Induction at 36 weeks - twins

Hi everyone,

A quick question - i am looking at being induced at 36weeks for my twin boys. I am having identical twins and they are sharing a placenta - one twin is bigger than the other but my little one is begining to taper off therefore they are thinking 36 weeks for induction. I am fine with being induced and i'm thankful i am able to try for a vaginal delivery my only thought is i have been told that since it's "early" and my first pregnancy apparently it make take longer for the gels to work (and require subsequent doses) as my cervix might not be favourable?
Is there anything i can do to assist? I am going to require close monitoring and hosp policy is an epidural so i'm concerned i'm not going to be able to be very active. I have asked that i be able to hold off on the epidural for as long as possible but there are no gaurentee.

Any thoughts / advice would be welcomed

xxBella

Sorry I cant help with inductions, but wanted to wish you all the best!

My Best friend had idebntical twin boys last June, she was induced and had then later that day (it was her first preg) she was just over 36 weeks.

every woman is different I was induced 6 weeks ago at 38 weeks, it didnt work (its in birth stories) i had 3 gel doses and 2 days of labour and still nothing, although there is a lovely girl in my belly buddies group who was induced at 36 weeks and gave birth 6 hours later! she will prob even comment on here for you, so every body is different. In the end if bubs or babies in your case are safe thats all that matters! oh and dont let them pressure you into a c section! you can try naturally for as long as you like depending on the babies health, dont let them rush you!

I have been induced with all of mine, first was at 38 weeks and took 3 lots of gel before they could breakwaters and put drip up. From first gel to bub born was aprox 35 hours but labout was 17.5 hours. Don't let them push you if it taking awhile to dilate, I took over 12 hours to go from 2cm to 6cm and then 5 more from there to pushing.

Second had gel, then had to wait as they had to many non induction labours, then once they broke waters and put drip up was less than 4 hours.

Third no gel, waters broken, drip again less than 4 hours

so it can all be different.

When I was induced the gels worked well enough for my doctor to be able to break my waters. My cervix was pretty tightly closed before. I had one lot of gels the night before and a second lot in the morning, then my waters broken a couple of hours later.

Once my waters were broken I started contracting, but I needed the drip a few hours later as DD wasn't going anywhere and I wasn't dilating. After the drip the contractions were much worse and I think it would have been good to have an epidural then.

Hi Bella

Firstly congratulations on your pregnancy and getting ready to meet your boys must be very exciting.

As the other posters indicate, being induced is a different experience for each individual. Staying active in labour as you suggest is a great way to help things move along, so I would suggest talking to your care providers about whether you can be moitored intermittently, rather than be constantly hooked up to monitors. It might help to get you moving part of the time.

I also wanted to say that they can't do anything that you don't consent to. So if you don't want an epidural, then make it very clear to them that its not something you want. The cannot force one on you just because its hospital policy. Generally, they want an epi in so if a c-section is required they can get you in faster. I have a friend who delivered twins at 38 weeks recently - they tried to make her have an epi during labour, but she declined. She did end up having an emerg c-section as one of the babies was in distress, but they were able to very quickly get her into theatre and epi in no problems. I also had an emerg c-section and they had me in theatre with the spinal block in very swiftly.

Writing a birth plan might also be a good idea to be clear about the things that are important to you for the birth of your boys.

Good luck!