December 2015 Moms
Peanut1128
member
My induction experience- long and may cause anxiety
Peanut1128
member
I feel like this story should come with a warning to not read further if you are nervous about labor...also please know that I have never talked to anyone who had so many random things happen.
My doctor suggested induction at 39w4d due to the babies head looking large, my extreme pelvic discomfort and probably to get him out before the holiday. He did warn me that there is a greater c section risk with induction but warned we could be headed that route anyway. On the day I went in for induction, it was my understanding that I was progressed enough for this to be successful (1-2cm dilated, effaced and station 0). We arrived at 5am and started pitocin and fluids right away, my doctor got there and manually broke my water at 7:30. This is when the contractions started to get more intense, I asked to be able to stand and move around which they allows but I was hooked up to 3 different machines and monitors so that did not make it easy. I stood up and kind of shuffled back and forth and breathed through my till 1pm. Standing made them stronger for sure which I hoped meant progression but the back pain just got insanely intense and the contractions were very long almost 5 continuous minutes with no break in between (this is common with pitocin). I got an epidural at 1:15 and it took a few minutes to kick in. From here on out I was confined to the hospital bed. My legs were completely numb and dead weight and for a few hours my back was as well, I progressed slowly until 6pm when I went from a 6-9 in 1 hour. During this time my back labor began again and I was in agony. The epidural team came back and gave me a direct shot as well as a new bag. Things started to get weird at this point, my doctor left and told me a different doctor would be on call (someone who I never met from the practice). That doctor comes in to visit and tells me he just told me doctor that he should have had me come in for cervadal the night before and he didn't think I was as ready as my dr said. At this point, my back was screaming again and we were stuck at 9ish cm with a lip. The doctor felt around for a bit and then noticed my catheter bag was totally filled with blood. He realized that while the baby had descended and was head down he was sunny side up and slightly turned and had burrowed himself down into my bladder. By now I had been in labor for 16 or so hours with no food or drink and about 6 bags of fluid pumped into me. The doctor said he wasn't sure what option he wanted to pursue, csection or vacuum assist that if failed we would still need a csection. He said he would need me to be strong enough to push with the vacuum and to see what I could do in the next 30 minutes with the nurse.
The nurse, my husband and I worked through 2 hours of contractions with them pushing my legs and me pushing as hard as I could (they took out the catheter and let my bladder fill up in hopes it would push the baby head into a better spot in my pelvis-it worked mostly). Once they could see the head, the doctor and a few other people came in and everyone gathered around while I pushed and the doctor sucked him out. The entire pushing lasted about 3 hours and my back was in extreme pain from the entire time despite the epidural.
Unfortunately, due to the babies head size and position, the doctor gave me a 4th degree tear.
All in all it took about 21 hours and we spent 2.5 days in the hospital to make sure I was ok. My legs and back are still killing me and very swollen from all the fluids but that should go down.
If you have read this far, let me share some stats. They told me my little guy had a large head based on a growth scan. He did, meausuring just under 15cm. They guessed his weight at 38w as 7lbs 5ounces, he was 7lbs 15.5ounces at delivery.
My doctor suggested induction at 39w4d due to the babies head looking large, my extreme pelvic discomfort and probably to get him out before the holiday. He did warn me that there is a greater c section risk with induction but warned we could be headed that route anyway. On the day I went in for induction, it was my understanding that I was progressed enough for this to be successful (1-2cm dilated, effaced and station 0). We arrived at 5am and started pitocin and fluids right away, my doctor got there and manually broke my water at 7:30. This is when the contractions started to get more intense, I asked to be able to stand and move around which they allows but I was hooked up to 3 different machines and monitors so that did not make it easy. I stood up and kind of shuffled back and forth and breathed through my till 1pm. Standing made them stronger for sure which I hoped meant progression but the back pain just got insanely intense and the contractions were very long almost 5 continuous minutes with no break in between (this is common with pitocin). I got an epidural at 1:15 and it took a few minutes to kick in. From here on out I was confined to the hospital bed. My legs were completely numb and dead weight and for a few hours my back was as well, I progressed slowly until 6pm when I went from a 6-9 in 1 hour. During this time my back labor began again and I was in agony. The epidural team came back and gave me a direct shot as well as a new bag. Things started to get weird at this point, my doctor left and told me a different doctor would be on call (someone who I never met from the practice). That doctor comes in to visit and tells me he just told me doctor that he should have had me come in for cervadal the night before and he didn't think I was as ready as my dr said. At this point, my back was screaming again and we were stuck at 9ish cm with a lip. The doctor felt around for a bit and then noticed my catheter bag was totally filled with blood. He realized that while the baby had descended and was head down he was sunny side up and slightly turned and had burrowed himself down into my bladder. By now I had been in labor for 16 or so hours with no food or drink and about 6 bags of fluid pumped into me. The doctor said he wasn't sure what option he wanted to pursue, csection or vacuum assist that if failed we would still need a csection. He said he would need me to be strong enough to push with the vacuum and to see what I could do in the next 30 minutes with the nurse.
The nurse, my husband and I worked through 2 hours of contractions with them pushing my legs and me pushing as hard as I could (they took out the catheter and let my bladder fill up in hopes it would push the baby head into a better spot in my pelvis-it worked mostly). Once they could see the head, the doctor and a few other people came in and everyone gathered around while I pushed and the doctor sucked him out. The entire pushing lasted about 3 hours and my back was in extreme pain from the entire time despite the epidural.
Unfortunately, due to the babies head size and position, the doctor gave me a 4th degree tear.
All in all it took about 21 hours and we spent 2.5 days in the hospital to make sure I was ok. My legs and back are still killing me and very swollen from all the fluids but that should go down.
If you have read this far, let me share some stats. They told me my little guy had a large head based on a growth scan. He did, meausuring just under 15cm. They guessed his weight at 38w as 7lbs 5ounces, he was 7lbs 15.5ounces at delivery.
Re: My induction experience- long and may cause anxiety
I had very mixed feelings about the outcome of my first delivery because, on the one hand, shit hit the fan and we could have lost both me and my baby. On the other, I feel that every step of the induction process that time around was mis-managed and shit wouldn't have hit the fan if the induction/labor had gone differently. I guess my point is that if you do have a hard time figuring out how you feel about a rough or traumatic delivery like this - and how your OB handled your care, hearing from another doctor that your body wasn't favorable to an induction is never something you want - it's normal to feel conflicted about the experience (I had folks respond to my anger at the staff at my delivery with comments like, "You're both ok now, so why are you bitching about it?"). Anyways, if you need to talk it out you can PM me. There are also a few online groups focused on traumatic labor and delivery experiences if you find yourself struggling with weird emotions or anxieties.
I hope your recovery process is smooth and you start feeling back to normal soon. I'm sure you've figured this out but the peri bottle was my bestest best friend when I had a billion sutures - warm water mixed with a dash of witch hazel made my bits feel a little less like raw hamburger while I was healing.
I have had two WONDERFUL induction/labors/deliveries since my first, so they aren't all horror stories. Like you said, you just need to be confident enough to question what is going on with your care (especially if things seem off or you are uncomfortable). I wish you much luck and a happy, healthy delivery!