placing that epi. I have a needle phobia too, ,but I was more afraid of the pain of labor than the needle. I suspect I'll make a fool of myself this time too.
  • I had a psuedo induction and it turned out really well. I was 80%, 0 station, 3 cm at my appointment the day before my induction. I ended up going into labor at 2am on Wed (induction scheduled for 7am that day) but my doctor still ruptured my membrane to make sure things didn't take too long. Contractions were still completely managable without pain meds. I did have a ridiculously long push session of 2 hours because DD was sunnyside up though. Owwy.
  • My third Induction was Thursday. It was great and easy! I've always had really good inductions. The painful i-wanna-die contractions lasted longer with the one that wasn't induced. My natural labor without induction was my first one. I am very scared of needles. But always got epidurals because the pain of labor always scared me worse.
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