It's SO CLOSE!

[accentsarehot]

My appt went fine yesterday. They said since I've (STILL!) not had a single labor sign that I need to walk as much as humanly possible to try & get labor started. If I don't have the baby before, I go to the hospital Aug 14 where they'll check if I'm dialated enough to start & if not, they'll put some kinda gel on my cervix & schedule an induction

Comments

[kitchenwitch]

they'll check if I'm dialated enough to start & if not, they'll put some kinda gel on my cervix & schedule an induction within the few days after

Just so you know - that gel is the *start* of an induction.

I am going to sit over here and sigh over how your doctors say that you need to get the ball rolling since you "still" haven't had a labor sign (uh, doesn't that happen when you go into labor?) when you're only 40 weeks pregnant and the average pregnancy lasts between 38 and 42 weeks.

Since it's best for you to try to avoid an induction, walking is a good thing, but certainly don't wear yourself out by not taking breaks. Sex might help move things along as well. There are all sorts of things you can do to encourage things, though encouragement or induction or not, baby will come out when he/she is ready.

[accentsarehot]

Honestly I wish I could try using sex to help progress things along but I can't. It's just TOO PAINFUL! But I am definitely gonna be walking as much as possible cause really I don't want to have to be induced. I'm also thinking about calling them & asking why this week they said they'll be talking induction at 41wks but last week I was told 42... I didn't even think of it til late last night.

[kitchenwitch]

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do! :) You can also bargain with them and request that you have NSTs or additional monitoring instead.

[sandi1743]

i second about skipping the cytotec - it is NOT approved for inductions in fact the FDA has put a "black box warning" on it as there have been so many complications (including deaths of neonates and mothers, ruptured uteri, sections, etc) from its use in inductions.
Please research and investigate before agreeing to this procedure. if your read up and are comfortable then that is fine but your doctor should have informed you more. BTW - you are not "over due" yet - you still have another 2 weeks!

[babyogg]

Yes. This.

[kitchenwitch]

It sounds like she'd be getting Cervadil or some variation thereof, not Cytotec.

[kastinkerbell]

Cytotec is a pill that they insert. The gel is prostoglandins.

[sandi1743]

agreed - but i have heard of more than one case as of late where women have been told "gel" only to find out that it was cytotec after the fact. For some health care providers it seems that "gel" and "cytotec" are becoming interchangeable...
an example from the web:
"Although approved for oral use, Cytotec has somewhat the same action on the cervix when administered vaginally as "prostin gel," "Prepidil," and "Cervidil" in that the prostaglandin action causes cervical ripening and induction of labor. The FDA has not established protocols for Cytotec usage nor has there been any controlled trial studies to provide information about the indications and contraindications surrounding use. Yet many care providers are using this gastrointestinal drug to begin inductions. Instead of printed protocols backed up by evidence from random controlled trials, protocols are shared by word of mouth and vary greatly." http://www.birthsource.com/scripts/article.asp

[kastinkerbell]

Weird. I'd not heard that before. All the women who I've heard account of having Cytotec administered were quite clear that it was a pill and it had only been so referred. My midwife practice (CNMs) do not use Cytotec at all, but do use prostoglandin gel. In my mind they were always clearly different things. I guess I can see how care providers would want to obfuscate Cytotec use with the way information about it is spreading like wildfire.

[sandi1743]

yup...it is more common in general with the OB's IMHE than the CNM's, but some do use it.
i think of it as just another example of how even when trying to be informed about health care the industry makes it hard...

[kastinkerbell]

I *ran* from a CNM practice that used it AND sighed and rolled their eyes saying "you've been reading on the internet" when I said I wanted to be sure it wouldn't be used on me. I wished I had had my wits with me so I could have said "you mean the internet with the FDA website? yes, I have been reading that one"

[sandi1743]

*head desk*
while there is a bunch of bad crap out on the internet the fact the FDA is so against its use does give the "crazy internets" some push IMHO ;)

[accentsarehot]

What is a NST?

[kitchenwitch]

Non-stress test. The thing where you get strapped to monitors and they keep track of your blood pressure and baby's movements/heart rate/contractions. Not much fun, but more fun than induction (trust me on that!!).

[accentsarehot]

Oh, okay! lol I'm so conflicted on the whole induction thing really. I've looked things up online but some things make me think it'll be the worst thing ever, while other make me think it might not be so bad. I don't know what to think :\

[kitchenwitch]

Well, the thing is, that if your baby isn't ready to come out, no amount of inducing will do any good. If things aren't ready (Google "Bishop's score" and you'll find a tool to determine whether or not an induction is likely to "take"), they aren't ready, no matter how much you walk or apply things to your cervix or get pumped with Pitocin. I'm not sure if you want to birth naturally or with drugs, but I'm going to assume you don't want a c-section; induction increases the risk for that.

Really, all of this may be moot because you could go into labor two hours frm now! :) But right now you've got time to do research and decide what is best for you and your baby.