being induced with second child - UPDATE

[pommie]

well after going to the docs for final scan, i have been booked in for next wed to be induced. I am a little bit scared as I was not induced with my first daughter and wondered if anyone had been through an induction with a second child and whether they thought it was more painful or if it took long. i have been told our baby could be nearly 9lb at birth and have opted that if i struggle to push baby out and there is a risk baby will get stuck, they will do a c section on me which i am also scared about especially the pain and recovery afterwards.

Any advice/tips would be appreciated to help calm me down and prepare myself

[Fuschia]

I wasn't induced for no 1 (41+4, fast birth) but I was for my twins and my latest baby

For the twins my 'bishops score' was 10 and it was enough to break my waters, labour started and twin 1 was born within 3h

For latest baby, score never got above 6 and it was a much more drawn out affair including more forms of intervention

So I think it depends very much how ready your body is ... You can find out your 'score' if you ask

Good luck!

X

[ClareC]

Can't help on the induction side but have had one emergency c section and one elective. Both were absolutely fine and the recovery easy. Elective was brilliant, very surreal as a very standard op so very relaxed, can only compare to going to dentist! Sounds mad I know.

Good luck with it all.

[Strawbs]

I've only had one but was induced at 38+3 and had the gel at 10.30pm on the Monday and he was born at 1.10am on the we'd. I hyper stimulated to the drugs so they thought I was in full labour at 6am on Tuesday but it was just my uterus going mad but I was only 1cm.. 11.00pm on the Tuesday I got a spinal (3 failed epidurals) and I slept for two hours nd in that time went from 3cm to crowning.. We only knew as they woke me to check my sugars and I said I could feel a vibration and a pressure in my bum (vibration was him pushing out my catheter), so they checked and his head was right there! 3 silent pushes later and he was out.. Bloody magical! The drip that they sometimes put you on is brutal so my advice is to get drugs well and truly before they turn the drip on!!!

All in all it was a lot of waiting really as I over stimulated and was threatened with an emergency c section as he was getting distressed but then he calmed down and we just went with the flow..

X

[nikki73]

Was induced both times so can't really compare with "natural" birth. Both times were fine. I found the waiting the hardest part. The gel never really worked on me so I was in hospital 36 hrs before they could break my waters. But both my babies were in a bad position and hadn't dropped at all. I am sure others will tell you it all went very quickly after just one gel and hopefully it will for you. Re drip I agree with Stawbs and retrospectively would go for an epidural straightaway and did second time round. At tommys you are in control of the epidural. i think at kings too so with my second labour i was able to let it wear off for the pushing stage. There are also real positives about being induced: you are really looked after and it's handy if you have another child as you know when to arrange the care. good luck. x

[nikki73]

I should have mentioned that second time round my induction was much much quicker.

[clux]

Hello

I've been induced twice:

First baby: had been having irregular contractions for a few days and then my waters broke on my due date. There was meconium in the water so I then had to go straight on a monitor. Contractions weren't strong enough or regular enough so i was put on the drip. I was very strongly advised to have an epidural as they said the contractions were likely to become very very strong and fast in a short space of time. Had the epidural but did not have it topped up so by the time i needed to push i had some feeling back. Couldn't quite get her out without the ventouse as she had become distressed and her heart rate kept dropping so it became a bit of a "get her out in tehe next two minutes or it will end up being a section" situation, but it was all fine.

Second baby: one week overdue when waters broke. Again there was meconium. ANd again I had really useless contractions!! They tried the pessary thing but it didn't do anything. I actually got the train home for a few hours and came back later at that point! Then went onto the drip, again with an epidural, and had a really really lovely birth. I was absolutely determined that i was going to push this baby out without the episiotomy and ventouse, and i did. It was very relaxed and calm and i actually really enjoyed it and felt bloody proud of myself!

Good luck

x

[katgod]

Induced with number 3, spent all day with the peasant thing in, from 9 am and about midnight my waters were broken by the midwife, baby born naturally with gas and air an hour and 45 minutes later. So it was quite intense with no gradual build up. But in some ways that was better, I missed all the nagging back ache is it isn't it part and went straight to strong regular contractions. Baby nearly 10 pounds but was two weeks overdue. I think it is futile to try and compare as each delivery and baby is so different as us your degree of knowledge and experience. Good luck.

[jollybaby]

With a second birth your chances of induction succeeding are much higher. I was induced with the propess pessary. Put in on 11am on the thurs. Contractions started at 10pm - just after mr JB had gone home. Didn't get beyond 2cm the following day so they broke my waters at about 11pm. Got to 4cm and stayed there despite being on the drip. Ended up with an emergency section on the Saturday pm. However don't read too much into my story - I was a first time mum and my cervix wasn't at all ripe. My sister was induced for her second and had her daughter within 6 hours of the pessary insertion.

Following on from Clarec's post - the emergency section was fine. One of my first thoughts after having it was 'i haven't bought a changing table!' but I was fine - able to bend and run around. good luck

[Pickle]

I've been induced 3 times, all quite different, although all at 37 weeks for medical reasons:

1st - induction started on a Friday, they used prostin which was given 6 or 8 hourly, can't remember which. I had the maximum allowed number of doses and was about to be rested for 24 hours when my waters broke naturally. From there I was put on the drip, baby born 5 hours later using just a TENS machine for pain. The induction to birth process took 3 days.

2nd - one dose of prostin, they broke my waters a few hours later, baby arrived 2 hours later. Once again just TENS for pain.

3rd - in theory should just fall out?! Oh how wrong I was! Went into hospital and induction began on a Fri morning, she was finally born on Tues morning! Once again I had just a trusty TENS machine, but even though they broke my waters I was on the drip for over 12 hours and up to the maximum dose before I even went into labour! In fact labour started 5 mins after being told that if nothing happened within the next 3 hours I would be taken into theatre (I wish they'd threatened me with that 4 days earlier!)

With all 3 I've found the actual established labour part to be quick, but very manageable and have never needed strong pain relief. I may have a high pain threshold though?

Good luck! Take plenty of things in with you just in case it takes days!

[muppet]

I was induced by pessary with no 2. About 5 hours before contractions started then 1 and a half hours to birth. MUCH less stressful than natural birth with no 1 that took 24 hours and involved a great deal more pain. So it doesn't have to be a disaster! Good luck!

[simonethebeaver]

I don't have any advice on induction but I did want to comfort you a bit on the size. In-uterine weight estimates are notoriously unreliable and most 'big' babies are in any case born without incident. I did a LOT of research on this when I was told (at 40+10!) that my baby would be 'at least' 10lbs, based on her abdominal measurement. In the end, she was just over 9lbs but the midwives thought she was at least a pound lighter before they weighed her, judging on her appearance. She definitely wasn't hard to push out either, or no harder than other babies from what I've heard. Although risks of some complications are slightly raised with larger babies, try not to let this stress you out.

[pommie]

Thanks for everyone's replies.

The doctor thinks that the baby's stomach is showing big either because of my high sugar levels or because she has a problem with one of her kidneys which could be causing the stomach to seem large.

will let you all know how it went when baby is here

[pommie]

also does anyone know why they ask you to go into hospital in the evening when they are going to induce you?

[Fuschia]

Pommie, I was already an inpatient for both my inductions, but I believe that usually they admit the mother so that they can try the gel/pessary overnight because it's not unusual for it to take several doses for the cervix to soften up enough for them to break your waters... You get the chance to sleep while things get underway (think they might even do it in the antenatal ward)

The downside is that your partner can't stay overnight and I have heard anecdotally that sometimes midwives on the antenatal ward are a bit disbelieving when in fact, things are moving very quickly

For high risk inductions, they wait until a room is available in the labour ward, and your partner can stay throughout

[Fuschia]

Pommie, would you find it useful to have a meeting with the supervisor of midwives or one of your comsultant's team, and talk through what you can expect?

I found that incredibly useful to reduce my anxiety and help me feel less out of control

[Pickle]

I've always gone in before lunchtime for my inductions!

[Fuschia]

In my 4 night (!!!!) stint in the side bay on the labour ward last time round, there was a fresh batch of women arrived each evening and started off with the pessary. But when I was inpatient in antenatal, there were women there too in the early stages of induction.

I am sure the timing/location must depend a little on the situation behind the induction (as well as space)

When induced with my twins, they said they only induce twins in a labour ward room

[pommie]

Just to let you know that our second daughter was born on friday 2nd march weighing exactly 9lb after an emergency c section due to my contractions not being regular even tho i was put on the drip. I have had a hard time as i started losing serious amounts of blood in recovery afterwards so was whisked back into surgery to sort that out. Spent a week in hospital and now thankfully home.

thanks to everyone for their advice/comments

[Strawbs]

Glad to hear you are ok now but what a trauma you have been through. If I can help at all please let me know x

[KatsuQueen]

congratulations and hope you are recovering well. I remember how lovely it was to be home after a week in hospital, best wishes!

[Fuschia]

My goodness

Glad to hear you are ok after all that!

X

[nikki73]

Congratulations pommie! And sorry to hear you had such a rough time. Enjoy the cuddles and hope you get a chance to rest.x

[Annie456]

Can't comment on second child as I only have one but he was over 9lbs. I was induced with a bishops score of 7 and he was born 16hrs later with an episiotomy. I wasn't warned that he would be a big boy as i'd been measuring 37 weeks despite going 2 weeks over due. Not sure you can pay too much attention to the sizing...

[pommie]

Annie456

well it seems like they were correct about my daughters weight as she weighed in at exactly 9lbs which is what they said she would although she doesnt look like it