Pitocin-how bad? - Page 2

[fugeeo]

Acupressure

Learn from a chinese medical doctor the best places for acupressure on your body. There are cases where acupuncture can even invert the baby if not positioned correctly. The acupressure can help with pain, increasing contractions, dilating, descending ...

I am not an expert, but in the learning process and fairly intuitive.
These are in case you are sure you want to induce.

But also I feel a chinese medical doctor will have greater intuition and can bring preventative measures, that strengthen what is weak in your body from the beginning, which is probably the cause for the "late" labors.

In that way, you will know that you have done everything. And then when things get to be "too much" for you not to worry any longer, then go ahead and use the western medical approaches.

First thing is first, take your own intuition into your hands, find out what you need. Chinese medicine is first about prevention, and is never a last minute, "ok, let's give her the drugs, type of thing". Chinese medicine also incorporates diet if you are willing to learn about it.

I agree also that waiting longer is good. One thing in prevention is also to know your bodies best times for conception, if you are able to plan your birth. These times may be closest to the timing of your own birth moon or conception moon. Look into it, look into knowing your fertility cycles.

[Selena]

Originally Posted by db1

Hi ....Everyone....

In response to what I have read in this forum...I have had two kids and used pitocin on one and the other natural...I can tell you from my own personal experience. I found that the pitocin made the birthing process easier...because..it made the contractions more regular by doing so I found it easier. With no fetal distress or side affects after. My first son my labor was a 1/2 hour long. My second son it was an hour long both of them were full term. I

This really depends on your pain tolerence. I want to wish you all a happy birthing expereince. Not everyone needs and epidural...when you have pitocin....I delivered both of my children in a hospital...in birthing rooms...and found that experience to be really wonderful as well.......

is this a typo? I can understand saying that drug free birth is easy without drugs when you only labor for an hour or a half an hour... but pitocin for 12-16+ hours is much different than 30 minutes...

Could you explain why your midwife gave you pitocin? Were you overdue?

[MrsMoe]

Originally Posted by Selena

is this a typo? I can understand saying that drug free birth is easy without drugs when you only labor for an hour or a half an hour... but pitocin for 12-16+ hours is much different than 30 minutes...

Could you explain why your midwife gave you pitocin? Were you overdue?

I wonder this also. The pit made my labor very... difficult.

[BelCanto]

Hi Lula,

I haven't read thru all the posts, but wanted to share my experience. My dd (3 yrs) was induced w/ pitocin. Being my first birth, it was long and hard, especially b/c of the pitocin. Once my water broke the contractions were all incredibly intense, with no wax or wane. I did not have an epi.

I had hoped to avoid an induction with my 2nd, born 6 days ago, but was unable to do so and again, ended up with the pit drip. My experience was completely different, however. My l&d nurse was awesome. I asked her before we started if it was possible that my body would kick into labor on its own and if so, if we could lower the drip. She said "absolutely! It does happen. That's why I will be easing you into it and once you become steady, we will turn it down to see how things progress." Well, my body did get started on its own and my pit drip was at a minimal level. I even had ctx that weren't as intense. Now, some of this could be related to the fact that it was my second birth, I'm sure.

Anyway, although it was not what I had hoped for, it was done for good reason. I had, again, another big baby, and he had mild shoulder distocia. It could have been worse if I would have waited.

I hope things turn out for you the way you plan! I know how it is to hope for a natural vs. pit induced labor.

Best of luck!

--Jennifer

[WC_hapamama]

I'm going to chime in with the person that said pitocin wasn't bad.

I had 2 pitocin induced labors, and I didn't have those wicked, nasty contractions that everyone says pitocin causes.

The contractions that I had with my first labor, no pitocin involved, was MUCH worse.

[tinyshoes]

Originally Posted by Selena

is this a typo? I can understand saying that drug free birth is easy without drugs when you only labor for an hour or a half an hour... but pitocin for 12-16+ hours is much different than 30 minutes...

Could you explain why your midwife gave you pitocin? Were you overdue?

uh, the poster is new member and this was her first post at mothering.com

Everyone has to start somewhere, but troll-y troll-y...you never know! There's nothing that would rile everyone at mdc like a pro-Pit post, methinks!

proceed with caution....

[Ammaarah]

I think Pit sucks, but I didn't have awful pain from it. I stalled out and got scared into a c-sec, though.

[georgia]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

....and I didn't have those wicked, nasty contractions that everyone says pitocin causes...

You are so fortunate to have had a positive experience with Pit. Itseems the exception is proving the rule

I am reminded, again, how different, every birth is, every woman's body responds to labor, the circumstances surrounding it, the interventions, etc and how important it is to gather information and experiences for ourselves rather than blindly accepting what the medical model might be pushing.

[PaytonsMom]

Originally Posted by georgia

I am reminded, again, how different, every birth is, every woman's body responds to labor, the circumstances surrounding it, the interventions, etc and how important it is to gather information and experiences for ourselves rather than blindly accepting what the medical model might be pushing.

Amen!

[be11ydancer]

Yep. Pitocin sucks. I'm longing for my next birth when I can actually go into labor when I'm supposed to and feel a real, honest contraction. No Pitocin, no epidural, no c/s. Just a real contraction. That's what I'm after. I read somewhere that induced labors will almost always lead to latch troubles with the baby, and thus, decreased rates of breastfeeding. I think this was in "Husband Coached Childbirth" by Dr. Bradley. Also, check out "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin. Her info about induction, Pitocin, cyctotec, cervadil, and other induction meds is priceless.

[Selena]

Pitocin doesn't always causea bad latch. Both of my previous births were pitocin induced, but I only had nursing problems with my first because they gave him formula because he had lowblood sugar (idiots. of course he did, they didn't let me eat for 2 days... ) But when he first was born, my Dr gave him to me and I puthim to the breast and he latched on like a champ. It wasn't until he had had a couple bottles that he no longer wanted to nurse.... 3 weeks of hell, there. Anna, she nursed perfectly from the beginning.

I am not neccessarily disagreeing with you, I still think pitocin is evil but it doesn't always cause a bad latch.

[PaytonsMom]

My ds had a GREAT latch. I can't imagine that a latch is tied to Pit. I think it's just depends on the baby and the mom being relaxed.

[AndiG]

just jumping in here with , no pit may not cause bad latching BUT the epis so many people end up with as a complication CAN cause suckling and latching problems.

[bluets]

i had a pit-induced labor. my water broke at 4am and i went back to sleep (my childbirth instructor got a big kick out of that!)... called the doc's office around 8:30am and casually sauntered in for an exam around 10am. my OB insisted on inducing.

this was my first birth, so i have no baseline for comparison. i had an awesome doula and my dh was superb as well. i seem to recall that the contractions were quite manageable for the first 3 hours or so. by the time they had me hooked up to IV, i think it was 11:30am. i was getting uncomfortable and wanting a cerv exam late in the afternoon. i think they turned down the pit after the exam.

the monitors were really useful for dh - he knew when a contraction was coming and would apply my hot pad to my tailbone. the contractions radiated from my upper right side, around my belly, and then drove into my SI joint. owie. we used a number of positions and between position changes, breathing and the hot pad, the pain was quite manageable.

i will admit that labor (luckily) progresses fast in our family. when i had reached my pain threshold, and i was thinking about asking for pain meds (which would have meant signing the consent forms between contractions), i learned it was time to push. yay. ds came out in 3 or 4 pushes (10 minutes in all).

while it wasn't my dream birth, it wasn't a nightmare either. the nurses respected and supported my decision to not have an epi. in a hospital with 80% medication rate, they were elated that i was prepared to try to not have an epi.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by georgia

You are so fortunate to have had a positive experience with Pit. Itseems the exception is proving the rule

I am reminded, again, how different, every birth is, every woman's body responds to labor, the circumstances surrounding it, the interventions, etc and how important it is to gather information and experiences for ourselves rather than blindly accepting what the medical model might be pushing.

It probably helped that I was already somewhat dialated and effaced when they started the pitocin both times. Most of the people I've talked to that had an awful time with the pitocin weren't dialated or effaced as much as I was both times.

[KittyKat]

Pit is horrid evil stuff. I had it with my first (unecessary induction pushed on me by lying EVIL doctor. Yes, he incarnates everything awful about OBs and no, sadly, I am not exaggerating, ask any of the LLL leaders around here and they'll tell you there are dozens of horror stories about this doc) and I needed an epi at 3 cm because of the extreme pain. My son was sleepy for several days, and we had trouble getting started nursing from all of that.

By contrast, I got to that point where I couldn't take it anymore after 5 hours of labor with my second child. I was so upset that I wanted drugs, and I couldn't do it anymore... then the nurse did a check and I was fully dilated. Next contraction the pushing urge set in and she was born a few minutes later. All of my labor except the last 30 minutes was so mild I'd hardly even describe it as "pain." As soon as the nurse said I was fully dilated the rational part of my brain said "Oh, then the reason I felt I couldn't take anymore was transition." and I didn't feel hopeless anymore, but powerful and strong!

Some things you may or may not have tried before for labor prep:

Evening Primrose oil, started at 35-36 weeks. Take it orally, starting once a day and working up to one at each meal, and one applied vaginally at bedtime. No need to poke it, the gelatin dissolves.

Red Raspberry Leaf. I like to take it all through pregnancy, but some recommend starting in the second or third trimester. If you start in the first trimester, what works for me is one cup/day first tri, 2 cups/day second. 3 cups/day third, and a quart or so per day starting around 36-37 weeks. I make it from bulk herbs, just toss a handful into a quart jar and let it sit covered overnight.

Some people swear by the 5w herbal blend you take during the last 5 weeks of pregnancy. I've never tried it yet, but it sounds like it has helped people.

You can find lots of good info at the midwife archives.
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives

Hope this helps!

Kathryn

[PaytonsMom]

Originally Posted by KittyKat

Pit is horrid evil stuff. I had it with my first (unecessary induction pushed on me by lying EVIL doctor. Yes, he incarnates everything awful about OBs and no, sadly, I am not exaggerating, ask any of the LLL leaders around here and they'll tell you there are dozens of horror stories about this doc)

If you weren't in GA I'd swear we had the same doc. UGH.

[Koloe]

I was induced 9 weeks ago due to low amniotic Fluid at 39 weeks 2 days with my first child. I was already 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced when I got to the hospital. The midwife wanted to break the water. But then they put you on a clock - even though they said they really don't and if it doesn't work you get the pit anyway. So talking through my options - they wouldn't do the stuff applied directly to the cervix because of how far dilated I was - said it wouldn't help. So after asking about Pitocin and finding out she would start it out low and slowly increase it (most places I guess just hook you up and pump you full of it to get things moving quickly) and that if labor was progressing well (the textbook 1 cm an hour) that I could be disconnected from the pitocin and the continuos fetal monitoring that goes with it and attempt the water birth I wanted. So I choose the Pitocin over breaking the water (after much discussion, the only options they gave me) so that my baby could keep her cushion for as long as possible. After 4+ hours on pit and only dilating 1 cm and becoming fully effaced (I was having contractions that I needed to breath through, but nothing I'd call L&D for LOL) the midwife wanted to break the water and I pushed for the telemetry unit instead (mobile continuous monitoring) - so I could get up and move around - what I'd been wanting to do all along. One stroll around that level of the hospital is finally what got my contractions going. What a concept - moving gets labor progressing. The contractions were pretty intense at times, especially towards the end when I no longer got the breaks between contractions. I was waiting for the rest between hard labor and pushing I had read about, but it never happened. I wondered at the time if it was because of the Pit. Every thing I'd read about natural child birth said that things got better at the pushing stage, but it didn't. After I pushed as much as I could and felt like, I still had horrible cramping/contractions I needed to breath through. And the L&D people were wondering WHY I was doing heavy breathing and not relaxing between pushes - I couldn't. I know they turned the Pitocin down at some point, but they never offered to shut it off so I could labor or birth in water and I discovered it gets very difficult to advocate for yourself when your that far into labor. Which I'm still very disappointed about.

But I never got any pain meds during labor (took them when they sewed me up though - 3rd degree tear, ouch!). I didn't think I really needed them, though when the contractions were not letting up I could understand why women would want them, it was not what I would call fun. But I was on Pitocin for about 11 hours, with about 8 hours of contractions that demanded my attention. Over all I didn't think it was that bad. But definitely not what I had wanted for my birth experience. I had planned a home birth, but got risked out of it because of Gestional Diabetes and then I got induced and didn't get to try for a waterbirth or even try laboring in water. But I did manage to do it without any pain killers - part of me wasn't sure if I would be able too, especially with being induced. And I felt great after the baby was born. So I was happy about that. The birth I had envisioned got flushed down the toilet for reasons I disagreed with.

I have the feeling that my labor would have been less painful had they just left me alone and let my body do it's own thing. And the baby would probably have been just fine too.

The thing that galled me the most was the next day the midwife told me I had gotten my "natural childbirth". LOL What's "natural" about induction and having to fight for the right to walk around????? Evidently if you don't get pain meds - regardless of what else they do to you - it's a "natural" childbirth.

Sorry for the long rambling post.

[candiland]

This really stuck out to me:

My mother only went into labor with 1 out of the 4 of us, never dilated past 3 and had 4 c-sections. Several of her sisters also have this. I felt like somewhat of a success because I managed a vaginal birth. (my goal was also drug free which did not happen obviously)

When our moms were giving birth, they were directly experiencing this country's medical birth nightmare. What is your grandmother's birth history? Your great-grandmother's? Your great-great-grandmothers? And her mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's? Do you see what I'm getting at here? Your family lineage has survived since the dawn of mankind. And suddenly, when medical birth management is at its height, the bodies of the women in your family suddenly begin to malfunction and must be "saved" by "modern medicine".

Something to ponder on there.

[klouise55]

i had a midwife assisted birth, but was still given pitocine because my water broke but had no contractions for 12 hrs. It was awful once it got started, but she kept the level low by watching the internal monitoring - i really wanted to avoid an epidural. The pain was bad - i remember being in a zone, screaming in pain, for most of it. My son did have lowering heartrate, oxygen problems etc. but i don't know if that could be from the pitocin alone since when he was born the cord was wrapped around his neck... Luckily, everything worked out fine and he was healthy but i will definitely try to avoid the pitocine next time around!