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Natural Birth
jmcgra06
member
Tips for a "natural" induction?
jmcgra06
member
Friday and Saturday (41+5 and 6) are our scheduled induction days 
I'm giving all our natural induction techniques a few more days of honest effort, but at the same time, starting to come to terms with the fact that this just might not happen the way that I hope and feel is best. I'm terrified of a pitocin induction. My OB has agreed that if we're in even early labor by Thursday/Friday to just monitor the situation, but we're still very much on a timeline. The plan would be to go in for cervidil at 41+5 and leave it in overnight, then start pitocin at 6am the following morning. I have been reading more and more about my bishop score which at this point is a 5-6. (1.5cm dilated, 50% effaced)
I am keeping up with acupuncture and doing acupressure in the meantime. I would love some tips on nipple stimulation - being a FTM, I honestly don't know what a contraction feels like so I always stop as soon as I get BH tightening. I'm still taking 2g EPO each day and eating pineapple until my heartburn can't take it anymore. We walk an hour to two hours each day. I'm bouncing on my exercise ball because I figure it can't hurt.
Has anyone had luck with a foley bulb instead of or in addition to cervadil? I've already been told that once pitocin starts I have to have continuous monitoring so the farthest I can go is the side of my bed and likely not out of the bed at all. I'm hoping to try turning it off once we get rolling, but I'm sure the degree of argument on that depends on the attending that we get.
Trying to keep hope and faith that LO will come on it's own, it's just so hard to do this when I feel so strongly that med-free is the best thing for me and my baby.
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Re: Tips for a "natural" induction?
Do you have a breast pump? If I were facing induction in a few days I would pump a half hour on one side, a half hour on the other side, take an hour break, and do it again. If it doesn't get things rolling by the evening then stop, get a good night's rest, and start again the next day. I'm not saying it's what you should do, you have to do things you feel are right for you and your baby, it's just what I would do.
Three days is a lot of time at the end of pregnancy. You really could go into labor any minute.
Also, if you do end up with an induction, ask for a telemetry unit for monitoring. You can move around and walk the halls with that so you aren't tied to the bed the whole time. Most of the time you can even go in the water with a telemetry unit.
Some people don't like this stuff, but I've known people for whom castor oil and black cohash has worked. Have you considered having your membranes stripped?
Also, I ended up getting induced with pit. It sucked, but we managed it and avoided the epidural. Just don't let them (if possible) push the pitocin up too high - keep it b/t 2 and 4. We also turned it off completely after I was in transition.
Hang in there! I hope you go naturally in the next two days!
My OB doesn't strip membranes anymore, he says it's not effective and just painful... As far as using a breast pump, I use it until I get tight BH contractions, and then I've read that I should stop until they end and try again. Is that the standard practice, or should I be waiting for something more painful? My OB also doesn't like nipple stimulation because he feels it should only be done with constant monitoring, so I don't have a lot of guidance on this, unfortunately.
At 27 weeks, I considered switching to a midwife. It may have been the thing to do, looking back, but no sense focusing on that at this point. If nothing else, the worry at the end here has just shown me how much I really want a natural birth, and if I get that chance, I know now that I will be able to get through it and appreciate it that much more.
Here are a couple links on nipple stimulation for induction that I found.
Hope it helps.
https://www.birth.com.au/Augmentation-of-labour/Nipple-stimulation-how-to-do-it
https://pregnancy.about.com/od/induction/a/nipplestim.htm
https://www.birthingnaturally.net/cn/technique/nipple.html
I can't base anything off my own experience because DS was born at 36 weeks. My best friend just had a baby two weeks ago at 41 weeks and was advised by her midwife to do a half hour on one breast, half hour on the other, then an hour break. By the time she got done with the second side she was having steady consistent contractions without the pump. She had the baby the next day. I know it's just anecdotal but still...
I think if you are going to pump and stop at home like you have been doing you should pump until you feel a "real" contraction, not just a little tightening. Just my thought.
I am not surprised your doctor would want you to be monitored while you do this. If that is is feeling perhaps you should try pumping first instead of pitocin while you're in the hospital under his supervision on Friday?
Have you tried using the EPO vaginally? Obviously check with your care provider, but my understanding is that it can better effect your cervix that way.
I know someone who had a highly successful foley bulb induction. Placed in the evening, she slept on and off with contractions, baby was born around 7am. She chose pain medicine, but that had been her plan all along. I thought it went very nicely. She had no other medications (that I was aware of) to induce.
Does the hospital have portable monitors? Sometimes they don't necessarily advertise this fact, but it can't hurt to ask. If they do, make sure you ask them to charge them before you would need them. Then you can be more mobile even if you end up using pitocin.
Best of luck to you!!
I was almost in your same situation when I had LO, but I had to be induced at 40w 2d due to low AFI. I was also terrified of the pit, and I'm not going to lie to you, it SUCKED. Everyone here gave good advice. You should be able to be up and moving around at least some. My nurses would unhook me for awhile and let me go to the bathroom, and spend time on the floor, walking with DH, whatever I wanted to do but honestly, when the contractions got so bad, I didn't want to do anything but lay in bed (sideways with my head wedged against the bed rail, haha). To me, a contraction felt like a poo cramp x 100. And then I had back labor, which felt just like my back muscles cramping super tight.
I started with cytotec overnight, started pit at 6am, got the foley bulb maybe around 9am, and by 7pm, I had not progressed at all. The pain from that stupid pit was AWFUL. In tears and APOLOGIZING, I got the epidural and passed out until 1am. I had my daughter at 7am the following morning.
I am not telling you any of this to scare you or discourage you. A lot of people have awesome induced labors, but I wasn't one of them. My body simply wasn't ready. I went in dead set against the epidural, but in the end, it was probably the only thing that saved me from a c-section. I was exhausted, I hadn't eaten in a day and a half, and my cervix wasn't budging. The epidural allowed me to relax and let my body work with the pitocin instead of against it. If i hadn't given in and gotten that rest, I don't know if I ever would have delivered vaginally. So my advice is to definitely speak up for yourself and try to have the experience you want, but be flexible and don't feel guilty if you need the pain meds.
Also, if you get a nurse who is really inflexible about working with your wishes, don't be afraid to ask for a new one! Or make your DH do it for you! The first nurse I had was new to l&d, couldn't even find my cervix to check it, and told me I had to have a bedpan the moment my pitocin was started (this was NOT on the order of my midwife or the on call OB). My husband politely asked for someone different, and I had awesome nurses after that.
Good luck and try not to stress!
That is great to hear! You definitely still have choices. Labor is never in anyone's control- like you said, this is just an unexpected set of challenges. You are going to do great.
I used pressure points. There's a video on YouTube, I think we googled 'pressure points to induce labor.' The lady goes over about 6-8 spots. The one that worked best for me was on the bottom of my foot, just between the ball & arch. I could feel the muscles contract. We went thru each point as the woman on the video described where it was. As soon as I felt my body react to each spot, we marked it with a Sharpie so it would be easier to find. Then we rotated thru them. I kept doing it even once my body reacted. It took a couple hours for the contractions to get established, but from when we started that to delivery, I labored about 17 1/2 hours total. I also used EPO vaginally (each night before going to bed) like someone else suggested.
Hope things go the way you'd like! Good luck