induction/labour thoughts and stuff

hi, i am STILL here, 8 days over and not a contraction in sight... *sigh* i have an appoinment at the hos tomorrow to talk about being induced, which i am going for because i am SO over being pregnant. anyways before i found this site i had my mind made up about what was going to happen, but since ive found this site and started reading everything i have become not so much confused but unsure about what i want now...

take induction for example, i had NO idea what it was about till i read the articles and the threads about it. if i get the gel stuff then they pop my waters, can i tell them i want to wait longer than a few hours to see if i can start contracting naturally? or do i have to "obey" what they say?? also could i try nipple stimulation after having my waters popped?? i seen on the maternity ward show on foxtel, this chick was using a breast pump to try and bring on labour? is it safe to do that instead of using your hands?? i mean if it was on a low setting or something??

also i no that if they stick the syntocin/drug thing in me ill be asking for an epidural straight away and then knowing my luck theyll cut me again and use forceps and ill be even MORE damaged down there...

i am scared that this labour will be as out of control as my last one.

also ive just found the threads on the cord cutting and it being better to let it stop pulsating before doing anything... is it really a lot better to do it that way?? and i was wondering if i told them i wanted the cord cut AFTER it stopped pulsating, can they say no?? also is it better to let the placenta come out naturally?? and can they say no to that?? i lost a lot of blood with DD and became anaemic (sp?) i am scared that theyll say no to me because of that?

I havnt done a birthing plan, is it too late to do one and take it with me tomrrow??

with my DD i was young and stupid and i had NO idea what was happening. I was in labour for a couple of days and i wasnt dilating past 1cm and they popped my waters and i was then stuck on 3cms so they gave me the drip with an epidural and said if i hadnt dilated anymore they were going to to a c-section on me, thankfully i DID dilate. they cut me and then they tried vacuum but it didnt work and they tried forceps and that worked and yeah, i lost a lot of blood and they kept me in hospital for like 5 days and i HATED it, they were saying i didnt have enough blood yet they were doing blood tests ALL the time, lol how ironic. anyways it was a pretty horrible experience and i am scared that they are going to look at my records and totally ignore what i say because of what happened last time... i am happy to have medical intervention if its needed, not if its what THEY think is needed....

sorry for the ramblings but have all these thoughts running through my head and i just need some advice...

:dance:

Hi Libby,

I;m sorry I don't know the answers to most of ur questions but I definitely think u should do a birth plan if u want one! I just wanted to say good luck and I'm sure someone a bit more helpful will be in here soon!!

Libby, I have heard that letting the cord pulsate before clamping/cutting is better because there is extra blood in there for the baby. As for the placenta, if you breastfeed after the birth it naturally helps it to come out.

I would definitely do a birthplan up. I've been told just to take mine with me when I go in for the birth, although I was told I can give them a copy now, but to bring another with me anyway.

One suggestion I can make is that from the sounds of your last birthing experience it has left you feeling tense, unsettled and possibly afraid of the experience...my suggestion is to try to let that go and relax yourself with some gentle music or something as when you're tense this leads to the fear and causes your uterus muscles to "fight" against the natural flow which is where the pain comes from. You could try affirmations as well...like...this birth is different, it will be smooth etc. I pass my birthing over to my body and my baby.

I hope you find something to help you and that this birth is a lot better for you :hug: Don't be afraid to stand up for your rights either. I was a bit like you with my son and didn't in my opinion ask enough questions cos I didn't know any different at the time. This time though I know what I'd like to do, although if there is a need for "intervention" for bubs sake...I'm prepared to make an INFORMED decision to go off the path of my birthing plan if that is what is best for bubs.

Cord Clamping - Why Delayed Cord Clamping Is Good For Your Baby
Inductions - To Induce or Not Induce?

HUGS to you Libby, I'm 2 days over EDD and I am going insane so I can only imagine what you are going through. It must be common to wait until 41+3 to see you - are you going public? - I got told the same thing much to my horror! Can't answer a lot of your questions because a lot of it comes down to hospital policy BUT having said that, they CAN'T do anything to you without your permission UNLESS it is deemed as a medical emergency (ie. life and death). ALSO having said that, I was initially going to refuse to have the syntocinon injection to manage my third stage UNLESS I was bleeding, but the hospital has a policy that ALL 3rd stages are managed this way and if you aren't happy with that you need to go to a higher level care facility (so there was my big no to a natural placental delivery!). Given that you have a history of post partum haemorrhage they probably will be VERY cautious as they won't want that to happen again (and prevention of haemorrhage is better than cure, which is harder to do) but from what I've been told the cord stops pulsating rather quickly. My midwife who did the antenatal classes said that she lets the cord stop pulsating really because by the time she gets the drug organised etc it already has. They shoudl start the induction drugs slowly and let them build so that you get used to the pain. You have the right to have an epidural but this does increase your risk of requiring episiotomies and other intervention. Don't know about the nipple stimulation thing. If you want to do a birthing plan it isn't too late, I would definitely be taking a list of all your questions to jog your memory so that you can ask them. Ultimately they will be able to tell you their policy on things. Just remember though, it is your body and your baby and they can't do anything unless you give permission (bah life or death). Ask all of your questions tomorrow, you don't want to go into labour with unanswered questions. Good luck, Let us know how you go and fingers crossed that baby comes before you have to go through all of this.

Libby, when I had my induction they did the tablet up me, then were going to break my waters when that didn't work, but luckily postponed the breaking so mine went naturally.

Sadly, I was then classed as an induction so they "wouldn't let" me do a lot of natural things (or have a waterbirth), like when my contractions began to stop when I was pushing I wasn't allowed to just stop and let them re-start later, I needed the synctoin. So that meant an epidural too because I "needed" some pain relief (but they'd been telling me that all day!). Then because of the synctoin they had to clamp the cord and give me an artificial 3rd stage, so no letting the cord pulsate or the placenta come out normally.

However, it's YOUR treatment... get someone in there who can and will say NO for you if that's what you want. My DH ended up being another drug-pusher, which I'm a bit upset about still. I know what I wanted and it wasn't to be told that X had happened so I had no choice about Y and Z... you always have a choice, just the hospitals don't like you exercising it. And just remember, sometimes even though you don't want them to do XYZ, it can be the best for the baby and that's the most important. Only sometimes though, I don't think hours and hours of being monitored on your back is good for anyone ever. You have a right to refuse it or to have monitoring/treatment stopped... if I were more awake and DH backed me up more, I'd have ripped the things off myself!

Hi Libby

I can understand all your concerns, and hopefully tomorrow you can bring some of them up with your ob or even the midwife.

In my previous two pregnancies 1 my waters broke so I had to be induced with Syntocin...I just had the gas. Now some say I am a saddest but I really didnt think it was overly bad.

My second birth was 14 days over. I was induced in the morning with the gel nothing.....induced in the afternoon with the gel.....nothing. Finally induced again the next morning with the gel and by 1pm I was 3cm and had my waters broken. I was then given syntocin to give the contractions some bite.

Now not in either labour was I offered an epidural....I basically had gas. My first delivery was a bit hairy as he had the cord around his neck twice, the second delivery she crowned and came herself in two pushes after 5 hours of induced labour. She was 9 pound 10.

So anything could happen. Write down your questions you want answered and take them with you tomorrow, and in your labour bag. So you don't forget any. Also add in there you would like to avoid assisted delivery, so maybe they could turn your epidural down before you are going to push to enable more feeling.

Goodluck I am sure it won't be long until you have the baby in your arms, and this will all seem like idle chit chat.

JAC