This is my 2nd pregnancy. First time I was on time. This time over 3 days only getting very light period cramps here and there. My stomach keeps getting rock hard and uncomfortable. Went for a sweep on Thursday baby is not engaged unable to have it. Going back for the sweep on Monday. Been using the birth ball, exercise, long walk, sex u name but seem nothing is working. I am only scared Induction which is not till 30th March. Stress out about it. Having pubic pain too. Sorry for the long post.
Thank you in advance
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Marim
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There’s still loads of time, remember your date is only an estimation so baby isn’t late. Sometimes babies don’t even engage until actual labour. My first baby was an induction at 40+12 but second came at 40+10 of his own accord and 3 was 40+2.
I was frightened of induction too but it really isn’t anything to be scared of. People only tend to share the times it didn’t go to plan.
Just relax, enjoy spending a bit of extra time with number 1 before your having to split yourself in 2 x
Morning hun! I was 41+2 when I had my first. I had my first sweep done and was unsuccessful as he wasn’t engaged enough. I had another sweep a week later and that night I went into labour. Sounds like your body is doing everything it needs to do! Good luck xx
I know I was the same. The baby will come don’t worry, she’s just comfy on there and still cooking away. Hopefully the sweep does it for you x
Hi Marim. Yes, I tried everything under the sun to get things moving for all three of my pregnancies and can only conclude that none of it makes a jot of difference. The good news is that it sounds like your body is starting to do what it needs to do and we all know it's only a matter of time- baby can't stay in there forever!
It's worth saying that only 5% of babies are born on or before their due date, which tells me that their calculations are in need of reconsideration. They say they dont like to let ladies go more than 2 weeks over, so induce at 40+10 ish, but you dont have to agree to the induction if you dont want to. Unless there is any specific risk to you or the baby there is no reason why you can't hold out for a natural labour. My cousin did this for both her boys (despite being an older mom who they wanted to induce at due date) and they eventually came of their own accord at 40+12 and 40+8. I had a really good induction the first time round at 40+10 so had no concerns having a second at 40+2 but that one took days and days and ended up with me on the drip so the third time I decided to hold out for nature to take its course. However, in the last 10 weeks of pregnancy the scans predicted I was having a very large baby so I was pushed to have an induction at 38 weeks. I refused and held on till 40 weeks to allow my baby to finish cooking. Had three attempted sweeps at 37+4, 38 +2, 39+2 to encourage a natural start to labour but my body was clearly not ready and they were unsuccessful. When I eventually was induced (since we had now hot full term and my body still showed zero signs of considering having s go on its own) and my little boy finally did arrive he was much smaller then they had predicted and fell just inside the top end of 'normal' size so I am glad I didnt allow myself to be pressured into rushing him out sooner.
Yes only worried about induction as not aware what will happened. First pregnancy went completely different make it even more nervous. True ur body knows and when baby ready will be here. Just need to calm down and think positively.
They can induce in a number of ways, depending on what your body is doing by then. First they monitor you and baby by strapping two devices to your stomach and leaving them for atleast 20 minutes and up to about an hour (depending what the printout is telling them). They're watching baby's heartrate and movement, and if your body is having any practice contractions.
Then they will carry out a physical examination of your cervix - feels like a sweep. The midwife will insert 2 gloved and lubricated fingers and have a feel. The cervix gets softer and thinner/shorter as a gap in it dilates (opens up) to allow baby to pass through, so the midwife should tell you how open it is at the top (end of the gap closest to baby) and bottom (end closest to you), how thick/long it is ( the distance between the two ends of the gap) and the width of the gap (ie. How many cm dilated).
The results of the monitor and the physical examination will be used to determine the best way to start induction.
1. Breaking the waters - if your cervix is soft, short and dilated enough to allow it, the midwife can just break the waters to encourage labour to start. This is done by inserting a plastic hook between the two fingers up through the cervix and making a little nick in the sac. It it no more painful or uncomfortable than having the two finger examination.
2. Pessary- like a small tampon that they insert through the vagina to sit up by the cervix. It releases hormones over 24hrs that encourage your cervix to soften, thin out and therefore dilate. As this happens your body would then go into labour. They will pop you on the monitor again before and after insertion to check baby is not distressed by the events. Insertion is uncomfortable and can be painful, depending upon how far along your cervix naturally is, but it is over pretty quickly and depending on the hospital and what ward you are on you may be able to use the gas and air for this. Once they have inserted then monitored you are free to move about and eat and drink and use the toilet as normal. They will put you back on the monitor for half an hour every six hrs to keep an eye on your precious cargo and any start of contractions. After 24 hrs if labour has not started they will do another physical exam and decide the next step. They wait a bit in between each step (up to 6 hrs) to give your body time to do it's own thing.
3) second 24 hr pessary
4) 6hr pessary- same theory and process, faster release of hormones.
5) hormone gel - direct application to the cervix for even faster hormone kick.
6) hook up to a hormone drip to pump hormones into your body- a canula is inserted in your hand, you are strapped up to the monitor and a midwife sits with you as she gradually increases the flow of hormones while measuring your body's reaction to force labour to start. This is a last resort in induction- if the pessaries and gels haven't worked or if physical examination shows your cervix is ready for birth - soft, thin and dilated- but your body hasn't gone into labour ie. no contractions. It can be very intense- a fast and more painful labour as your body is not going at it's own pace and doesn't have time to release it's natural pain relief hormones. This is done on the labour ward, in a bed, and once you are hooked up you cannot move around freely as you will be on the monitor until birth.
I've had 3 inductions and 3 different experiences:
Baby no1 (now 3½ yrs old) : examination showed my cervix was still very thick/long, not at all softened and not at all dilated at either end. They inserted a 24 hr pessary to try to change that and told me that we would check again after 24hrs and most likely insert a second pessary to continue to prep the cervix for birth. After 4 hrs I started feeling period pain type cramps and they gave me paracetamol and told me it was a sign the pessary was starting to do it's job and soften the cervix. It was midnight and I knew I wasn't sleeping with those cramps so I started pacing the antenatal ward corridor reading my book (the more mobile you are the better it works and the faster labour will be). 2 hrs later the cramps were more frequent and more intense so they gave me some codeine and suggested I use the bath on the ward. 2 hrs later and back to pacing, I decided that if this was just cramps of the cervix softening and not actual labour then I was in trouble when contractions finally started. I sought out the midwives (having a cup of tea) and they offered me more paracetamol since 4 hrs had passed since my last dose. I told them it was going to need more than that and asked them to check what was going on 'down there's. The examination revealed I was 8cm dilated and entering the final (pushing) stage of labour. I was rushed down to labour ward, got on the gas and air and my first daughter was born an hour later - 5½hours after the first cramp, 9½ hrs after the pessary went in.
Baby no2 (now 1½ yes old): physical examination showed cervix was a quite soft, 2cm dilated, but still long between top and bottom. 24hr pessary inserted. About 8 hrs later I started to feel mild cramps but i had about 4 in about an hour then nothing else. After 24hrs the examination showed no progress so I had a break of 6 hrs to see if the removal of the pessary and sweep whilst doing so would kick start anything, then a second 24hr pessary was inserted. 12hrs later at 5am my waters broke but I still had no other signs of labour. A physical exam was conducted and the pessary removed. My cervix had expanded to 3cm dilated but still not very soft and still just as 'long'. We waited 6 hrs to see if my waters breaking would kick start the contractions but this didn't happen. A third 6 hr pessary was inserted and was also unsuccessful in moving things along any further. By then it had been 12 hrs since my waters broke and once that has happened it's best not to hang around too long as you and baby are more at risk of infection so they prepped to move me to labour ward and go on the drip if my body didn't swing into action by the time we got down there (4 hrs later when s bed was free etc). Once hooked up to the drip it all went from 0 to 100 in no time and my second daughter was born 3 days after I was admitted to hospital for induction but only 3¾ hrs after the drip was turned on.
Baby no2 (now 6 weeks old): physical exam showed cervix was quite soft, but still quite long, but 3cm dilated already. 24 he pessary inserted. Started to feel the effects almost immediately and started pacing the corridor once again. Felt a lot of general pressure and medium pain down below but no defined cramps or contractions. After 6 hrs they put me back on the monitor as per usual process and discovered I was actually having lots and lots of small short contractions almost immediately one after the other with no gap in between. This meant that not only were they doing nothing useful to move my body along in prep for birth but they were also causing baby some distress. Stayed on the monitor for 2 hours and the consultant was brought in to assess alongside the midwives. I was given an injection to slow the contractions and regulate them but it didn't work and baby was getting more unhappy so they removed the pessary. Physical exam showed no change to the cervix at all but the contractions now slowed to a sensible pace and I went back to pacing the corridor. For the following 4 hours the contractions were irregular, not settling into a pattern and not building in frequency or intensity ie. I did not get into established labour. When I then lay still for half an hour strapped on to the monitor the contractions stopped completely. Exam showed still no physical change down below, it was 1am and and labour ward was busy so I settled down to get some sleep. A further physical after breakfast showed some progress, still only 3cm dilated but cervix much softer and shorter so they were able to manually break my waters to start labour that way. The contractions started while I was on the monitor afterwards and i quickly entered established labour- regular, increasing contractions, all seemed to be going well from my point of view. I was on the gas and air and going strong. Unfortunately, my cervix was not playing ball. Four hours later I had still not dilated past 6 cm (needs to be 10 to push) but the contractions had got to pushing stage, my body was pushing of it's own accord and I could no longer breathe through the contractions and stop it, baby was getting more and more distressed as he was being pushed down but there was no way out, so off we went to theatre and my son was born by a very quick and efficient, yet not at all scary emergency c section.
Long story short, anything can happen in induction as with any natural labour, but they monitor you and baby at every stage and take good care of you both. The key to staying calm and positive is to be informed so ask as many questions as you want, make sure they explain everything to you and remember it is your decision what to do next - they will recommend but it is your choice. A good midwife or consultant will happily explain everything ten times until you are happy with the next steps so if that's not happening ask to speak to another person to discuss it further. In my three times I have experienced approx 10 midwives and 6 consultants (I'm old and fat so they are hanging round even when everything is going well) and all have been nothing but brilliant. I consider all three of my birth stories to be positive experiences, took home happy healthy babies and made full and speedy recoveries each time. Dont worry - you've got this! xx
You could just ask for an induction now as baby is fully cooked. I was 40+3 days and no sign of about until my sweep and I lost mucus plug but nothing until then caught an infection after & went into get assessed then they just Induced me, the pictocin got things going . Ask for an earlier induction because my baby did her 1st poo meconium inside me so there are risks if u keep going longer so ask for an earlier date
Had first sweep nothing worked. So got covid test 27th and 30th March induction. They cannot give early than this. Yes with first one my baby did poo inside me but she quite to be out. Scary thought really
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