We made the decision to induce at 38+2 after a continued drop in percentiles and some issues with my bp (Blood Pressure). I was under private care although was also seeing a private midwife separately because I was really chasing that midwife focused care. After lots of discussions back and forth, lots of questions, I felt confident that being induced was the right choice for us at that time.
My OB never made me feel pressured though and was so understanding that it was something I really wanted to avoid.
I went in Wednesday evening for the balloon, was 1cm dilated, cervix soft. Crampy overnight and balloon was taken out and waters broken at 7:15am. Waited maybe just under 2 hours to see if things might start, but nothing even remotely happening so oxytocin drip started at about 9.
Contractions started super mild and we popped the tens machine on early. I stayed upright walking/yoga ball and leaning over the bed from then on (except for maybe 10 mins lying down with the peanut ball, but that was not comfortable at all )
Had lovely music playing, hubby doing massage when I needed, aromatherapy, dim lighting and contractions continued to become more intense but still never more than I could handle by just breathing through them, using breathing techniques and actively relaxing my body.
As the afternoon continued my heart rate and his were kind of mirroring each other and our birth team were having a really hard time differentiating the heart rates, they discussed with everyone we may need to explore the scalp monitor which I was fine with because I understand the need for the continuous monitoring with the oxytocin. Bummer I couldn’t get in the bath but honestly the tens was fine and I didn’t feel the need to change anything at that point anyway.
I told my OB not to tell me how many cm’s I was when she put it on just after 5:30pm (and Hella lucky I didn’t because apparently I was only 2cm still ) things got a bit harder after that, still manageable but definitely much more intense.
Was really struggling to find a comfortable position although I was still just finding breath work and the tens enough to cope. Around 7:15 I told the midwife I was really struggling to keep my head straight in terms of “how am I going to do this for hours longer “
I feel like looking back this would have been me going through transition. I was really doubting myself and genuinely thought ‘eh I could totally take a C section right now’
My OB came back around 7:45 as his trace wasn’t looking the best, and I had 2 particular contractions I remember that I just couldn’t breathe through or relax through like I had been, I was like, nope that’s it, I’m done now, this is not fun anymore
Next contraction though I had the overwhelming urge to squat low, bear down and I made that crazy ass pushing noise (scared the shit out of my husband) and I literally had no control over any of it. I think my OB and midwife were very surprised but they were like, oh yay!! That’s awesome! Keep it up!
Quick check and yep his head was right there! so pushed a bit on the floor, and his heartrate wasn’t happy at all. Dropped low and wasn’t returning to baseline (not sure what the number was but I could hear it was slow). We tried lots of different positions to see if there was something he was happier with, but it wasn’t really improving. After about 45 mins of pushing (all just following my contractions and breathing him down) we discussed that it was becoming much more important to get him out sooner, I think his heart rate dropped really quite low and wasn’t coming back up, and as we’d tried all other options I was happy to have him come out with the assistance of the vacuum. My OB said she would let me tear naturally (and in the end only ended up with a 1st degree tear and a small graze) so that was great! Once I started crowning she took the vacuum off, and I lifted him onto my chest himself after 2 more pushes! Made a big cry straight away, had about 3 hours skin to skin from then I’d say. I let him latch and start feeding when he wanted, and he fed beautifully.
My placenta was another story getting close to 2 hours it still hadn’t come, and my OB had pretty much tried everything to avoid theatre. I had the gas for the first time while she did a pretty aggressive massage and literally was so out of it I couldn’t feel a thing, and she was like, look I can get scrubbed up here and if you want to try the gas I can do what I’d do in theatre here, (a manual removal I’m pretty sure) but she wouldn’t usually do it without a spinal. honestly I felt nothing on the gas so was happy to try! I imagine it was pretty intense, but yeah I was that out of it in the gas it was fine, and it worked thankfully so avoided theatre thank god.
They checked over the placenta itself and looked intact, apparently it was very gritty and not at all what they would expect for 38 weeks – so looked like we definitely made the right call getting him out sooner rather than later.
He was only little at 2695g but he’s been feeding like a champ and honestly I feel so great!
Overall despite needing to be induced, have an assisted delivery, and a manual placenta removal, I felt so supported and in control of my birth. I felt like the interventions were helpful and appropriate, and they didn’t negatively affect my birth (I think a big part of that, was that I had the knowledge behind me to understand the rationale of why they needed to happen, it helps so much!)
My OB checked in with me a few times over the next few days to debrief about the birth and talk through everything to make sure I felt ok, which I think is very important – even if you have a positive experience.
I loved my birth so much, I was surprised at how manageable the contractions were, and I attribute that to the tens machine being put on early, and trusting in my breath work. I focused on one contraction at a time and tried not to think too far ahead. Honestly time flew!
Good luck everyone, I hope this story has helped you feel excited for your induction, it can be an epic experience just like any other birth!
