Hi all! I chose to have an elective induction at 39w3d for several reasons including my own physical and mental well being, advanced maternal age (36), low pain tolerance with no desire to go into labor spontaneously, and living about 45-60 mins away from our hospital. I’m very happy I chose this route for myself and would do it again if I have the opportunity.

My induction appointment was scheduled for 4pm on 12/19. By the time we got checked in and into triage it was about 5pm so they gave me a light dinner before transferring me to L&D. When I got to my room I spoke with my doctor about the game plan and any wishes I had. The only thing I specified was my desire for an epidural and the likelihood of wanting it early, definitely before any Pitocin, due to my low pain tolerance. Since I was only 1cm dilated and 30% effaced at my OB appointment the day before, we decided at 6pm to start with Misoprostol for cervical ripening and a Cook balloon. I opted not to start pain meds at this point and to assess and communicate with the nurses if I needed them later. I was able handle this combo with just heat pads for about an hour at which point it was getting worse enough that I opted to try IV pain meds. Being a FTM and having not progressed much at that point I thought this was going to be a long process and was trying to hold off on the epidural until the initial 4 hours of miso & ballon were complete. Well after an hour on the IV pain meds contractions kept ramping up and it was clear that it was not going to be enough for me. Thankfully I had already talked with the anesthesiologist and signed the paperwork for the epidural. I also lucked out on it being a slow night at L&D. Only myself and one other woman were there giving birth so when the time came, the anesthesiologist showed up within 5 mins to get me the epidural. Instant relief! But my body was clearly still in a lot of stress and I was pretty violently shaking for the rest of the birth. After the epidural and once I’d had the miso and ballon in for 4 hours, the doctor came to check how dilated I was only to find that the cook ballon had completely shot out of me. Like it was multiple inches away from my vagina and she was very surprised! At that point I was already at 5-6cm and contractions were naturally ramping up so they opted to hold off on the Pitocin as my body didn’t seem to need it yet. Over the next few hours I tried to sleep but was pretty uncomfortable with all of the shaking. As soon as I felt like the shaking was starting to wind down the doctor came in to do a cervical check and possibly start the Pitocin but she was having issues finding baby’s heartbeat. They attached a fetal scalp electrode that didn’t work and had to remove and reattach another. They then had me try a few different positions like hands and knees, and on my knees leaning against the back of the bed, until her heartbeat finally showed back up. At that point, changing positions so many times made me feel like I had to push. They got me back down on my back and the doctor confirmed I was fully dilated. Did not need any Pitocin! Prep for pushing started to take place which took longer than I was comfortable with, but the one other woman in L&D was also ready to push at the same time so it got a little hectic. I was still pushing a bit whenever I felt contractions and by the time the team was there and ready and coaching me, my baby was already close. I only pushed for about 5 minutes and she came into this world at 3:54am on 12/20, only 10 hours after the induction started. Unfortunately I did get a 2nd degree tear as well as one on my labia but so far recovery hasn’t been that bad and we are just so overjoyed with our little girl! She’s the best Christmas gift I’ve ever gotten. :)

Sending all the positive birth vibes to you moms! You got this!