https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:46:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-143093 Tue, 01 May 2012 07:25:46 +0000 purrpletulips 143093@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was induced at 39+7 (LO settled onto my sciatic nerve exactly 1 week before her due date and I couldn't walk without great pain). Here's my timeline:</p> <p>7:45AM-arrived at the hospital/checked in (I was 2cm dilated)</p> <p>8:30AM-pitocin/saline started</p> <p>12:00PM-felt first contraction which doubled me over while trying to walk to bathroom (back labor on top of sciatic pain); epidural requested and placed (I was 4cm dilated)</p> <p>12:45PM-doctor broke my water</p> <p>1:00PM-baby's HR dropped which brought in lots of medical staff but it stabilized quickly once they put me on oxygen and got me on my side; consensus was that the baby reacted to the epidural and breaking of my water so close together</p> <p>2:30PM-internal check revealed I was 8cm dilated; they started prepping for delivery</p> <p>4:30PMish-I was 10cm dilated and fully effaced so they had me start pushing</p> <p>4:54PM-DD was born vaginally</p> <p>I had complications afterwards and was up and moving around (well as much as the sciatic would allow) within about an hour of delivery. It took about 2 weeks for the sciatic pain to go away which I was told is normal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-143045 Tue, 01 May 2012 04:02:05 +0000 loveisstrange 143045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was induced at 40+4. I was only a fingertip dilated and my cervix was thick and high still. My water broke at about 11pm April 1st. I was admitted the following night (in the UK, they give you 24 hours after your water breaks to go into labor on your own) and they started Cervadil at around 9-10pm. I was still able to move and do whatever at this time. They gave the Cervadil 6 hours to do it's thing and then they inserted the Pitocin drip and my epidural at about 4am. The epidural totally took care of all the pain for the first while. At 6am, I was 2-3cm and still feeling good. At 9am, I was still 2-3cm but was fully effaced finally.</p> <p>Between 9 and 12, my epidural wore off and I went from 2-3 to 9cm. It HURT. Pitocin contractions are incredibly intense and they come right on top of each other. By 1pm, I had another failed epidural and reached 10cm. I pushed for an hour and a half before they realized she was crooked and I needed forceps. They tried turning the drip down to give me some relief but it stalled out my labor every time they did, so they kept it going. I delivered her at 7:31pm that night. </p> <p>As for side effects afterwards... none really. My back was very, very itchy for a couple days and I kept getting this weird bubbly feeling in my tailbone area, but those are both from the epidural. </p> <p>I highly recommend pain relief if you need to be induced. I did it without them (not by choice) and it was very, very painful. I'd say to get the epidural just to give yourself a break because you don't even have time to breath between the contractions with pitocin. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142998 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:44:13 +0000 Mrs. Pen 142998@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrsdaredevil: I was induced just before 39 weeks (38+5). I had been dilated to 3cm for 2-3 weeks, and then when I went in to the hospital I was between 3-4 which was great. </p> <p>I was started on pitocin, magnesium sulfate (for my high BP) and a saline drip at 5pm. At 8pm I felt my first contraction (The monitor said I'd been having them since I got there, but I hadn't felt them yet), and it felt like menstrual cramping. I was actually able to sleep through them for a little while. At midnight I had a painfully strong contraction and my water broke. It was insane how quickly it went from hardly feeling anything to really intense contractions. From then on I was in active labor, my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, it only took a little bit longer for my contractions to consistently be 2 minutes apart. It was really, really intense though. My mom informed me that induction contractions are a lot worse than natural labor (she's done both). But to be perfectly honest, I thought I was going to die! lol It was really hard, not gonna lie. I was vomiting with every contraction it was so intense. </p> <p>At 2:50am my body started pushing, I could do nothing to stop it. It was just...happening. I told them and the nurses told me not to - yeah, tell that to a women in active labor - it's IMPOSSIBLE to not push when your body starts! I had just been checked an hour earlier and was only 5cm, so the nurses were saying it wasn't time. But since there was nothing I could do, they checked me again and I was already at 10cm. I was SO encouraged! THIS IS IT! So I was able to actually start pushing with each contraction too. I definitely felt the burning and pain and it was so hard- but halfway through pushing, my midwife told me I could reach down and feel his head. I had no idea he was already completely crowned! Feeling his head was what gave me the strength to push through, no pun intended.<br /> At 3:44 I gave birth, so all in all I was only in active labor for less than 4 hours. the doctor was SO surprised because typically magnesium sulfate works against pitocin and makes induction much longer. But the nurses said in many instances, because I was pre-eclamptic, a mother's body knows the baby is safest out - so works quickly to get the baby out. That was definitely the case in my situation and I'm so glad it was! It felt like forever, but I was so happy to see my baby!</p> <p>Because of the vomiting I was severely dehydrated, and also from the quick labor I think my body was in shock, so I passed out after getting stitched up. Also, the mag sulfate passes onto the baby so he had a hard time getting his breathing and temperature regulated. He turned blue after birth and had to be taken away. So it was definitely hard. Since you have high BP you may have to be on mag as well, so you should know what kind of effects it can have. It's not a fun drug :( It made me feel constantly groggy and tired. I could hardly focus my eyes or brain on anything - communicating took a lot of effort and really wore me out. You have to stay on it for an additional 24 hours in order to regulate BP. So the first day was not easy honestly. But once I got off of it, everything felt so much better.</p> <p>Hopefully that helps a little. Ask me anything you want :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142973 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:27:42 +0000 mrstilly 142973@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had a healthy pregnancy but went past my due date. I was 41 weeks and 3 days when I was induced. I was almost 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced when I got to the hospital. They gave me the option of spending 12 hours on cervadil or trying the pitocin and seeing how it went. I decided to try the pitocin, and they started it around 8am. They turned it up every 30 minutes and after about 4 hours I was having mild contractions every few minutes. They got it up to the maximum dose mid afternoon but the contractions weren't getting much stronger. They decided to shut it off for a while so I could get into the tub and see if my body took over. For about 1-2 hours it seemed like labor was going to stall out, but then my contractions picked up big time. I got into the tub around 5pm, and by 7 or 8 I was having intense contractions every 3-5 minutes. I hung out in the tub until 11pm. I got out once around 9pm so the midwife could check to see how far I was dilated and I was about 7cm. When I got out at 11pm I was 8 cm. I labored on the toilet for a bit, then sitting on a chair. I tried the shower, but the contractions were now coming one after another with no break in between. I got a spinal block around 1am. It was the best feeling. I hadn't been able to relax in hours, since there was no break between contractions. The medicine made my skin itchy and they covered me in warm blankets. After I got to rest for an hour I was 10 cm dilated, but DS was still high up. I started pushing and after 3 very long hours and an episiotomy, DS was born vaginally. His heart rate fluctuated a lot, so they "tickled his head" a lot to raise it up and I had an oxygen mask that a nurse held to my face for the last hour or so. My midwives were really committed to helping me have a vaginal birth, and while they did call the on-call ob, she just supervised and let me continue. </p> <p>Overall, I am so happy with my birth experience. DS was healthy and I had the vaginal birth I was hoping for. I really think if I hadn't been induced, or they hadn't increased the pitocin at such a rapid rate, that I might have made it without any meds, but with the contractions on top of one another, I really needed the break that the spinal block gave me. I trusted my midwives, and had my stepmom (a nurse) there for support as well. </p> <p>I'd talk with your dr a lot about your options if you are induced and at what point they will move toward other interventions. It helps to know ahead of time what the options are and how different scenarios might play out, so that when you are in the moment you can put your trust in your dr and just focus on a healthy baby. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142959 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:30:51 +0000 cupcakemama 142959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was induced at 40w6d due to maternal age, so actually for similar reasons to you though a different cause. I was in Labour for about 15 hours before delivering LO vaginally.</p> <p>I had a gel inserted on the Tuesday night - no idea what it was called. Went home and felt fairly yuck - very period crampy. Basically lay on the couch watching "Say Yes to the Dress' , drinking cups of tea!<br /> Went to sleep that night and woke up at 1:20am very much in labour. Rang the hospital to give them a heads up and tried to get some more sleep.<br /> At about 4 am the contractions were 50 seconds long, 5 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital.<br /> At 5 am my OB came and broke my water. The contractions afterwards were about 1000% stronger! I spent a long time in the shower or lying on my side.<br /> At 10:30 am I was still only 5 cm dilated and had been having 1 min contractions 2 min apart since my waters were broken. I asked for an epidural - best thing EVER- and it was administered at 11 am.<br /> At a bit past 4 pm the midwife said it was time to push, so I did! 30 min later LO arrived, pink and screaming!</p> <p>My induction process was very positive. I trusted my OB and I knew that whatever the outcome in terms of interventions LO needed to come out sooner rather than later. </p> <p>You will get a lot of negative reaction about induction but the way I look at it is that induction was my chance to deliver LO vaginally. Without it I HAD to have a csection as the risk to LO was too high to wait for me to go into labour 2 weeks after my due date. </p> <p>Best of luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142415 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:07:34 +0000 Pipers Mommy 142415@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>induced, and delivered vaginally in 22 hours, I was barely at 1 cm and LO was very high when induction was started (38 weeks, 2 days). I was very nervous about being induced but I didn't have a choice,<br /> Cytotec (3 doses) was used, no Pitocin needed; scariest part was signing the waiver that I understood that inducing labor using Cytotec was not FDA approved. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142408 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:59:29 +0000 Mrsbells 142408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My failed induction ended in c-section. I was given cervidil to soften the cervix overnight and then pitocin for an entire day but due to other complications with low fluid and the fact that I was past my due date, they didnt want to turn the pitocin to high to stress out the baby. basically my cervix never opened and I never went into active labor so I had to have c-section.<br /> My induction might have been more successful if they were able to give me higher doses of pitocin. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-142404 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:54:37 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 142404@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>bumping this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-139379 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:41:47 +0000 heffalump 139379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Good luck!</p> <p>My doctor told me she would induce a week after my due date, and we even scheduled the induction. But luckily LO came on my due date. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/induction-stories#post-139337 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:27:55 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 139337@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was told by my doctor today that if I have not gone into labor naturally by 39 weeks, she would like to induce me. I have high blood pressure and have been on blood pressure meds for eight months, and she said these will make the placenta deteriorate early. She did say she will only induce me if I am at least a little bit dilated though, because inducing someone with a very high and closed cervix can be a long process that generally leads to more interventions.</p> <p>I was wondering what everyone's induction stories are on here. Did you have a positive experience? Did it take forever? Did it lead to a C-section? </p>