Experience with pitocin?

skalnajs · August 2014

I've only posted on here once or twice, but I don't have a lot of second time moms to ask for advice. I'd really appreciate any stories of your experiences with pitocin whether you were induced or just given it as an intervention. MIL and DH's aunt are really getting on me- telling me to avoid induction if at all possible.

Thank you!!

jlynn62511 · August 2014

I had to be induced due to the baby being inactive. They started the pitocin at 7pm and I slept off and on all night. You have to pee a lot because you are also given fluids. At 5am my water broke on its own and that's when my labor started. I got an epidural around 10am because the pain was terrible. By 2pm, the epi wore off and I was given other pain meds. She was born at 3:55pm and I could feel just enough to feel her move through the birth canal and the contractions to push.

After hearing such bad stories about pitocin, I was shocked how easy my labor and delivery was. They monitor you and baby a lot and make adjustments to the pitocin level based on both you and the baby.

Jennicillin · August 2014

My son was an augmented labor. My water broke but then I wasn't progressing. They used a foley bulb to get me to a 4 and then started Pitocin. I had an epidural so I didn't "hurt" but I could feel how hard the contractions were and they were right on top of each other. I had to take in oxygen to help with his heart rate, and they went inside me to put a monitor on his head to keep a closer eye on him.

11 hour labor, he was out in two pushes.

Overall I can say the experience was positive, not ideal, but good outcome. I'd prefer spontaneous labor that takes care of itself like I had with my daughter, but at the end of the day we were all happy, healthy, and I delivered vaginally without a huge 2 day long ordeal.

caybeh · August 2014

I've been augmented with both my kids as my water breaks but I'm only 1.5 cm. I was contracting on my own after my water broke, but since I wasn't dilated much, I was given pitocin. Anyway, with my first it was horrible and extremely painful. I requested an epidural when the contractions were on top of each other and very intense. With my second child, I dealt with it much better. I requested an epidural much earlier in the process. I tend to go rather fast once I get an epidural. With my first, I was 5 cm, and went to complete within half an hour after the epidural was placed. With my second, I was 3.5 cm and went to complete about an hour after the epidural was placed.

Since I have never gone through an entire labor without pitocin, I can't really compare. I have heard others that had labor both ways and they have all said spontaneous labor was much better than pitocin labor.

M&Max · August 2014

I had pitocin as I was induced. Overall it was fine but it did take constant monitoring so the contractions weren't right on top of one another. Things went much better when they put an internal monitor in so they could better judge the intensity of the contractions. I did have an epidural around 6 cm so I think that helped in that I never really felt the contractions full power. Hope that helps!

kaitm22 · August 2014

I was not induced, but given Pitocin after my labor to help stop my bleeding. I don't know how much I was bleeding, but my Dr. was in a hurry to get it going. I was having so much discomfort after my labor that I don't know what was really going on down there at that point.

MereDe3 · August 2014

I've had it three times. With my first, I had it as an intervention after 20 hours of natural labor and after an epi was placed. I didnt feel like it was a bad experience, I was glad to have it to help me along and it wasnt anymore painful than the "natural" contractions, since I had the epi. It took four more hours for DD to arrive. My second was an induction at 39.2 due to high liver enzymes. They started the pitocin around 8, I tolerated it really well and it took several hours before I was feeling thr contractions. It did get painful, but I was able to cope until I had a epi placed around 1pm. DS was delivered 2 hrs after the epi. My labor with DS was really easy. With #3 I was induced at 40.5, no medical reason, just because I was overdue and wanted baby out. They started the pit at 7:30 and it went fast and was excruciating. Seriously, ive had two kids before and this one was the worst as far as pain was concerned. The contractions went from manageable to out of control within the space of two contractions. I was sobbing (I never did with my last two) and writhing on the bed. DD arrived 4 hours after starting the pitocin. I had an epi but they dosed me so high because the contractions were so bad, that when it came time to push I couldnt feel anything. Its much easier to push when you can actually feel what you are doing. If I had had the labor experince with #3 with #2, there is no way I would have elected for an induction with #3.

ungraceful13 · August 2014

I had it with my induction this time and the contractions were horrible and right on top of each other. I opted to get an epidural and that made everything all better.

abnelsen22 · August 2014

They gave me pitocin when I was a 3 (after cytotec and a cook catheter) and they broke my water. It worked awesome until I was 10 cm. Then it stopped working well and my contractions went from every minute to every 5. I ended up with a c section. My epidural also failed around 10 cm.

laurjune17 · August 2014

I was induced both times with pitocin due to high blood pressure, both times. Worked both times, my first I was induced at 7 AM Saturday and had her at 8:30 AM Sunday. 2nd, I ended up starting contractions 10 minutes after they inserted it. They Induced at 11:30 AM Sunday and I had him at 9:30 PM the same day. I didn't have any complications with either, and both were vaginal deliveries.

pmpkn219 · August 2014

I think i had pit after delivery with my son, not totally sure. This time I had it as part of an induction. We started at 2, half an hour later up to 4, CTX every 7 min, but not wicked strong, I think I had more intense ones at home the past couple days. Upped the pit to 6 And water broken within 15 min of each other. Within 10min intense 9/10 CTX every 2 min. I was dilated about a 5, one hour later was 9 just as the epidural started to kick in... I don't know if it was the increase pitocin or ROM or being at 5cm, but CTX went from "meh" to "oh god, call anesthesia" pretty fast. But then, sweet relief and baby was born about 30 min later.

if I ever had occasion to use pitocin again (this is my last baby) I would get an epi sooner, just in case. My nurse was afraid for me that this would be a relatively pain med free delivery, which was Not my goal. If you want to go that route, I would avoid pitocin as long as possible. Some people have said their CTX lost that crescendo-decrescendo wave with pit, just spiked high, stayed there for a minute and died off. Mine still cranked up gradually (though fast), peaked, and slowly let up, just as my natural CTX had done

jendem8 · August 2014

I was induced due to HBP and a failed NST. They induced me with pitocin at 2:30pm on Friday, and it started my contractions but I made very little progress, and they didn't want to turn it up much since the baby wasn't doing great with the contractions. I was able to sleep off and on throughout the night. Because I stayed at 3cm for a long time, they broke my water the next morning, which made the contractions much more intense. I didn't have DD until 3:53pm, but I went until about 1pm without any pain medication (I succumbed to the epidural after hitting a series of contractions that took me from 3cm to 8cm in about an hour). The pitocin wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, as I really wanted a low intervention birth... my water being broken made for more intense contractions, but I'm sure that's dependent on how much pitocin they give you.

ETA: They also let me be as mobile as possible until I had the epidural. I stood, walked around, sat on a birth ball, which helped a lot. Having the IV lines sucked (especially when I had to go to the bathroom, which seemed to happen every hour), but at least I wasn't stuck in a bed.

lookame3639 · August 2014

I was induced both times.

First expirience - they started pitocin and didn't feel contractions until they broke my water. The contractions were strong and i didnt know how to handle them so I asked for an epi.

second expirience- I was induced early at 36 weeks and my body wasn't ready. I was also on a whole slew of other iv drugs so it was an aweful expirience. Again I couldn't feel the pitocin contractions until they broke my water but I asked for the epidural before I felt any contractions so i labored without pain but the magnesium was just a terrible expirience altogether. I was hot and felt heavy and could hardly move.

Both times pitocin wasn't all that bad...

rainbowwillow · August 2014

Pitocin didn't work for me. When they tried to increase the dosage, LO did not approve. Ended up delivering a healthy baby bus c section.

cappleby · August 2014

I had pitocin both times. With my first my water broke with pretty much no major contractions so I got it pretty soon after getting to the hospital. With my second I begged to be induced at 41 + weeks because I was so uncomfortable. (The dr decided that my due date must be off because I wasn't dilated at all on my due date.) Both times I was able to get to 5 cm on pitocin (starting at 1) without contractions being too horrible. With my first I was bawling and begging for an epidural after being at 5 for a while and then spent the rest of labor completely relaxed and feeling nothing and progressed well and had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. With my second I asked for an epidural at the first hint of increased contractions and my nurse was a big believer in epidurals (she said she wouldn't have been able to have her kids without them) so I got one pretty quickly. They ramped up the pitocin once they knew I couldn't feel it and after being stuck at 5 for a while I all of the sudden was a 9.5 (with my water still intact). I think the second delivery was easier because I was able to relax more. I'm very happy with my choice to induce also. The OB kept making it seem like she was worried the induction would fail and I would end up with a c-section but I was worried if we waited too long I would end up with a giant baby and have a c section a week later anyway. Since DD was 8 lbs 11 oz I'm thinking I was right!

KittyMisha · August 2014

I was induced with Pit after my water had already broken, and contractions got very intense very quickly for me. At the peak, before I got the epidural, they were lasting about 1:30 with a 30-45 second break in between, and some were twice that length with a double peak and no break. Everything I've read suggests that laboring with Pit with your water intact is not nearly as bad as it gets once water is broken, so do it that way if you can.

tamarar5 · August 2014

I've had pit with all three deliveries. With DD1, labor stalled and stopped entirely at 5 cm. Pit was used to keep it going, though it was necessary, it was a really rough delivery.

DS was induced due to my bp, and he had an absolutist textbook delivery.

DD2... was complicated. She was induced, but I was having irregular contractions so they held off the pit for a while. DD2 ended up an emergency c/s that had nothing to do with the pit. Labor with DD2 was pretty terrible. She was face up, sideways, and pretty well not coming out.

lexxctpx · August 2014

This is a story about how much pit sucks if your water breaks but if you're stubborn you can do it.

My water started leaking the morning of my due date and contractions were somewhat regular but occasionally became irregular. I took a shower, walked, went to triage to confirm my water broke and they admitted me. I walked around the hospital and went up and down a bazillion stairs. That evening my labor began to stall. Despite us trying more natural methods like acupressure and more walking to get it going, it continued to stagnate. I was on the clock, at about 18 hours after my water broke, and ended up choosing pit. I was 4 cm and needed to get over the hump to 5 and active labor.

It was hardcore. I started at the lowest dose and just that sent me into intense double-peaked contractions (coming in pairs) like 5 mins apart. Although it started to get pretty painful, I wanted more progression and I could deal so I had the dose increased a notch. This sent me into crazy insanely intense contractions a minute long with a 15-20 second break in between. They got to be essentially right on top of each other. Baby looked great and was a trooper.

The contractions in my abdomen were whatever. But with it came an excrutiatingly painful ripping sensation down both thighs that I could not bear. Apparently because she was so low and my water had leaked out as much as it could under her head she was right on my sciatic nerve. Not fun.

I tried my best to power through with hypnobabies but at this point it was just constant ripping pain. Not any of this "it's not pain, it's discomfort" bs. Pain. I begged for help and ended up with a dose of fentanyl. I begged for the epidural at 9 cm, but it was kind of a betch move because when the anesthesiologist walked in I screamed at him to " NO, GTFO." Hilarious in hindsight. I was pissed as hell at the fentanyl though because it didn't do jack for my pain. It did allow me to relax in the mere seconds between contractions which apparently allowed me to get to complete within minutes. My nurse pulled back an anterior cervical lip.

I pushed for 20 minutes and she was out. What an adventure, man. I wouldn't recommend the water breaking route. Tell that sac to stay the eff intact till you're good and ready.

herecomesthesun · August 2014

lexxctpx

Holy crap, woman! I laughed that you told him to GTFO.

Venus04 · August 2014

tamarar5 said:

I've had pit with all three deliveries. With DD1, labor stalled and stopped entirely at 5 cm. Pit was used to keep it going, though it was necessary, it was a really rough delivery. DS was induced due to my bp, and he had an absolutist textbook delivery. DD2... was complicated. She was induced, but I was having irregular contractions so they held off the pit for a while. DD2 ended up an emergency c/s that had nothing to do with the pit. Labor with DD2 was pretty terrible. She was face up, sideways, and pretty well not coming out.

Did you have your little bit? Is that DD2? I know you were doing to be induced early this week!

Ampip2270 · August 2014

Well here I am about 6 hours into my induction... They Decided to skip the cervadil since I was almost 4cm and 60% effaced when I checked in and started me on the Picotin. I started contractions about 45 mins after they started the Pit. They got pretty strong pretty quick and were about 5-6 mins apart at the start. Amped up to 1.5-2mins apart and I swear they don't feel as strong! Told the nurses & they think I'm crazy- no epi no nubane. I have a Foley in filled with fluid that is supposed to fall out once i hit 5-6cm. Right now I'm laying in the bed and just huffin through the contractions. Nothing I can't handle at this point. Hopefully things pick up a bit and I don't have to deal with a shift change of the nurses- I love my nurses right now! Fingers crossed

BabyM82714 · August 2014

I was given pit after stalling a little after my epi. I could see them on the monitor more often but I obviously didn't feel anything. LO tolerated them fine and they turned it off after awhile.

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