Talk to me about pitocin induction!

[*GreenMama*]

Can anyone here who's been through a pit induction school me a little? I just read the amniotomy vs. pit thread, but didn't want to hijack it with pit only questions so... how bad is it compared to natural labor? Did you need the drip the entire labor, or was there a point that you were able to have them stop it? Were you heavily monitored? Able to move around? Anyone have pit and not have pain meds? Is it doable?

Just getting nervous with the induction talk over here. Still hoping that I'll just go into labor like last time, but also wanting to be armed with knowledge for next weeks sono and mw appt.


Also, what about pit vs. castor oil?

[Kontessa]

I had three hospital births that where mostly started with Pit. I had to have an Epi with each as I was crawling out of my skin. I was stuck in bed, IV, and felt helpless. With my son who is now two, I went in, was at 7cm, was held down so they could put an IV in me while I was pushing! They put two bags of Pit in me. From being checked to the birth was only 20 minutes. It was so tramatic. The after pains, caused by the pit had me in tears and fearing there was another baby inside me. I think I was really out of my mind in pain and no pain meds where given till 4 hours after, and even then only tylenol. If I had not gone to the hospital I really believe it would have been a beautiful birth as I did NOT hurt durring the labor, I was to 7 with contractions and having a wonderful time singing in choir, leaking fluid. LOL

Thus I had a home birth this time. All the Dr did was give me painful pit for NO good reason and catch the baby. In short, if I ever have a hospital birth and need Pit, I will infact be planning on an Epi as well. My plan though is homebirths for future children and will fight for them as I did this time. BUT things happen. Pit for me = Epi.

As for castor oil.... it does nothing to me. Everyone is different though. I would certainly try it over PIT!


((((HUGS))))

[angelcat]

I had pit, to augment labour. (I did go into labour on my own, the night before I was scheduled to be induced)

I had back labour, and I very much wanted an epi, but the nurses at my hopsital were against epis. I had fentanyl ( i know, mispelled) and it was joke. It didn't help at all.

I had constant monitoring, but I could move aorund all I wanted, try different positions, sit on the birth ball (loved it. It was the only thing that helped the pain).

They stopped the pit once it was decided I needed a c-section. The pain was every bit as bad without it though.

[*GreenMama*]

bumping to the top to hopefully hear more experiences on pit induction!

[Kerlowyn]

Not in your DDC, but wanted to chime in since you were looking for experiences

My last birth was a pit induction. I was pretty overdue, and my gut was telling me it was time to get the baby out.

I got to move around as much as I wanted, I just had to take the pole with me. They did intermittent fetal monitoring by hand. I was planning on a water birth, and did get in the tub, but did not birth there (I wanted to get out)
I had no pain meds.

As far as pain, it was the same as my second, all natural birth. However, for me labor pain is pretty intense.

It is a tough decision to make :

[kristenyostdc]

I had pit at some point in all of my labors and that is why I went with a midwife instead of an ob this time!! Being in labor on pit is very hard! The contractions are much more intense, they make you stay in bed laying on your back hooked up to monitors and don't really let you get up unless you have to pee. I didn't have an epi with my 1st, but I was only in labor for 2 hours. With my 2nd and 3rd I did have a epi, because the labors were longer and I just couldn't handle the contractions. I am determined to not have an epi this time and I think that not being on pit will help a lot!!! Try other methods of induction at home before you let them induce labor with pit!!!

[dcgrl]

Originally Posted by Kontessa

With my son who is now two, I went in, was at 7cm, was held down so they could put an IV in me while I was pushing! They put two bags of Pit in me. From being checked to the birth was only 20 minutes. It was so tramatic. The after pains, caused by the pit had me in tears and fearing there was another baby inside me. I think I was really out of my mind in pain and no pain meds where given till 4 hours after, and even then only tylenol. If I had not gone to the hospital I really believe it would have been a beautiful birth as I did NOT hurt durring the labor, I was to 7 with contractions and having a wonderful time singing in choir, leaking fluid. LOL

Kimmy, why would they give you pit if you came in at 7cm?? That's seriously messed up...

[DeChRi]

I had no pit with my first and did have pit with this one. We consented to pit after my water broke and much time later, not so much as a contraction. My Dr knew that I wanted a birth free of pain meds and that I had done that with my first. I did sign for the epidural at that point, Just in case I decided I wanted it, having heard horror stories. They agreed to start at the lowest dose and very slowly increase in hopes that we could kick start my own body. They noted, and in my research this is true, that the two main reasons pit is so painful is that one, it kicks contractions off with much force and your body doesn't get that natural build-up of pain, natural release of endophins that help with that, etc...and two, that at some point your body kicks in and you suddenly have overdose of oxytocin/pitocin and they are way more painful.

So we started at 3:30pm with 2ml of pit, and after an hour, no contractions. They upped to 4ml, and I had one contraction with the next hour. They kept slowly increasing by 2ml's and they didn't get super painful till maybe 8-9pm. But they were tolerable with relaxation etc. At 8pm I was only 4cm, but at 10pm I think my body kicked in. Pit was at 20ml (most she could give without Dr sign-off) and I was suddenly things hurt bad. At 11:45pm I was 7cm, mid-transition, and all the joy that comes along with it (puking, shaking, etc). That last 45 minutes sucked bad but baby came without pain meds, at 12:47am.

That being said, my first drug free birth....I labored all day, was only 3cm at 5pm, then hit a horrid transition, puking, shaking, quick dialation, quick pushing.

So my final conclusion was that even with the pit, my labor were very similar in progression, and the pain level was slightly higher at the end with the pitocin.

I was not very pitocin saavy so keep in mind this is just my 2 cents here. My nurse was able to situation my IV and work with me on monitoring so I could be up and moving around in a set area at least, while on the IV with pit, which was great for pain control. By the time it got bad, I didn't want to move at all. I think that part of what made me get through that was that they did a very slow pit increase, so my body ramped up just like it did with my non-pit birth. I never got "slammed" with contractions like I hear a lot of the time, until transition, which is pretty normal for my body as my first was that way too.

They also watched things to see when my body kicked in so they could dial back the pit. Keep in mind I lucked out with an AWESOME nurse that was doing everything she could to help me get through with no pain meds, and told me later if she had a fourth baby she would do it at home in the water.

I was lucky in that case. All that being said, by 7cm I was beggin for an epidural. I would have felt no shame, given the pit, in getting one. I know for many it is quite a bit more painful and not the same experience I had, and in that case I would probably opt for pain meds.

Just my experience....I hope it all goes well for you!! Much luck.

[Momma Aimee]

both my births were Pit births. Both times i started on my own and labor stalled and would bnot restart.

pit is more intense than natural labor -- you need to accpt that and be open to pain managemnt ... dose or two of fentnall can take the knife point out of them without making you goophy and without toally dulling the contractions away ... and allow you to breath.

pit is more regular -- being artifical if it routine, there are not breaks for rest and all the contraction are just as intense ... no weak ones here and there.

With Pit they will also give you IV fliuds, don't know why as you can still drink ...

with Pit you have to be on a monitior for the baby's heart -- but i was still allowed -- both time -- to rock int eh rocking chair, walk around (as far as my leash would allow which was like 8 feet) and sit ont he birth ball. i was allowed to rock on my hands and knees too

when you have pit you also have to have blood pressure checked a lot

they allowed me to take breaks off the monitior where i could walk with the IV pole.

my OB was willing to start Pit, give it an hour or two, then stop it to see if my labor would continue on it's own ... i think that may be up to the OB ... but YES that is "reasonable"

that being said -- witht he first birth, even on Pit, I did not dialte ... in 6 hours of Pit i enlarged one cm ....... but in my 2nd I was barely on the Pit 6 hours total so I think that while Pit can force the body to contract ... there is still a lot of control our bodies have and you can still re-rail the process with your mind

[Intertwined]

Also not in your DDC club (so I don't know why you are considering an induction), but I've had 2 pit inductions so I thought I would chime in.

Basically to say that unless I had a medical reason for induction, I would never, ever do it again. And for most medical reasons I would even consider they would probably warrant a C-section anyway.

During a pit induction, much is done to you and babe that can cause stress. You will have continuous monitoring, IV, BP cuff and pulse ox monitor, and usually AROM. Getting out of bed really depends on a combination of the labor nurse you are assigned and how strong willed you are. In one of my labors I was encouraged to be in bed the whole time. In another, my nurse requested I get up and on the ball, etc.

Like a PP said, how they manage the pit makes a huge difference, as well as when (if) they AROM you. Your Bishop score is also a huge player in how your labor ends (vaginal or c-section). An induction does not (DOES NOT) cause your body to release the endorphins you get the benefit of in natural labor. So be open to pain relief.

My final word? I wouldn't walk in to an induction for anything less than a serious medical condition and I would NOT do it without a doula. I had an epi with both but I think I could have avoided it with number 2 if I had had a doula.

I had natural (and nearly pain free) home births with numbers three and four. I am planning another for this baby.

I wish you the best and hope that your birth is gentle for both you and babe.

[Curlita]

During my first labor I had pit augmentation/induction. My water had broken but 12 hours later I was only having mild, sporadic contractions.

I think that your pit experience will depend a great deal on your doctor/midwife and your hospital. I did require continuous fetal monitoring on the pit, but our hospital has wireless telemetry available so that I could be monitored and still move around freely, change positions, sit in the tub, etc. My labor nurse was also great about upping the pit drip verrrrrrrry slowly and incrementally. I did not have any pain meds and made it to transition without. At that point my son was having decels and I had an emergency section. He had a double nuchal cord.

For this labor I had HOPED that my contractions would not be as intense without pit, but they were actually MORE intense and painful, even from the beginning of my labor. I don't think that my body was ever really committed to laboring with Dylan (my first) because of the cord issue - somehow his system and my system both knew that we were all stuck b/c of the cord... so possibly that is why my contractions never got that strong, even with pitocin.

Honestly, the worst part of being induced via pitocin for me was the monotony of being in the hospital for all those hours waiting for things to get going.

Ask a lot of questions about how you will be monitored, how the dosage will be adjusted, whether you can move around.... I really hope you can avoid an induction, but if not... be an informed consumer and it will hopefully not be as bad as you fear. Good luck!

[MamaHippo]

My membranes ruptured on their own at 38 weeks with DS and I was induced by an OB who said the baby had to be OUT within 12 hours ( now know thats not true), so I got pit. I went from no contractions to full on, whole-body PAIN in about a half hour. There was no steadiness to them, they just came and came and came and came. I did not have an epidural and it felt like a bear trap closing over my whole pelvis and back with every contraction. I got as far as 6 cm before I got a c-section for fetal distress, which my midwife believes now was directly related to the pitocin, not from nuchal cord. They kept cranking up the pit cus they said my contractions were not dilating me fast enough, and every time they turned it up, DS's heart rate plummeted. I will not put a child through a pit induction again.

If I have to go into the hospital with this one ( if she's not born by 42 weeks), I hate to say it but we will be going right for a repeat c-section, rather than go through risking the baby's health with pit again. If I can't do it naturally, I'm not going to do it at all.

[Momma Aimee]

while i know if i birth again it will again be a Pit induction at week 38 -- like the last two -- and while i am ok with that ... with this pit birth i still was active and actually caught C myself ....

and I dont see Pit as evil as some interventions ....

however a lot if going to depend on the doc and nurse ... or CNM (my first pit induction was with a CNM) .... both times i have been encouraged to be up, move, be vocal and so on ... so while i was "tied" to the monitor ... i wasn't really that limited ... honstly doubt, save the whirpool, there was anything i would have done that i didn't get to do .....

a word of warning .... i know one mom who is allergice to Pit ..... like any other medication, or anything ... you can be allergic ......

Just think ahead ..... i asked that we turn it on for 2 hours then give me time off of it .... OB was fine with that, but i do not know if he would have OFFERED it -- yk? .............

[dixie_74]

I had similar experiences to pp's. My water broke and 10 hrs later I went to the hospital. The nurses told me they were going to start pit because that was what the doc would want and treated me like a child when I insisted they speak with the OB before I took their word for it. As they were hooking me up and getting me ready, I expressed a desire for as natural birth as possible and the nurse just laughed at me, literally! The whole time I felt as a bystander to their process.

I say this to remind you that if it happens, it is still your birth and who you have in the room with you makes all the difference in how you do. For us, it was our first birth and we had two nurses that were ready to get it over and done with and knew the quickest easiest way to get there. Their attitude totally undermined my ability to cope with the pain, and I was forced to have an epi because of my blood pressure (and the epi didnt help, so they sedated me).

In my second birth, I was delivering at a birth center with two MW's and they totally believed in my ability to birth my baby, and they enabled me work thru the pain and have a natural birth. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and dont let anyone undermine your strength to do what you need to do for your baby.