Not a good experience... (Birth Induction)

Member Name: Suziw

Product:	Birth Induction
Date:	16/03/09 (329 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Baby came out!

Disadvantages: Read the story...

I was booked in for an induction when my baby was 2 weeks overdue...

I was booked in on a Wednesday at 10am and about an hour later a pessary was administered. That night, the contractions started and I couldn't sleep. At about 2am I got up to go to the loo, and can you believe it - what was left of the pessary tablet came out! I immediately informed the midwife on duty, who said they would review the situation in the morning.

I managed to fall asleep and when I woke up in the morning the contractions had stopped! A second pessary was administered, and this time the contractions started much faster! By evening they were feeling quite strong. I was a little concerned when the midwife on duty told me they would review the situation again in the morning - I thought the baby was coming sooner than that! But after a concoction of baby-safe pain relief I fell asleep, and would you believe it, when I woke up the contractions had stopped again!

After being examined it was decided that my waters would be broken so off I went to the delivery suite, excited hubby in tow! We were so glad things were finally going to start happening!

Around 10am the midwife broke my waters, in what I must describe as a rather uncomfortable procedure. I started bleeding heavily. I ran off to the loo and was alarmed to expel a blood clot as big as my fist! I called the midwife, who said it was normal and gave me a sanitary towel. She said I should go for a walk and come back in half an hour.

So: off hubby and I went! All the while I was bleeding - enough to saturate two sanitary towels - but we were still really excited and in good spirits.
After half an hour had gone by I returned to the delivery ward. When I reported that there were no contractions to write home about, it was decided that the drip would have to be administered. This is something I was hoping to avoid, but I was happy to go ahead with it to get my little baby out!

The drip was put in, and the excitement started to fade, when after a number of hours, and the maximum dosage of hormone, there were still no contractions. My midwife was very busy - she said she was busy delivering another baby in the room next door to mine, and when she came into my room I felt quite guilty for taking so long, because she started doing a stock take!

Eventually I said 'are you sure the waters are broken?' and when she checked, to my dismay she reported that they were in fact still in tact. When she tried to break them the second time it really hurt. She said it was particularly thick and started yanking the instrument back and forth, at which point I started crying. It was really embarrassing, but it was just so sore and felt so wrong.

The midwife left the room (as did my husband at this point - he was starting to get annoyed and didn't want to make matters worse). I heard her speaking to the senior midwife outside my room door, telling her that I was hysterical and requesting that the senior midwife should break my waters.
I was upset I must admit but I was far from hysterical, I was really embarrassed that I had cried, and felt really guilty and responsible at this point.

When the senior midwife came in I felt much better. She was clearly very professional - she held my hand and said she was aware it was an emotional situation but I must just be calm and it will all be over soon. I wanted to tell her about the bleeding, but I felt too guilty because the other midwife was standing there. The senior midwife inserted the instrument and with one painless motion broke my waters. I felt such relief!

The contractions began to get very intense immediately after that.
The original midwife disappeared and was replaced with a new midwife and a student. An epidural was administered, which took the edge off the pain immediately and for the first time in days I felt relaxed.

About an hour after the waters had been broken I started feeling intense pressure. I told the student as the midwife was not with us at this point. She said it was the position the baby was in and that I should change my position - but it didn't help. She said even with an epidural labour is uncomfortable, and I had about 5 hours to go, with 1 cm dialation per hour. She said I should make use of the gas and air.

Boy was I sucking on the gas and air! I think the epidural must have started to wear off at this time, because I started feeling the contractions again, and the pressure was too intense to ignore. 'I have to push' I told the student midwife, 'I can't feel like this for 5 hours!'. But she told me not to push, that it would damage the cervix. At this point I was terrified. I just thought I seriously couldn't handle that for another 5 hours. The student said they would refill the epidural as soon as the midwife came in.

I was so happy to see the midwife not long after that. She asked rather amusedly why I was using the gas and air when I had an epidural in, to which the student responded 'she is feeling some pressure'. When the midwife examined me at this point I saw her turn pale - baby was on his way.

It was too late for an epidural top up so from this point onwards it was extremely painful and uncomfortable.

Thankfully my little angel was out within 20 mins from that moment, and it was all worth it. I say my 'little' angel, but he was far from little at a healthy 4.3 kilos.

In conclusion: I don't see myself having any more children after that. I know I was unlucky and it can be easier I am sure but it was all just a bit too traumatic for me. The after effects were just as bad if not worse, as I suffered pretty severe wounds. I still wonder why I bled so much when my waters were no broken the first time, and it does worry me.

I hope that I change my mind in the future, because I always wanted two children, and I am really sorry if my story scares any moms-to-be. My advice would be (in retrospect) to speak up, and not feel guilty or bad about anything, and to demand good care.

Summary: I think I was unlucky, but I definitely don't want to go through it again