Is an induction inevitable? So upset... - Page 2

[MomRunner]

Wow, thanks for all of the good replies!!!  It does make me feel better to hear about other people in my situation.  And thanks for everybody who posted the studies about the getting inductions!  They were really helpful, but perhaps I should have included more info in my first post.  My midwife doesn't routinely induce until 42 weeks, but the reason that we are moving that up a bit is because my baby has an umbilical cord anomoly that can lead to growth restriction/fetal distress/slightly increased risk of stillbirth.  The studies on it and the implications are somewhat inconclusive, and the baby seems to be doing fine as of now, but there is some concern about letting the baby cook for too long.  I had been getting serial ultrasounds to check the baby's growth, and even though the growth is still appropriate as of 5 weeks ago, there had been a steady decline in the growth curve throughout my pregnancy.  It is likely to be normal and no big deal, but then it could also be pathologic.  Realistically we really just don't know, and the concern is that if it is pathologic, as the pregnancy goes longer and longer we could have a progressively more stressed baby and be setting ourselves up for more complications than one would normally see.  So, I guess you could say that I am OK with the logic behind the induction - it isn't just some willy-nilly, well you hit the 41 week mark, let's kick the kiddo out sort of thing.  And I do know that inductions can be very stressful for babies - mostly why I am so concerned about having one!  I do like the idea that somebody had mentioned about just trying the cervadil to get things moving along a bit.  And I guess that I could always talk to my midwife about if it doesn't look like the induction is going to be successful, maybe just calling it a failed induction and come back in a few days to see where we are.  Has anyone done that?  Know if it is a possibility?  I do really like my midwife, and it seems that she might be willing to work with me. 

And, THANK YOU, MegBoz for sharing about your doula trying to tell you that you were inhibiting labor by being stressed out!  It isn't that easy to just go ahead and flip off the stress button, and it doesn't feel great thinking that people are blaming you for your cervix not dilating.  I am not trying to hold this baby in.  My Mom just tells me to relax, and that will put me into labor.  Gee, thanks Mom.  Really helpful.

At any rate, I am going to plan for the worst and hope for the best.  I do love the birth stories, they really do help make me feel like I can still successfully vaginally birth my baby without an epidural.  I am going to bring a birthing ball to the hospital and they have a squat bar there already (I think), so that might help move things along or ease some pain if I do have to get induced.  My hubby will sneak me some snacks and juice to help keep my energy up.  I am going to limit vag exams.  My midwife isn't huge into them anyway - she only did the two in my whole pregnancy, and that was because I asked her - stupid, STUPID, I know, but I was just soooo curious!  Any other suggestions to make childbirth more easy if I must be confined to a bed or a five foot radius around it?  Thanks. 

[womenswisdom]

Originally Posted by MomRunner 

And I guess that I could always talk to my midwife about if it doesn't look like the induction is going to be successful, maybe just calling it a failed induction and come back in a few days to see where we are.  Has anyone done that?  Know if it is a possibility?  I do really like my midwife, and it seems that she might be willing to work with me. 

<snip>

Any other suggestions to make childbirth more easy if I must be confined to a bed or a five foot radius around it?  Thanks. 

Yes, you could stop an induction that was not progressing and go home.  One thing to make sure of if you are considering that is to NOT let them break your water.  Then you are on a clock.

In terms of dealing with an induction, all of the clients I have had be induced (which admittedly is not that many) have done it without any pain meds, which is a better record than my clients not getting induced honestly!  You definitely do not have to stay in bed.  There are lots of things you can do around and in the bed to make your labor easier.  Also, many hospitals have telemetry so that you can be continuously monitored and still move anywhere you like.  In bed, you can do hands and knees, kneeling over the back of the bed, do kneeling lunges, knee/chest to help malpositions, tailor sitting and sidelying; and next to the bed you can use the birth ball, squat, lunges, standing/leaning over a birth ball on the bed or on the bed itself.  If you are able to get telemetry, many of those can even go into water, so you could shower or get in a tub if available as well as walking.  Do you have a doula?  That can make the experience better, since she'll likely have a lot of ideas about things you can do for comfort even while an induction is underway.  If not, it's possibly not to late to find one!

[jcregan]

MegBoz,  Totally argree with you about the ROM thing... for some reason I had never seriously considered that would happen without labor starting... and of course it happened!  That is one of the things I would do differently now if everything was looking ok (temp. etc.), I would wait a bit longer for induction instead of going in after 16 hours.  

[MegBoz]

:) I'm glad my ramblings were helpful.
 

Originally Posted by womenswisdom 

Yes, you could stop an induction that was not progressing and go home.

<snip>

Do you have a doula?  That can make the experience better,

ITA with that whole post!

I was going to mention a doula too. Since induction means you're already deviating from a normal, physiological birth, I think having someone there with lots of experience & knowledge is even more important.

Personally I would also say it's important to alter your expectations. I don't mean to be discouraging saying you can't forgo an epidural with an induction because I know it certainly CAN be done, but I personally wouldn't want to put as much pressure on myself to forgo the epidural. Knowing what I know about how pitocin acts, I was personally much less confident in my ability to forgo the epi if I had to be induced.

I'd try to think that if the medical intervention of induction was for the best - really the best course of action for the baby - and it inhibited my ability to cope to the point where I felt I definitively crossed that line from experiencing pain to actually suffering, then the epi would probably be the best choice. I wouldn't want to reach a point where I felt it was horrific and I was going to be faced with PTSD from the pain & not want to give birth again! It's certainly possible to have a positive birth experience with an epidural - I've known lots of women who have.

I'd focus more on maximizing my chances for a vaginal birth - so getting the epi later in labor to make sure I'm progressing well (and thus the labor slow-down-effect of the epi would leave me less likely to end up with an FTP diagnosis.) Making sure baby was in a good position before getting the epi (since you can't really move around to help baby GET into the right position once you have the epi.) and making sure they never jacked the pit level up so high so there wasn't as great of a chance of fetal distress, avoiding AROM, and making sure my MW was patient - also avoiding hourly or every-2-hours vaginal exams.

Sending labor vibes your way!!!

[MomRunner]

Yes, you could stop an induction that was not progressing and go home.  One thing to make sure of if you are considering that is to NOT let them break your water.  Then you are on a clock.

Thanks, this is helpful information.  I do like the idea that I am perhaps not obligated to see a failed induction to the end.  I did discuss with my midwife about the ruptured membranes, and she doesn't really have 'clock' to c-section.  After 24 hours of ruptured membranes, I will definitely get antibiotics, but she doesn't section people on a time clock.  Most hospital policies of getting major surgery to avoid infections seems kind of stupid!

Unfortunately, I am fairly certain that my hospital doesn't have telemetry monitoring so getting too far from the bed is likely not an option .  I have discussed getting a doula with my husband, and he feels very strongly that he would like it to be just us when I am laboring.  We'll see, at this point I don't know if we could get to know somebody well enough.  Thanks for the tips, I am going to give them a shot!.

[OkiMom]

Sounds close to my first but I wasn't effaced at all when the doctor checked. I had her 3 days later after 16 hours of labor. Not to bad since it was my first baby.

[Raingirl]

I also had cervical gel (high BP at 37 wks), and then a pitocin free, drug free natural delivery in less than two hours. If it's any encouragement, I was 9 cm and -3 station, and five minutes later my baby was out and in my arms. So your body can work fast when it's ready. I think many of those natural induction methods only work when your body is either just about to start labor or is in early labor.

It'll come, Mama. No worries.

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

How dilated you are on any given day, at any given time, how far the baby has dropped, etc... it has NOTHING to do with when you will go into labor and give birth. I spent a solid month at 2-3 cms and 70-80% effaced with my daughter at -1 or even 0 station and had regular bouts of false labor. Trust me, you will be MUCH more comfortable with your cervix tightly shut and your baby's head out of your pelvis and not having painful contractions every five minutes every night for weeks.

I know this time is really hard and you just want it to be over with and meet your baby! But try not to drive yourself crazy about when it's gonna happen- it'll happen when your baby is ready.

~Rose

[triskelion]

OP, your story is exactly why I didn't get cervical checks while pregnant! I gave birth three weeks ago and like you, there were absolutely no signs of labor being imminent towards the end. I ended up being induced at 41 w 4 d. We started with the cervical gel and altho that started contractions, they were irregular and after being in the hospital 25 hours (and having my waters broken by the midwife), I got the dreaded pitocin drip. It was definitely not the route I envisioned my birth going but I got through it ok. On the positive side, I had an very fast labor for a first time mom-after the pitocin was administered, it was only 4 hours to pushing and then just an hour of pushing for me. I'm a little disappointed in my experience and I felt bullied by my CNM, but the induction wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either. I made it through without an epidural. I did get some pain medicine in my iv but by the time I got it, I was almost to transition without knowing so all it did was make me sleepy and feel drugged between contractions. If I could do it again, I would definitely not get the analgesic. I would also strongly advise you to talk with your provider about exactly how they will administer pitocin if it comes to that. I received an increase in dosage every 20 minutes and once it got things going, it really got them going for me. Eventually I had my husband tell the nurse not to continue increasing the dosage and I think that helped me gain some control over the contractions. Also, I tried different positions while being strapped to the stupid monitor and IV pole and I actually found that being on my back in the bed during contractions and pushing was most comfortable and productive for me, which I was really not expecting. I definitely didn't have a great range of movement but I could get on the birthing ball and rocking chair easily as well as a lot of positions using the bed/table for support, so some movement was possible.  One last tip-make the nurses put the IV into your non-dominant hand/arm. They put it in my dominant hand and it was such a pain to have it in my way for the two days it was in. I really hope to have a labor that is allowed to start and progress on its own in the future but I thankfully don't feel traumatized or "cheated" by my birthing experience either. My daughter was breech until about 38 weeks so between that and setting the induction date, my expectations were lowered from "natural labor process that gives me time to labor at home" to "ANYTHING BUT A C-SECTION" so I think I'm still just relieved I was able to get her out vaginally! I really hope your little one decides to come out on their own and you can forget about all the advice you receive in this forum, but also take heart that you can still have a lot of the aspects you want in your labor if it is an induced one.                                     

[franc]

Originally Posted by JulianneW 

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/why-pregnancy-due-dates-are-inaccurate.html

This is a great article, every woman is unique. 

"Every woman's due date is calculated with the assumption that she has a 28-day menstrual cycle. In addition, it is assumed she ovulated on day 14. Then, the due date is 40 weeks from her last menstrual period.

This method of calculating due dates is extremely out-dated, presumptuous, and flawed. First of all, not all women have regular menstrual cycles. Secondly, one woman may have a 28-day cycle, while a second woman's cycle is 35 days, and a third's is 40 days. Healthy women have menstrual cycles of various lengths, and the length can even change throughout a woman's life or from one pregnancy to the next. As a result, due dates are often inaccurate."

I also found this one very interesting-

http://www.drmomma.org/2008/01/fetal-lungs-protein-release-triggers.html

Hi!

I really like your answer.

Two induced labors. I would say that most of the time they miscalculate. In my case, my husband and I are very well aware of the days we had intercourse or not...My DH is Jew. We have special rules. When I explain that to the doctors they have that funny faces, probably thinking that I have forgot that I had intercourse with my husband. My miscarriage (in December) led me to a Jewish Doctor, I was so anxious and so unhappy with my previous traumatic experience with induced labor... That Doctor, after listening to me carefully for half an hour, said that it is very possible that they miscalculate, and they give you a due date  inaccurate.