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I was given Pitocin to start contractions after my water broke early. It's honestly not as bad as people claim and make it out to be. I did get an epi. I ultimately ended up with a c-section but it had nothing to do with the drugs and everything to do with the position of the baby.

I got pitocin after my water broke but I didn't start getting any real contractions on my own. They started the pitocin at about 6:30pm. They checked me at 9:00pm and I was 4cm. In the next 30 minutes after that, the contractions were nearly unbearable. I was begging for an epidural, so they got me back onto the bed to check me and I was 10cm and ready to push! Needless to say, I didn't get the epidural. My daughter was born at 9:42pm, so I went from 4 to 10 cm in half an hour!

I had pitocin and an epidural. Got the epi around 5 cm, when things were definitely getting uncomfortable!

I was induced 10 days past my due date with a very big baby - 10 lbs 9 oz. I went in at 7am and was hooked up to the pitocin by 9am. They increased the dose every 30 minutes until I reached the maximum dose. I was only 1cm dilated and almost fully effaced by the time I got to the hospital. I barely felt contractions until mid afternoon. It was around then that she broke my water. The contractions were more painful and were frequent, every 1-3 minutes, but I could breath through them. They started picking up and getting more painful, so around 4 or 5pm they stopped the pitocin to see if my body would take over and so I could get into the tub. At first it seemed like labor was stalling out, but after I was in the tub for about 30 minutes the contractions came on strong. They'd last about a minute every 3 minutes or so and got progressively stronger, longer and closer together. I got out of the tub around 11 or midnight. I was 8-9 cm. At this time the contractions were spaced about 30-45 seconds apart. By the time I got back to my room (the tub was in a separate room) they were almost unbearable and were even closer together. I was sitting on a portable toilet because I couldn't get on the bed. I lasted there for an hour or so, but I was very out of it and zoned out. I tried the shower next, and the contractions were nonstop. They were coming right on top of one another with no break in between and peaks every 30-40 seconds. That was the worst part - not having a break between contractions. I ended up getting a spinal block, which is one shot that's supposed to last about 3 hours. For whatever reason mine wasn't very effective and didn't last very long - about 30 minutes, but then I was stuck in bed until 2 hours after DS was born. It was an amazing 30 minute break from the pain, but then I felt everything afterward anyway, and didn't think it was worth it. I started pushing around 2am and DS was born at 6am.

If I could redo it, I would have asked them to increase the pitocin more slowly during the morning and mid-day. I think if it had been a more gradual increase, that my contractions wouldn't have come on like a mack truck around 7pm with no breaks in between. If I had even 30 second breaks between contractions to breath and move, I think I would have avoided the spinal and any other pain meds altogether. I also would have insisted on walking more with the wireless monitor. One was broken so I was limited and didn't push the issue as much as I should have. I would have stayed in the tub longer when the contractions were worse and would have done everything to avoid the spinal. Being stuck in the bed after I got it made pushing DS out so much harder. The contractions didn't have much of a break, so it was hard to tell when to push and when to stop. The first hour or so of pushing wasn't really productive at all. I would have much rather given birth squatting or kneeling on my hands and knees. Or in the tub, as I'm going to aim for next time.