positive/good pitocin births?

[ears73]

Anyone have any advice to share? I am being induced tomorrow unless 41+9 baby decides to start the job tonight!! Although ob will begin w/foley bulb which I am ok with, I have not experienced pit and hear sooo many bad stories. OB said that it can be started slow and stopped quick if labor starts up on its own after foley - anyone have a success story w/pitocin to share?

[MommaShark]

Well, in the end - I had a beautiful healthy baby - high apgars (can't remember) and could walk about an hour after giving birth....... Once the epidural hit I could enjoy the rest of it - the first 15 hours were a challenge. I wanted to go natural but they broke my water and didn't want to wait any longer to start the pitocin (waited 15 hours) so I got an epidural and pitocin and it was so easy after that.......

[SeekingJoy]

One of my good friends had an unmedicated pitocin birth. She said being super well supported (husband, mom and a great nurse/friend) made it somewhat tolerable. If your doc is willing to turn down the pit once contractions start, you will certainly be better off than my friend was. Her doc kept cranking the pit "because her contractions weren't close enough together" until she and baby were in almost distress and then backing off slightly. Her doc also broke her water super early, which probably made her more miserable.

[Juvysen]

I had a good no-pain-meds pit birth. Honestly, I think my body was pretty much ready to go and would have in the next day or two - it was about 6 hours of laboring, two of pushing (so 8 hrs all together). I had asked to be able to walk around and use the jacuzzi tub, which I was able to. They did stop the pitocin at the end. I had a very fast transition - about 20 minutes from 6-10 cm, in the tub, but that was pretty intense, and half way through they turned off the pit and it was still very intense... but then that's what you expect with a fast transition. It was my first birth and I didn't know better, so I had expected it to be very uncomfortable, and it was. I will say, though, they told me right before I got in the tub that I was 6 cm and should expect another 4 hours (one hour per cm) so when it got so intense in the tub I was promising myself that when I got out, I could ask for drugs. Luckily, when I got out, they checked me and said "hey, you're 10 cm! You can push when you're ready!" and all the pain went away and I started pushing.

The next day, I had piles of nurses coming in and saying "we hear there was an AMAZING birth in here last night! everyone's talking about it at the nurses station!" which I found slightly creepy and invasive, but I guess they didn't see a lot of pitocin births that had no pain meds involved... or maybe they just do that for everyone, which I just find creepy. The second time I had a home birth, and it was kind of nice to have it be more intimate, you know?

[Materfamilias]

No advice, just some that you start labor today!

[ears73]

Originally Posted by Materfamilias

No advice, just some that you start labor today!

Thank you sooo much!

[BedHead]

I had two pitocin births, for both it took two tries on separate days before I went into labour. The first was painful and I did end up having demerol in prep for an epi, but he decided to come before they got the epi in. He came out sunny side up, though, which was the cause of the pain more than the pit I think. He was also perfectly fine after being born, just a bit sleepy. The second time I had pit they didn't get it cranked up full blast the second day before I went into hard labour, so they turned it off and let me go. It was my third and I laboured without pain meds and she was born perfect without even any tears for me. I credit being well informed and insistent with that outcome.

[kittyhead]

if it helps at all, i had pitocin with my second birth but not my first and i didnt find the pitocin contractions to be any more difficult. the second birth was way easier, actually, but that might have been because my first was posterior. anyways, i was scared of the pitocin but i didnt notice much of a difference. i was 5 cm and they just gave me a little bit and things started right up, so i guess i was just ready to go. apgars were 8 and 9 i think and he came out yelling!

[windorabug]

I had an pitocin induced birth. It was pretty smooth sailing (lots of contractions no pain at all) until my water broke & then it was way more intense. I really had no support & feel like if I did have someone there to shoo away the epidural pushing nurse & help me through the contractions I may have been able to do it without the epidural since I felt I had to push after only about 45 minutes after my water broke. The epidural pretty much wore off right as I began to push. I felt every bit of her entrance to the world
Good luck!

[AllofGrace]

Me! My second was pit-induced and was no harder than my first very intense back labor (induced b/c 41 weeks with no fluid left and GBS positive). It was only 5 hours from pit starting to baby out, and I was able to do no pain meds. A great midwife and supportive husband who did lots of counter pressure really made the difference.

For me the "work it (pit) up slowly and back off when you can't handle it" approach worked super well. After 3 hours it was turned off all together as it was clear that my body was taking over (I had 2 false starts the week before and was 3-4cm dilated when I got there).

And use telemetry monitors so you can walk/move around! My biggest fear was being strapped to the bed. The toilet ended up being my favored laboring place and I stayed there until pushing.

She was 8 lbs, 10 oz, posterior, and I think her positioning had a lot to do with labor needing to be kick-started. I was scared and honestly tearful that I had to be induced, but all ended beautifully, and was actually much easier to mentally process afterwards than my first spontaneous birth that ended with episiotomy, 3rd degree tear, and a vacuum extraction.

You can do this! Happy laboring

[etsdtm99]

i've had 2 pit labors/births and while they were my ideal they weren't horrible either.. the first was pretty bad, contractions right on top of each other etc.. but i got an epidural, it worked, and she came 11 hours later.. (19 hours total..)

the 2nd time, it was only 12 hours start to finish - pit induction, i could have gone without pain meds if i had been progressing, but i wasn't progressing 'fast enough' so they turned up the pit and turned it up and turned it up until the ctx were right on top of each other and i panicked and got an epidural .. still had a vaginal birth though, and i think that is positive in itself

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by AllofGrace

And use telemetry monitors so you can walk/move around! My biggest fear was being strapped to the bed. The toilet ended up being my favored laboring place and I stayed there until pushing.

Yes. the telemetry unit was CRUCIAL to my being able to labor without drugs. Seriously. They had me sit in the bed for 30 minutes (because they weren't getting clear heart rate feeds on the telemetry unit) and it was hellish - and I was only at 5-6 cm. Staying in bed did NOT work for me. It was a big thing for me the second time around - I would be refusing to stay still for anyone, and if they wanted to get the heart rate, they'd have to come to me I ended up having a homebirth the second time so it wasn't an issue, though.