help to avoid another induction.

[tan32]

Hi all,

I am getting concerned now that this little man is going to stay put.

My DD was induced due to pre eclampsia, I had one lot of gels inserted and went down to the ward, were my waters broke on there own and my baby was born in 4hrs and 40 mins. No tears etc.

My DS i was induced at 40 + 10 days, i had gels put on, then was sent to the ward to sleep, had a repeat gels in the morning then had my waters broken at lunch, result DS was born in the shower 40 mins after. No tears etc again.

This bub I have had loads of BH, have actually lost my plug, had regular contractions for 6 days at 36 weeks but all has stopped. I have been told my cervix is very posterior, this was the same with my DS.

I am now approaching 38 weeks. I would dearly love to go into labour on my own as this will be my last bub.
Is there anyhting i can do in the next few weeks to get my stubborn cervix to move so i can avoid another induction.
Dont get me wrong i dont want to go into labour right now, i just want to avoid another induction.

[~clover~]

I don't know how to move your cervix - Mine wasn't in the right place with DD1 & the ob 'pulled' it down under her head. Owww!

But if you wanna help to get labour going on your own, I reckon get walking.

DD1 - 7 days over due, Went shopping in Coffs for the day with IL's. Waters broke at 12.30 that night. Was born at 6pm the next night. Had done alot of walking through the pg too.

DD2 - 7 days over due, Contractions started at 2.15am & stayed 15 minutes apart all day. At 3 or 4 in the afternoon I decided to go for a walk. DH & I walked about 5 k's slowly. 10.30 that night it all got full on & she was born at 7 the next morning. Had done alot of walking in that pg too.

DS - walked about 2 kms. Was born at 10.15 next morning.

I don't recommend walking for k's like I did. I only did that coz I walked every night through my pgs. About a k a night. I was pretty fit, so I was able to do it.
Just go for a walk whenever you can. It might help. Well it worked for me.

[chocolatecatty]

You could try inserting EPO (Evening Primrose Oil) capsules at night times (don't forget to wear a pad to bed!) as they help soften/ripen your cervix. And Rose Leaf Tea is supposed to be good too (to drink this time!).

Other than that, unless there's a good reason (ie: baby is distressed etc.) for them to induce you before you hit 42 weeks, simply don't let them. If you find it hard to say 'no' then just say 'yes' but don't turn up for your induction. You can always have ultrasounds to check on the functionality of your placenta.

Have you checked out the natural induction articles here?

Good luck

[christy]

Both my girls went after 41 weeks. My second came 4 days earlier than my induction with my first. The things I tried were:
1. acupuncture to ripen my cervix. Most cervix are posterior until close to labour, mine was the day before I went into labour.
2. RELAX... its easier said than done LMAO but stress causes you to clinch your jaw which in turn clinches your babies exit. Your cervix will not ripen, relax or start to dilate if you are stressed.
3. massage, I went into labour the day after a good massage.
4. I tried EPO & didn't find it changed things, but it can't hurt.

Also remind yourself & your care givers that normal human gestation is 38-42 weeks. You have plenty of time. Its okay, some bubs come early and some later. Its best for bubs to stay put as long as they want too, they will come when the time is right for them.

My acupuncturist said : The cherry will fall from the tree when it is ripe. No earlier.

super hard to do I know but if you tell your brain it enough & say it enough you may start to listen to that rather than worry about when it will happen.

[jgal]

Good question - I am in the same boat re: wanting to avoid induction again. Actually I am kind of jealous that your first two inductions sounded so easy compared to mine! I had a very long agonising labour since the contractions peaked early due to the pictocin and since my bub was not moving it just meant I had to put up with serious pain for a lot longer than I would have had I not been induced. While I had wanted to have a drug free birth using relaxation and hypnobirthing techniwues to handle the pain, I could not cope any longer after about 10 hrs of serious contractions no more than 3 minutes apart from the beginning (since the pictocin was introduced). At that point I was told that I had to have an epidural (my cervix was swelling due to the seriously bad contractions which was conteracting any dilation that was happening) as they had the pictocin at the highest dose, bub's heart rate was very slow and I wa not getting any further than 4cm dilated. If I refused the epidural, I was told I would need to have a ceasar under general anesthetic at that point as the epidural was the only chance left of me having the baby vaginally, the idea being it would relax everything a bit more and let the pictocin do it's job.

In my case induction was not able to be avoided as my waters had broken 2 days earlier and I was already 10 days over. The longest that it is deemed safe to have waters broken is two days, and most obs won't let you go more than 10 days late as the risks increase dramatically after this point. Speaking to an ob friend (in my mothers group) the other day she said that 10 days is picked because after that there are more still births and also it is unlikely that you will go into labour on your own after 10 days past your due date.

In the lead up to my due date (from about 38w)I had tried all the natural induction methods I could think of - two EPO capsules orally a day, plus... ewww - inserting them at night (hey I was desperate to have a natural birth), walking an hour a day, accupunture, raspberry leaf tea, sniffing/burning clary sage oil, sex... anything I knew of that was deemed safe (not the caster oil as I read it is quite dangerous). My waters broke on their own, but labour didn't start. When I was admitted for my induction I asked that only the minimal induction was done, so they gave me the lowest dose but increased it every hour as nothing was happening other than the painful contractions. Austin was born after a 14 hour labour, with the cord around his neck twice, which had to be cut while he was still inside me and he wouldn't breathe until rescusitated. He was still quite blue the next day and had to stay in the humidicrib to keep his oxygen levels up for two days before i could even take him out for a breastfeed. There went my ideas of lifting him to my chest at birth and letting him feed straight away, and it also meant I found it harder to bond and had a terrible time with my milk flooding in as he was ravenous by the time I was eventually allowed to feed (despite having been drip fed for the two days) and I was engorged very badly by the time I left the hospital (glad I asked to stay the extra day as I would have had the problems on my own at home if I hadn't stayed longer).

I am not trying to scare anyone, just want to make it clear why I don't want to be induced again, and why a simple "no" to the ob doesn't always work - if I wan't induced, I probably would not have a healthy little boy now. At least the ob tried everything she could to follow my wishes but after so long doing it my way and baby in danger, we had to try soemthing else.

So what I want to know is, what can I do this time around to make sure it's different? How can I make sure things progress once labour starts? I don't care if it's another long labour as long as it's not an induced labour - I think I could probably handle natural contractions a bit better than that!

[tan32]

well i managed to avoid induction

Lachlan Stewart arrived on the 6th of July, a week overdue.

I had a stretch and sweep on the wednesday night and lost my plug over the the Thurdsday, by Sat nothing had happened so a girlfriend came around and applied accupressure and clary sage, no real reaction, on the Sunday my waters started to leak, i had no contractions but went in to get checked and bang contractions started 1 minute apart, bubs came in 55 minutes.
I had also been drinking Raspberry leaf tea and think this help, as i had no sticthes, tears and a natural labour.