I'm 8 days past my EDD, been having prodromal labor for weeks, tried lots of natural induction techniques, been taking EPO for weeks.. still I am looking at being induced Sunday night. (41 weeks 4 days) I'm scared. I just wanted things to happen naturally. I hate meds. They want to start me on cervidil and then give me some sleep meds. Hoping I go on my own after that and they don't have to give me pitocin. Epidural is not an option for me. I am planning a water birth and should still be able to go as planned for the most part.
Anyone go through something similar? I need some positive stories & encouragement so that I have the confidence that I can do this still and that I will still be able to go natural.
Re: Sad.. getting induced Sunday.
Have you checked out Spinningbabies.com? Because sometimes prodromal labor is due to a malpositioned baby that isn't helping to get things moving. It's worth a try if you haven't already.
Good luck!
yes & yes. I've been continually trying things. Sex and long walks mostly since they have the highest success rates.
Thanks PP I will check out spinningbabies. I know my LO is head down and very low though so I'm not sure that it will help. But anything is worth a try at this point.
That would be so great! I've been so uncomfortable and so badly wanting to meet my LO but I think the fear of cervidil/pitocin is taking over. Now I'm wondering if I should try to postpone the induction until after 42 weeks.
Do you HAVE to get induced? If you dont want to do it, I say don't.
My DS was 2.5 weeks past his due date and unless you know the exact date of conception, your EDD may be off by a week or two anyway. I know its uncomfortable but I would suggest you wait it out because when that baby is ready he/she will definitely get things started.
Theres been alot of back and for debate on how long is to long, personally among my circle no one was ever preganant as long as I was and I was def over 42 because I knew my exact conception date. But I think for whatever reason DS needed more time and I'm glad I did because my labor from start to finish was exactly 6 hours, like you I used that extra time to keep moving going for walks, doing horse stances and slow squats and all of that movement helps ALOT.
I do understand the wanting to meet the LO like right NOW though. lol
With DD I had that same impatience, so I took castor oil.........smh. Worst decision I ever made LOL
Tried it after I swore I wouldn't. My MW actually mentioned it so I figured it was safe. Didn't work and luckily didn't make me sick either. I had some diarhea but nothing horrible.
Just because the baby is head down doesn't mean s/he is in optimal position for delivery. The head needs to be engaged in the right way to help the cervix dilate among other things. It can't hurt to try all the things suggested on Spinningbabies, nothing to lose and everything to gain!
what she said ^^^
posterior babies present all sorts of challenges, all while being head down.
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I have quite a few friends who were given an induction date and then went into labor on their own the night before. I agree with the others not to sweat it. I'd definitely try spinningbabies, or head to a chiropractor to make sure your hips are optimally aligned so baby can just slide right on down and position him/herself correctly. :-) Good Luck!
I did the inversion and had my DH help with the abdominal release. LO started moving around quite a bit afterward so I'm thinking that might be a good sign. Also, maybe I should go to a chiropractor. I went pretty often in highschool and she always had to adjust my hips because they were misaligned. Could that cause issues if I don't get them adjusted before labor??
I just dont know if a chiropractor will agree to adjust me without getting xrays first because I was in a bad accident a few years ago and had fractures and herniated discs..
More Green For Less Green
I don't know about the x-rays. I just started going when I was pregnant--around 7 months or so, I had horrible hip pain and was hobbling around everywhere. After a couple weeks, it was gone, but I kept going regularly until birth. They adjusted me w/o any x-rays, but, I didn't have any previous back issues. There's something called the "webster technique" which supposedly opens your pelvis & gets you all lined up and ready to go. Not certain it works, but Baby seemed to be positioned perfectly as I didn't have any back labor and she popped out relatively quickly for a first time birth. (only about 7 hours of active labor, < 30 minutes of pushing), and I'll definitely be seeing the Chiro again for baby #2.
My midwives also suggested acupuncture & acupressure to jumpstart labor.
I don't have much advice except for DO NOT TAKE THE SLEEPING PILL that they offer you after placing the Cervidil. My own body took over quickly after it was placed and I feel like the pill had an effect on DD, besides the fact that I couldn't sleep through the uncomfortable contractions (not to mention them running in several times because the Cervidil was causing late decels.) I was 41w 1D
Good luck, I hope you go into labor on your own and if you don't I hope your body takes over on it's own like mine did!
From my personal experience, I have to agree with not taking the sleeping pill. I went into the hospital after ~36 hours of early labor and not sleeping for two nights, and the midwife gave me a sleeping pill, told me to go home and sleep. The contractions were too painful, so even with the pill I was unable to sleep, however my DS was significantly less active, which made me worried (and which I was told could be a side effect... after I had taken it).
I did have my membranes stripped at 40 weeks, but no luck. I haven't had an internal since then though so I suppose it may have helped me progress. My internal at 40 weeks I was 1 cm, 60% effaced with baby very low.
Glad to know about the sleeping pills. I felt kind of weird about that anyway, so I will decline. Are you allowed to drink sleepy time tea or use lavender lotion at the hospital? Maybe I can get DH to give me a foot massage to help me relax.
I just found out yesterday that the foley bulb is an option for me. So I'm still hoping to go completely med free!