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Natural Birth
Sage4200
member
Anyone get induced but not get epi?
Sage4200
member
My plan was to have a natural birth, but due to low fluid, I will be getting induced. My midwife said that its a myth that contractions with pitocin are stronger than without. Anyone have any experience with this?
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Re: Anyone get induced but not get epi?
I did however I have only had one baby so I can't say whether they were stronger or not than natural contractions. I was 42 weeks pregnant and in the end I had to go to the hospital for pitocin instead of my birth center plan.
It hurt a lot, but labor hurts a lot anyway I'm sure. When I decided I was not able to deal with the pain any more and would be taking an epidural please she checked me and said I was in transition, so I said ok then I can do it! The transition phase is a weird and crazy time.
Tell your midwife to not allow you to take the epidural until you ask for it when you AREN'T in the middle of a contraction. That's what mine said, she won't give it unless i ask between contractions. I asked during contractions a lot,lol
thank you for sharing your experience. I told my husband to keep telling me lets get through 2 more contractions and talk again and then just keep doing that. Im better with small goals.
How long was your labor?
I was induced. I went in Sunday evening (June 10) at 6pm to have cervidil inserted, and was supposed to get pitocin Monday morning at 6am.
Well, it must have been a good batch of cervidil, as my contractions started coming on their own pretty quick (but painless), and around 10pm, my water broke (I thought I had just peed myself...it was a small trickle).
After that, my contractions got worse, and around 12am they finally decided to call in my midwife and the Dr.
An epidural was always in my birth plan, but when the midwife checked me when she got in, I was already 8cm. An epidural was pretty much pointless.
So, I made the big girl decision to do it with no epidural, and I am SO glad that I did! Didn't even need the pitocin. And oh...did I mention I was given an ambien around 11pm to "relax" because the nurse didn't think I was in labor? lmao
She was born at 2:36am.
Was it painful? Hell yes. Was it intense? Hell yes.
I did like that I was able to move around, and lean on the bed, stand with my husband, walk around. One point we tried to get in the shower so the hot water would make me feel better, but I think that was when they decided to check me again and I was at 10 and ready to push.
But, it was awesome, and my recovery afterwards was quick. I did have a 2nd degree tear, but it wasn't that bad. I took a shower later that day! I was up and walking around.
So, our next baby that we have, I'm gonig to plan med-free from the start!
My water broke at 40 weeks 4 days. I got pitocin started 10 hrs after water broke, and had no contractions before that. I really didn't go into labour until 12 hours after pitocin started. I had small, infrequent contractions for that time, and things picked up considerably after that.
Extremely intense, transition was the same as previous posters, one contraction on top of another with severe back cramps/spasms. Feeling like puking, hot flashes, shaking, not wanting my husband to make jokes, etc. I started to doubt I could do it, and asked if it was too late for an epidural. They checked me, I was 10, pushed for almost an hour and she was born. Contractions to get to pushing weren't great, but pushing was fantastic, almost no pain.
I'm so glad I went without it, it was worth it. The post partum recovery was remarkably better. What helped me the most was breathing ( I read hypnobirthing), relaxing music, and knowing it wouldn't last forever. Don't let yourself stop breathing or tense up, and know that each contraction will eventually end.
What wasn't fun was the doctor turning her inside me before I delivered, because she was posterior. He did this to make it easier to push her out. I had the same thing done with my son, also posterior, but had an epidural with him so didn't feel a thing.
I couldn't get up except to briefly use the washroom, because her heart rate kept dropping. I could only lie on my left side. We tried to do hands and knees, birthing ball, etc., but it became unsafe. If you don't have this issue, it'll be even easier for you. This is another reason why I started to ask for the epidural, because I was afraid I'd need a c section, and didn't want to be knocked out for it.
I had contractions with my son for 16 hrs before they started pitocin, but I had my epidural before the pitocin started. I think the epidural stalled my labour. That's why I wanted to avoid it this time. I also think the posterior position of both my babies made things last longer.
I would recommend trying to get the baby into an anterior position before labour and delivery. After the fact, tilts and inversions seem less uncomfortable than my doctor reaching his hand into my vag/uterus to rotate the baby! If we have a third, I will try to do this, and really wish I had the chance this time. I didn't know she was posterior until my back labour started, because she was anterior in the days leading up to delivery.
I also read "Baby Catcher" by Peggy Vincent. It helped me to read stories about women who had epidural free births, to know some of the key moments in transition, etc.
I was induced 10 days after my due date due to declining fluid levels. I was induced first with cytotec which fully effaced me, but did not dilate me much (I was not a good induction candidate starting out). I had uterine hyper stimulation after two cytotec doses, so after letting that calm down, we moved on to Pitocin at the lowest possible dose. I was contracting well from that, and after a couple of hours, I asked them to turn it off to see if I would continue to contract on my own.
I did. So the pitocin stayed off until I needed some more during pushing, as my contractions had spaced out to 7 minutes apart and I was not getting many chances to get the guy out. I did hypnobirthing throughout and labored in a tub for much of my labor. I did not need or receive pain meds or an epidural.
It turned out that my baby was posterior and had a large noggin, so after 4 hours of pushing, I could not get him past my pubic bone. I asked for assistance and I received it in the form of a vaccuum delivery. They gave me a pudental nerve block for that. Baby was born very alert and undrugged!
"Natural" induced birthing is possible just not terribly common. I impressed the hell out of my l and d nurses.
IVF #1 ET 1 d3 embryo 10/30/11 BFP
3 Embryos frozen (1 d5, 2 d6)
DS born 07/29/12
FET #1 ET 1 d5 embryo 02/10/15 BFN
FET #2 1 d6 embryo didn't survive thaw, transferred last d6. CP
Contractions with pitocin might not be stronder, BUT they do feel worse because pitocin is artificial to your body and does not allow your body to release the right hormones at right times and quantities to deal with the contractions.
My water broke about midnight, I was at the hospital by 1:30 and then by 7 my Dr decided I needed pitocin, even though I was contracting on my own and baby was doing great. For me and my body that was very harsh, like someone just turned a pain switch on. But, I got through it without pain medication of any sort, just my natural stubborness
and support from DH and the nurse (who is now my midwife)
I tried walking and it made me super sick, so I rocked in the rocking chair for most of my labor. When I got to transition there was classic "I cannot do this anymore" LOL. My nurse said we will try rocking on all fours and I think I went from 8 cm to pushing in about 10 seconds, I only rocked once before my body started pushing.
Yes, you can go epi free with pitocin, but keep in mind, birth is unpredictible and however it goes, it will be your unique and very special story.
For me it was 11 hours from when they hooked me up to the IV to when I had a baby in my arms. The first 6 hours were no biggie, I felt mild contractions but didn't even get out of bed. After 6 hours I was still only at 2cm or so, so she broke my water. After which all hell broke loose, pain wise. It went quickly from "meh whatever" to "OMGFREAKINGODIAMCLEARLYDYING".
In 1.5 hours I went from 2cm to 8cm. The pushing stage was long at over 3 hours.
I had two doses of cervadil before the pit induction, each one gave me 8 hours of terrible pain with no dilation, though at time of induction with pitocin I was fully effaced but only 1-2cm dilated. The midwife said the cervadil likely did do something to prepare me because of how quickly my labor went after the breaking of my water.
I am so glad I didn't get the epi. I didn't even have a stitch.
I have only had the one baby, so I couldn't give you a comparison. However, I was induced with Pitocin, and I still gave birth vaginally without an epidural or any painkillers. I was able to move around, walk the halls, do squatting and they even put me in a warm tub for transition.
When my doctor came in to discuss Pitocin with me (after breaking my water had not sent me into active labor or advanced me enough) she pointed out that Pitocin is chemically identical to the oxytocin that your own body produces. The protocol at the hospital I was in is to start the pitocin at a very, very low rate and then ramp it up slowly throughout the process so that you only have as much pitocin as you need to move things along and so that it's a slow progression rather than a sudden onslaught. The dose I was on when they stopped the flow was only about half of the dose they would have started a person on ten years ago.
As for the contractions, yes, they hurt. But having suffered migraines for my whole life, I will say that they were about equivalent to a migraine in pain, but I'd rather give birth again because a) contractions come and go except during transition and b) there's a definite end point. Also, because the pain is in your body instead of your head, I found it easy to sort of... cut the pain off and live inside my head during the worst ones.
Except for transition. And really, I don't remember that much at all. But when I say the word 'transition' to my husband he does get kind of white knuckled and pale...
I also can't compare since I've only delivered once (induced by pitocin) but I can tell you it wasn't the intensity of the contractions that made me give in to an epi, it was the fact that suddenly no break between them. I was having my husband time them, and it would be like 15 seconds or something where the pain decreased a bit, but wasn't even a true break, and then it'd be another crazy contraction. The nurse didn't seem to think there was any indication I was in transition or anything either, just the effects of pitocin.
What I've learned since, and really wish I had known then, is that you can ask them to STOP TURNING UP THE PIT DOSE and see if your body continues laboring naturally. My nurse just kept coming in every 45 min like clock work cranking it up and I think that's why the contractions were so rapid.
I also hit that breaking point very soon after the doctor broke my water. I think that can be a good way to help labor keep moving, but for me combined with the pit it was too much. I would rather have been in labor longer and been able to manage it better, than have things rushed along as they were.