Induction method advice?

TofuMama7 · February 2011

Due to LO being 11 days overdue and low amniotic fluid levels my doctor and I decided an induction tomorrow is the best plan. I had been hoping to have as few interventions as possible, but obviously his safety is my #1 priority.

I'm already 4 cm dilated and my cervix is very soft so my doctor says the induction has a good chance of being successful. I asked her about breaking my water first (to hopefully avoid pitocin) and she said she would be fine with that. She sent DH and I home to talk it over and we'll let her know tomorrow morning what our decision is (start with pit or start with breaking water). We've been reading up on both and there seem to be pluses and minuses to each method. (pitocin contractions can be more intense for me and the baby, but leaving the water bag intact helps combat infection and also cushions the baby...)

Do any of you have ideas/input/experiences that could help with the decision? TIA!

Lilleybug · February 2011

I had both. First they broke my water and then started the pit. Unfortunately, I was only going into my induction at 1cm and my body was not having it. The pit didnt work for me right away. They broke my water, started pit, and it took me 23 hours to dilate to 5-6cm. Due to me being in labor so long (27 1/2 hours total start of induction to finish) my LO caught an infection and has spent 10 days in the nicu (coming home tomorrow). Since you are farther along than I am, starting at 4cm it may not take as long.

I was also allergic to the pit. It made me vomit and made my contractions really painful, so I ended up getting an epidural. After 9 hours of back to back contractions I was only 2 cm! It is hard to say. if they brake your water you could go really fast and not need the pit at all....or it could go really slow and the risk of infection is definitely there. My body however was not ready at all. My doctor stripped my membranes 3 times hoping to move things along to no avail. If it hadn't been for PIH and swelling we would have waited. I had a really hard labor, but that was just me and my body not being ready. For you, it is hard to say because you really cannot predict what will happen. Every person and every delivery is different,

kimski · February 2011

i was 3 cm going into my induction and they started pitocin. After 12 hours with no progress they did my epidural and broke my water. Which started progress along. but still took another 14 hours for our little one to arrive.

StephDK · February 2011

I think 4 cm is a great place to start. I was 3 cm and they inserted cytotec into my cervix to try to dilate me. Didn't work for me. I would have your water broken first and see how you feel, I am sure they will start pitocin as that is pretty common practice. I would recommend an epidural but if you want to push through the contractions, all the power to ya.

I had a c-section b/c my baby had late heart decelerations and his head was transverse...in the end I have a healthy baby.

momranda · February 2011

I was not dilated and only 50% effaced when I was induced with cervidil. I got a half pill, then 4 hours a vaginal suppository that lasted 8 hours and a full dose following that. My labor did last a little while, but my contractions stayed consistent and I never needed pitocin.

Think Positive · February 2011

I was 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant and 2 cm dilated and they broke my water at 8:30am and started pitocin at 9:00am...I didn't think contractions were bad at all and they were coming every 2 minutes. They didn't turn up my pitocin unless the contractions started to space out. I was afraid they would keep cranking it up all day but that was silly...they know what they are doing are only increase your dose if its neccessary:) I got the epidural sometime in the afternoon and had my baby at 9:30 that night after 1 hour and 20 minutes of pushing.

I had heard lots of terrifying induction stories on here and I was soooooo surprised at how great my experience was. I think people mostly share the bad stories....cause people are induced everyday and it goes just fine.

Good Luck!

RumbleLina · February 2011

I was only 1cm 50% effaced so I had to have cervadil which actually jump started things for me the second they put it in. They broke my water once I was up to 3cm, 11am, and by 6pm I asked for an epidural because of sheer exhaustion and no progress. When I got the epidural it slowed down my contractions though so I had to get pitocin. All I know is that I could feel some of the contractions from the pitocin through the epidural so they have to be quite the doozies of contractions. I would rather do what I did from breaking my water then pitocin first off.

chardonnay24 · February 2011

I had both. They broke my water and started the Pit right after that. I would have preferred not to have the Pit - it caused me to have stacking contractions with less than 10 seconds between them started around 6 cm. That caused me to have an epi, which I wanted to avoid, which caused all sorts of other problems for us (my heartrate and BP kept dropping, A's heartrate was all over the place, I had to go on oxygen).

If my OB let me choose, I'd have started with just having my water broken and then going to Pit if that didn't work on it's on.

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