2 weeks, been 2cm dilated, doctor wants to induce ?

Question

This Coming Monday is my due date (40 weeks) For 2 weeks, the last couple doctors appointments, I have been 2cm dilated and supposedly still thick. This Thursday I have a doctors appointment. He said if there inst much progress He wants to discus inducing. What are the methods? (This is my first child.) Will he put me in right away, make me wait? I heard being induced is awful. What were your experiences?

Answer 1

Usually if you go past your due date you will be booked in for an induction at your 40 week appointment. Depending on the area you live in and the country you live in it is usually 10-14 days after your due date. When you go in to be induced they will monitor your baby's heartbeat before starting the inducement procedures. You will be hooked up to a machine for around 30 mins see how your baby is doing. After doing so they will examine you internally to see how far dilated you are. Because you are already 2cm dilated i would think they would insert a tablet, pessary or gel into your cervix to try to ripen it to bring on labour. This is usually repeated after 6 hours if there doesn't seem to be any improvement. They will keep assessing you regularly. The next step is breaking your waters if they don't break naturally then if your contractions aren't coming very strong they put you on a drip which pumps an artificial hormone into your body to speed up contractions.



My experience with induction wasn't to pleasant but every birth experience is different so you may have a pleasant experience and you may not even need to be induced. I arrived at the hospital on the 8th of this month at 4.30pm. I had been having cramps down below since 5am that morning and knew that was the start of something. However they were bearable and didn't really bother me. When i got to the labour ward i was strapped to a machine which monitored my baby's heartbeat. Then i was examined and given a membrane sweep as i was only about 1cm dilated but still contracting. They left me and regularly came back to monitor me and the baby's heartbeat. After a few hours they did another sweep and i was told to walk around the hospital to try and get the baby to move further down. I didn't need the tablet inserting because i was starting to have more frequent contractions. During the night at the hospital the pains started to get more stronger and frequent. By 12pm on the 9th a midwife broke my waters and i was moved to the delivery suite where i was hooked up to a drip to speed up the contractions. I would advise an epidural if you have the drip because the drip is an artificial hormone and it makes the contractions speed up very quickly and the pain is worse than a normal contraction. I didn't have the epidural i just had gas and air and a pethidine injection but i wish i had the epidural as the pain was horrible. Whilst on the drip the baby's heartbeat was constantly monitored. When it got to 4.50pm i was ready to push and at 5.17pm baby Rebecca was born.



Sorry for the long story lol. I can talk for england. Good luck with your labour wishing you all the best :)

x

Answer 2

Both of my babies were born by induction and I wouldn't want to do it any other way. I slept through most of the contractions and was only in active labor for about 15 mins with both!! The only time I felt anything was right before the epidural (you have to be dilated to 5 before you can get one) so I felt a few strong contractions then that was it. The biggest worries in inducing are getting queazy from the pitosin (med that thins out the cervix for delivery) or the baby coming down the wrong way, which can happen even if you're not induced. My second, my son, came out face up. They said it was second most painful only to breach (where the baby is upside down) but I didn't feel a thing!!



I used two diff doctors and when they brought me in to "discuss" induction they gave me about a weeks notice before they actually brought me in to do it. I had to be at the hospital at 5 am (certainly the worst part, I'm not a morning person) and they started the IV from there. They gave me pitosin and something for nausea and a mild pain killer. I thought the meds would affect them, but they were wide awake for at least 4 hours each after birth! But all babies are different afterall =)



It'll be fine, no need stressing it. And good luck!!

Answer 3

I was in the same situation except I had high blood pressure so they induced me 4 days early... They give you an iv that has medicine that helps you dilate quicker... They induced my labor at 2:00 in the afternoon and then they gave me my epidural around 10:00 that evening and I had my son the next morning at 2:00... Most of the time it takes longer it just depends on you and the baby... I know of some people who are in labor for 20+ hours after they have been induced... You will be admitted to the hospital and they will begin inducing you... Being induced varies from person to person... Mine was not bad at all...

Answer 4

If you are still no effaced (thinned out) they will probably start will a gel to help "ripen" and thin your cervix. Once ripe, the will give you pitocin to help bring on contractions. Usually your water will break as you start to dilate and your contractions get stronger, sometimes the dr has to rupture the membranes.



Since you are already somewhat dilated it will be easier than if you weren't dilated at all. Once you hit 3-4 cm you can get your epidural.



Since you are already dilated, maybe talk to your dr about stripping your membranes... this sometimes helps your body to start labor on it's own during next 24-48 hours. It doesn't always do anything, but you can try!



Take a few long walks in the mean time and good luck!!! I'm 36 weeks and 3cm dilated. I was 3 cm dilated with my last pregnancy for 4 weeks and had to be induced since my water broke the day before my due date and i wasn't in active labor or contraction on my own!! It wasn't bad at all and my labor was pretty short!

Answer 5

You are almost there! I was induced with my last one and it was a bit worse. I had never had the epidural and I got it... That being said it would have been bad too if I had waited till she came naturally. She just wanted to stay in. I went in and started potocin. They had to keep upping it and it had no effect. Finally after about 9 hours they broke my water to see if that would help. It did, thank god. I think it will be totally fine. If you wait to go in your baby could be too big to deliver and then you would maybe have to have a c section. That healing seems ALOT worse then bing induced. They will probably schedule the inducement. It kinda depends on your DR's schedule. If he has time that day he may want to put you in or it could be a few days like mine way. Make sure that if you are anxious and have questions to ask. Write them down or put them in the notes area of your phone so you don't forget to take the list. Don't be afraid though---it will be fine. I would recommend the epidural though.



Talk care and congrats. Wishing you a speedy and healthy birth experience.

Answer 6

My induction was awful personally.. and I chose to wait until I was 42 weeks 1 day until they induced so I could give my body time to try and labor itself [after all most first time babies come late, and you aren't technically over due until you go over 42 weeks, average pregnancy lasts 38-42 weeks] I was thick when I was induced and was at 2 cm and the induction failed and I had to go for an emergency c-section. My doctor told me because my cervix was thick I wasn't a good candidate for induction but I was over due officially and they had to get the baby out. I personally would try to wait a little bit because if the induction fails you either come back and try again later or you wind up with a c-section.

Answer 7

I had my C-section cancelled because my son came down with an infections disease and they wanted to keep the baby inside me as long as possible. I ended up having to go to the ER because I went into labor 3 days later. When I got there they were all business. Didn't care about my contractions or how dilated I was. They just booked the OR and did the C-section. So, YES I think the nurse was hinting to you that if you wanted to, you could just show up at the ER and tell them that you were having contractions and they would induce you.

Answer 8

You need to get your doctor to explain WHY he is recommneding induction.



It is 100% normal to walk around dilated a few cm. for several weeks or months.

It is 100% normal to not be effaced at 39 weeks.



Neither of these suggest a problem (but are a good example of why vaginal/cervical checks late in pregnancy can be a bad idea .... they tend to make women and doctors anxious for no good reason.)



A due date is just an estimate ... it isn't like your mortgage payment. You don't have to pay a pentalty if you're late.

Unless your baby is in distress (and there are simple tests that can determine if this is the case) you can safely go to 42 weeks before even discussing induction -- and chances are excellent that you will go into labor on your own before you get to that point.

Answer 9

I was induced with my second child. It wasn't awful. Your doc will schedule the induction. You'll probably check in to the hospital at midnight or something like 6am. They'll get you in your hospital gown, start your IV (I think draw blood, too), they start pitocin through your IV, all pitocin is is a synthetic hormone used to stimulate contractions. And I have to say, pitocin contractions vs. regular contractions are harder, but still bearable (at least until I got my epidural). You pretty much lay in bed or sit around in your room going through contractions, they come in to check your cervix a few times to see how much you've dilated, and when you get to 10, you push! Oh, and they'll be monitoring your contractions and the baby's heartbeat and everything to make sure he or she is okay. I hope this helped.. and good luck!