BTDT Moms: The Pitocin Effect

MrsMVM · August 2011

Today's poll on inductions got me thinking about some stuff that I learned in birthing class on Sunday and that DH and I have been wondering about.

If you had pitocin, tell me about it- did you have effects? Did the baby? Did you like it? Would you do it again?

I'm all ears. And belly. All ears and belly. TIA!

corinneandalex's1st · August 2011

I went into labor naturally, but about 18 hours into my 34 hours of full blown labor I received pit to carry me along, at some point it was shut off, not sure when. It helped my contractions stay regular and it also kept me progressing. I had no effects from the pit except some shivers and DS had no effect either.

Mereou12 · August 2011

Pitocin is hardcore...and no fun at all!

I was induced at 39w5d for a potentially very large baby (horrible call on my MW's part -- he was 7lb8oz). I was very favorable for induction at 3cm/90% effaced. When I checked in and got hooked up to the monitors, they discovered that I was already, in fact, in labor. I was having contractions every 4-5 minutes...they didnt hurt, and I had completely written them off as BH. And I had already dilated another centimeter.

My MW broke my water and started the Pit. I only ever got the lowest dose...but holy hell. I went from perfectly content and barely feeling a thing to gripping the bed rails in less than 30 minutes. I'm not sure if it was the broken water or the Pit (likely both), but I was not prepared for the sudden pain. I begged for an epidural less than 2 hours into the whole thing.

All that being said, I think I'd still do it the same way again. My labor was quick (less than 10 hours), and after the epidural, I was nearly pain free. I had no intentions of going natural, so this chain of events didn't bother me. The Pit didn't seem to affect DS in the least -- we started nursing within minutes of his arrival, and he latched like a champ from the first shot. His APGARs were 10 and 10 -- perfect.

Sorry for the novel...I'm far too wordy for my own good sometimes. :P Moral of the story is this: Pitocin makes your contractions hurt like hell, but if you're open to the idea of an epidural, it might not be that bad!

TheFannins729 · August 2011

my water broke on it's own. 9 hours later I still wasn't have regular contractions (like..I would have one little one an hour that did nothing for me). Pitocin was hooked up to my IV. Got the epi about 45 min later. DS was born exactly 5 hours after the pitocin was started after 20 min of pushing. The pitocin was turned up really high and the epi worked, but I could still feel the pressure and urge to push. As much as I didn't like having to have pitocin, I had a fairly easy L&D. I would do it again exactly the same if I had to.

Azrayla · August 2011

My water also broke on its own and II wasnt contracting enough.. They gave me the pit soon after being admit into the hospital. Water broke at 230 I received the pit around 4.. two hours later I got my epi.. Theres no joke with pitocin they are strong and painful. That said I had no effects I was fully dilated by 2pm that afternoon told to push at 210 and out she wwas at 232..

All said and done Id get the pit again as long as I have my epi.. No effects on me oror baby she was active the whole time even after birth got an 8 and 9 on apgar..

stylerenee · August 2011

i'm a FTM, so I only know what I have heard from others and seen, but I found "The Business of Being Born" to be a very interesting film

beazbadazme2 · August 2011

Please keep in mind, this is in no way a deterent. Every woman is different but here is my experience with pitocin.

I was a week overdue with #2 so my doctor went ahead and set up an induction. They started me on pitocin and the contractions hurt like H E L L, they wouldn't give me an epi until I was so many centimeters so I was bawling like a baby and couldn't sleep.

Long story, short. I've had a epi birth, an inducted pitocin birth and a fast natural birth and I will (unless medically necessary for baby's safety) never have an induced pregnancy again. In fact, I am planning on a natural birth this time too. The pitocin, for me, hurt worse than having my natural birth.

Traycee1242 · August 2011

stylerenee:
i'm a FTM, so I only know what I have heard from others and seen, but I found "The Business of Being Born" to be a very interesting film

And completely one sided and biased ; )

MrsMVM · August 2011

Traycee1242:
stylerenee:
i'm a FTM, so I only know what I have heard from others and seen, but I found "The Business of Being Born" to be a very interesting film
And completely one sided and biased ; )

That's why I haven't watched it, nor do I plan to. I just am so wary of certain sources of info. I like to hear real-life stories, and do my research on both sides. A movie, or an article will just not cut it for me. I trust real people more.

Azrayla · August 2011

Traycee1242:
stylerenee:
i'm a FTM, so I only know what I have heard from others and seen, but I found "The Business of Being Born" to be a very interesting film
And completely one sided and biased ; )

I couldnt even watch the whole thing..

JKGymnast · August 2011

Azrayla:
My water also broke on its own and II wasnt contracting enough.. They gave me the pit soon after being admit into the hospital. Water broke at 230 I received the pit around 4.. two hours later I got my epi.. Theres no joke with pitocin they are strong and painful. That said I had no effects I was fully dilated by 2pm that afternoon told to push at 210 and out she wwas at 232..
All said and done Id get the pit again as long as I have my epi.. No effects on me oror baby she was active the whole time even after birth got an 8 and 9 on apgar..

Just curious cuz I'm clueless but if your water breaks at 2:30 - and some hospitals like for you to get the baby out within 24 hours, why, only 1.5 hrs later did they start you on pit? Why didnt they let you progress on your own before turning to an induction?

Azrayla · August 2011

JKGymnast:
Azrayla:
My water also broke on its own and II wasnt contracting enough.. They gave me the pit soon after being admit into the hospital. Water broke at 230 I received the pit around 4.. two hours later I got my epi.. Theres no joke with pitocin they are strong and painful. That said I had no effects I was fully dilated by 2pm that afternoon told to push at 210 and out she wwas at 232..
All said and done Id get the pit again as long as I have my epi.. No effects on me oror baby she was active the whole time even after birth got an 8 and 9 on apgar..

Just curious cuz I'm clueless but if your water breaks at 2:30 - and some hospitals like for you to get the baby out within 24 hours, why, only 1.5 hrs later did they start you on pit? Why didnt they let you progress on your own before turning to an induction?

Simple answer..They wanted to free up the room aand move me out? They said they needed to know exactly when my water broke and said if baby wasnt born in 24hrs itd be a csection.. I didnt fight them as I knew either way I wanted an epi.. Im sure I could have waited to progress.on my own as they cant FORCE me but it didnt bother me to take drugs..

Mereou12 · August 2011

MrsMVM:

Traycee1242:
stylerenee:
i'm a FTM, so I only know what I have heard from others and seen, but I found "The Business of Being Born" to be a very interesting film
And completely one sided and biased ; )

That's why I haven't watched it, nor do I plan to. I just am so wary of certain sources of info. I like to hear real-life stories, and do my research on both sides. A movie, or an article will just not cut it for me. I trust real people more.

I think you made a wise choice. It's an interesting film, but horribly biased. Horribly. It makes it sound like every woman that gets Pitocin is doomed for failure. And those that choose to have interventions are uninformed, bad mothers.

It does have a ton of great information, but it's just SO one-sided.

Melett · August 2011

I went into labor naturally with my first dc, contractions were timeable, but for some reason, they started the pitocin anyway after I got there..I wish I would have told them I wanted to try without it for a while. They kept thinking I was dialated to a 4 all day and wouldn't give me the epi ,yet for hours I had horrible off the chart contractions with no time in between, they were literally back to back.. they did give me the IV drug stadol for a while and it was terrible-it made me feel so drunk, confused and could not concentrate but could still feel everything..I was writhing around and screaming like the exorcist when I heard my doctor come in and say "I had no idea she was in this condition.." awesome. so then he checks me and says I am at an 8 to call for an epi, I had to endure a couple more hours of terrible contractons because the epidural was then requested by 7 women at once..once they were ready to administer it they said I was at a 10 but would give it to me anyway since I was a first time mom and needed to rest because I could push a while..that was my first experience with it. For my second dc, I again went into labor naturally and went to the hospital with timeable contractions..My doctor(a new one, I ditched the last one after that delivery) said he wanted to start pitocin and I said NO WAY and WHY since I was already in labor. he then said we could start the epidural first and then give me the pitocin. I agreed to this. For a few hours I continued to look like I was at a 4, the epi came and helped a little but then stopped working, the contractions got really bad for a little while so I told her to turn the pitocin off because I didn't think the epidural was working. She checked and said I was at a 10 no time for a new epi, but she did turn the pitocin off. This time I was only on the pitocin for a very short time and I tell you labor was so different without it..The labor was only 5 hours. This time if I go naturally again and they try to start pitocin I will say no I want to try on my own for a while and demand an answer of why i need it..

TheFannins729 · August 2011

Azrayla:
JKGymnast:
Azrayla:
My water also broke on its own and II wasnt contracting enough.. They gave me the pit soon after being admit into the hospital. Water broke at 230 I received the pit around 4.. two hours later I got my epi.. Theres no joke with pitocin they are strong and painful. That said I had no effects I was fully dilated by 2pm that afternoon told to push at 210 and out she wwas at 232..
All said and done Id get the pit again as long as I have my epi.. No effects on me oror baby she was active the whole time even after birth got an 8 and 9 on apgar..

Just curious cuz I'm clueless but if your water breaks at 2:30 - and some hospitals like for you to get the baby out within 24 hours, why, only 1.5 hrs later did they start you on pit? Why didnt they let you progress on your own before turning to an induction?
Simple answer..They wanted to free up the room aand move me out? They said they needed to know exactly when my water broke and said if baby wasnt born in 24hrs itd be a csection.. I didnt fight them as I knew either way I wanted an epi.. Im sure I could have waited to progress.on my own as they cant FORCE me but it didnt bother me to take drugs..

i'm going to add to this that as someone that sat around for 9 hours waiting for the pit, i wish they had started me on it sooner. that was a long freaking night of nothing to get the same end result.

eortman · August 2011

I went into labor naturally 9 days late. 24 hours later, I had only progressed one centimeter, so they started Cervadil. 13 hours later at 7 cm, they started pitocin. I asked for the epidural, but unfortunately had a bad reaction to it, so ended up with no pain relief. I progressed more quickly from there and delivered 3 hours later, but the pain was intolerable. I have sworn up and down that I will never have pitocin again. However, if the epi worked it may have been a different story. My LO was also sunnyside up, which didn't help matters. In short, the pitocin did seem to advance labor, I don't think the baby had any side effects, I did not like it and will not do it again.

italnprncss78 · August 2011

TheFannins729:
my water broke on it's own. 9 hours later I still wasn't have regular contractions (like..I would have one little one an hour that did nothing for me). Pitocin was hooked up to my IV. Got the epi about 45 min later. DS was born exactly 5 hours after the pitocin was started after 20 min of pushing. The pitocin was turned up really high and the epi worked, but I could still feel the pressure and urge to push. As much as I didn't like having to have pitocin, I had a fairly easy L&D. I would do it again exactly the same if I had to.

My delivery was pretty much exactly this! Even the time frame...20 min of pushing was a piece of cake. Justin had no reaction to the pitocin, nor did I. I would do it all the same also.

JKGymnast · August 2011

Azrayla:
JKGymnast:
Azrayla:
My water also broke on its own and II wasnt contracting enough.. They gave me the pit soon after being admit into the hospital. Water broke at 230 I received the pit around 4.. two hours later I got my epi.. Theres no joke with pitocin they are strong and painful. That said I had no effects I was fully dilated by 2pm that afternoon told to push at 210 and out she wwas at 232..
All said and done Id get the pit again as long as I have my epi.. No effects on me oror baby she was active the whole time even after birth got an 8 and 9 on apgar..

Just curious cuz I'm clueless but if your water breaks at 2:30 - and some hospitals like for you to get the baby out within 24 hours, why, only 1.5 hrs later did they start you on pit? Why didnt they let you progress on your own before turning to an induction?
Simple answer..They wanted to free up the room aand move me out? They said they needed to know exactly when my water broke and said if baby wasnt born in 24hrs itd be a csection.. I didnt fight them as I knew either way I wanted an epi.. Im sure I could have waited to progress.on my own as they cant FORCE me but it didnt bother me to take drugs..

Ok just was curious...

kenandlaura06 · August 2011

My early labor was very slow (started on Saturday, continued Sunday and into Monday) and I got to the hospital late Monday night and was 3-4 cm. I labored all Monday night and by Tuesday 10 a.m. I was only 6 cm and my doctor recommended pitocin. I was afraid of the needle of the epi (stupid, I know) and was pretty comfortable up to that point so my doc was comfortable with my ability to continue without the epi. I went from 6-10 cm in about 2 hours on pitocin without any pain relief. It was CRAZY--I would never in a million years do that again. I pushed for close to two hours and DS was born at 2:30--I am going to do all that I can not to have pitocin again but most importantly, I will have an epi this time!

BluBerryMuffin · August 2011

I was in labor for 24 hours with DS with no progress, so I got pitocin and a foley catheter to get things moving. It worked like a charm and about 6 hours later DS was born. Two things I hated about it: 1) the contractions were God awful, I wouldn't wish that pain on my worse enemy and 2) I hated being stuck in bed. I would do it again if the same situation arose this time around.

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