Induction - Phoenixville,PA

Hey - sorry if you are getting crazy advice. I seriously NEVER reply to these things... but thought I would to this one. I have 3 children, all were inductions. I think that my body doesn't know how to naturally go into labor! 2 were late, one was induced on my actual due date (40 weeks) b/c she was so large.

Anyway - I am assuming this is your 1st pregnancy. That being said - you know nothing else. You have nothing to compare it to. Keep that in mind! People ask me all of the time how bad the pain was - I always reply that I have no idea what a "natural" labor feels like - so it is what it is! I really enjoyed all 3 labors! there are a LOT of positives to being induced. The doctors / medical staff monitor from your first contraction on... there are no guessing games about when you should go into the hospital... they are usually started in the morning, so delivery will not be in wee hours of the night. My first one was 12 hours total - pitocin at 8am, delivery at 8pm. #2 was pitocin at 10am, delivery at 7pm. #3 was pitocin at 10am, delivery at 2:30pm. All staff is there -- no anesthesiologist being called in from home when you are ready for epidural, so that is a good thing.

Again - nothing but great experiences and THREE times! You just get the medicine and wait. I brought crazy magazines (like People and Us) to read... I worked on the baby book (there are spots you can fill in early). It was just a waiting game. By the time we were heading to the hospital for #3, my husband seriously said "I just can't stand the waiting - it gets so boring" REALLY? ha! Like he has any right to say a labor is boring! hee hee!

The pitocin is an IV, you wait. Sometimes you can't even feel contractions - but you can "see" them on the monitors. They may break your water. It may break on it's own. You will start to get serious contractions (feels like really bad cramps).. and the staff will let you know when it is a good time to call for epidural. Epidural comes, you wait.... they check until you are 10cm dilated, then push.... all is the same as "natural" labor -- just quicker and planned. NO biggie.

Just remember - in the end you will have your baby, and that is all that really matters -- no matter how he/she comes! You will just be rejoicing in that!

GOOD LUCK - don't stress!!!

I was induced at 39 weeks pregnant - my situation was much different than yours in terms of why I chose to be induced...
But on the day of the induction, my husband and I got to the hospital at 7:30am. My doctor had told me that I could eat whatever I wanted for breakfast -- she actually encouraged me to eat a big breakfast so that I would have energy throughout the day.
When we first got there, the nurses brought us some paperwork to sign and then around 9 or so they hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor. They started an IV for me and my doctor broke my water for me. She wanted to see if that would start my labor by itself to avoid using pitocin... but it didn't. I ended up getting an IV of pitocin and my labor actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had heard the same things as you - how Pitocin makes it much more intense and painful... but I don't think that it was that bad.
My husband and I had taken Hypnobabies classes during my pregnancy and I was initially planning on not having an epidural... I mad it to almost 8cm before I decided to go with the epidural. My labor wasn't really progressing... so my doctor (who was completely supportive of everything that we wanted to do) mentioned that with an epidural, it helps to relax your body and can actually help the labor progress faster... so, I opted for an epidural.
My son was born at 9:30 that night after actually pushing for less than 30 minutes. I was actually amazed at everything. Is this your first child? Labor is one of those things that like, you can prepare and prepare for... but you really don't know what to expect until you're actually there in the hospital, LOL. My husband and I really liked my doctor - we had the same doctor for just about every one of my prenatal visits and she was the one that delivered our son. I don't think I would have been as relaxed had we been in a situation where it was a coin-toss as to what doctor would be delivering our son... know what I mean? Like if it had been a large practice with a few different doctors that we saw a different one at each appointment.
I really hope your birthing experience is a good one! If you have any questions or concerns I will be more than happy to help you out anyway that I can :) Just message me!

they had to induce me on my 2nd my water broke and no contractions. they do it through an iv. wether its more intense or not I am not sure I had an 4 hr labor with the first one and contrations on my own. my 2nd was a 20 hr labor induced. I really dont think it was more intense just longer. I was an oddball they usually give you a little medication to induce and it works.

with me the had me flowing at a full rate and still wasnt delivering. he told my sil that as much meds he gave me I should have been full blown labor at least 10 hrs prior. I have a very healthy all boy kid who is into everything and fearless. relax its not that bad. ps the only reason my labor was so slow is he got stuck in the birthing canal to high up for them to go get him. I was on 100% drip and only 60% contractions.

I was induced and it went fine. They will insert some medicine overnight, and check you in the AM. If you are not progressing, they will give you pitocin, which I was given too. Yes, it does move things along, but that's not a bad thing! My contractions were right on top of one another (not even 30 sec. a part) when they started!! Yes, they were very intense. However, I just asked for my epi as soon as I knew I couldn't handle it, and then I slept for like 2 hours. When I woke, I was ready to push & things went quickly after that.
Don't be afraid of the medication. It's fine. These people do this EVERYDAY! My mother was an OB nurse - I know the professionalism of people who do this for a living. You will be fine. Why run the risk of problems due to your special circumstances just to be "natural". You need help. Thank God we don't live the 1800's! Not be morbid, but I probably would have died in childbirth if living back then given my situation.
Don't worry. You'll be in good hands.

I was induced twice and thought it was great! The docs made sure I got the epidural before the ptocin was turned up. Things progressed quickly, but it was painless and wonderful! Best of luck to you!

I was induced with my 2nd. I was told by my OB that my body should react the same as it would without pitocin. My natural labor went quick and so did my induction - with very little meds. The worst part is that you are hooked up to monitors which restricts your movement some. They say you can take a bath or shower and walk around but for me it wasn't comfortable with monitors on my belly. So I suffered in bed instead of standing up...no epidural for either of my kids. Good luck, I'm sure all will be fine!

I was induced with both of my boys. Things will progress rapidly. Just keep in mind that if you are going to get an epidural then it will need to be soon. I was induced with my older son and things progressed so rapidly that I never had a chance to get an epidural and I had him naturally and he was a big baby and it really really hurt.