My Induction Process with the Gel

 My Induction Process with the Gel


I was scheduled for an induction at 38 weeks and 3 days because of my gestational diabetes. I had known my doctor wanted me to be induced between weeks 38 and 39 so at my week 37 appointment I asked when we would decide on a date, and it got scheduled that day for the next Thursday.  On Tuesday the next week, I was walking home from the pharmacy when I got a call from my doctor saying that they wanted to move the induction and can I come in that day.  As soon as possible.  Well, I wasn't expecting that at all! So I called my husband and went home. We had lunch and hurriedly packed the last things we needed to pack.  I had planned on packing a bag for the induction process that evening and redoing my hospital bag once the laundry had dried that evening.  Luckily for me, the leggings that I wanted to take dry quickly and so were already dry.  We went to the hospital and signed in.  A brief bit of confusion and I had to wait a bit because I was scheduled for the next day. But we got checked in and did the paperwork and then got brought up to the birth unit.  We went to a different room than I had been in for monitoring.  I was hooked up to the CTG Monitoring, as I am familiar with.  Luckily baby cooperated so it wasn't long before they took me off of the monitor.  Once I was done, I was able to sit up and move a bit before my OB came into the room.  We chatted a bit about the induction process. Then she did an internal exam and applied the gel to my cervix.  My cervix was apparently soft but closed.  Once the gel was applied I was hooked back up to the monitor and had to remain reclining for an hour so it didn't fall out.  At first, I was on my back, but as I was getting uncomfortable the midwife suggested I lay on my side. The different positions did help.  I had brought the card game Skip-Bo with me because I knew we had to spend a long time just hanging around so we lowered the bedside table and played a game while I was laying on my side. It was a really good distraction. The gel application wasn't uncomfortable, but I now have period-like cramps in the front of my uterus.  I think the cramps have lessened slightly, but it might be the distractions. I would definitely plan on bringing something to distract you from the cramps and to keep you entertained.  They said the gel works over 6 hours.  My OB plans to be back in 6 hours to do another dose, and then I will settle down for the night.  The rest of the process might be vaguer. I am writing this in the hospital after the first gel application, the rest may not be updated until the baby is born.  



After a while, I was able to get up.  Since I hadn't planned on going to the hospital until the next day, I hadn't washed my hair.  So i took a shower and washed my hair.  We then spent a couple of hours just hanging out.  We played some games on our phones. Played more Skibo. and we did some swing dancing as I got more and more cramps.   My doctor came to check on me and my progress.  Because of how much I had progressed, I think I was then at a 1 and my cervix was ripe, I did not need a second dose of the gel.  We spent some more time dancing and talking. Since my room didn't have a pullout bed for Nick, we decided he should go home and come back in the morning.  So He left to sleep and I tried to get some sleep in the hospital bed.  I was uncomfortable and had a hard time sleeping, but I did get some rest.  At around 4ish I was awake and unable to get comfortable again. I decided to shower and let Nick sleep a bit longer before calling him in.  We had decided he would arrive around 7:30. Just before my doctor at 8 if I hadn't called him sooner.  When I stood up, I wasn't sure if I had peed myself or my water broke.  I went ahead and took a shower.  As I was getting out I threw up.  I called for the nurse, who told me it was normal.  I was in a lot of pain at that point and called Nick at 5.  I told him to come and bring me a clean pair of pajama pants and underwear. I had two bags, a labor bag, and my hospital bag. I only had one pair of undies with me and needed those for after birth.  


Nick arrived and started talking me through the contractions and being a support.  Breakfast arrived and he ate. I kept vomiting.  They offered me some anti-nausea medication.   When my doctor came she confirmed that my water had indeed broken earlier.  I was then started on Pitocin and had to wear the ctg continuously.  Thankfully it was waterproof so I was still able to use water for relief - for a bit anyway.  The contractions kept getting stronger and stronger. I kept vomiting and had to get more bags brought into the room.  They gave me a morphine shot and I finally stopped throwing up. It is gross to think about, but it is something that I didn’t realize could happen that much.  I would lean on Nick during tmy contractions and did lots of visualizations and mantras during them.  They got me a yoga ball to use. I would sit on the ball and lean on the bed and Nick did counter pressure during the contractions.  That really helped. As time went on, I kept feeling an urge to push.  I knew it was way too early though.  I told the nurse, who did an internal check.  At that point I was 5 cm dilated. She told me not to push.  It was way early and all it would do was bruise the baby's head and my cervix.  I tried very hard not to push, but it was so hard.  My body was naturally pushing during the contractions and I was needing to relax those muscles.  I tried a shower to see how that helped.  Unfortunately, Baby had a few heart rate decelerations so they were really wanting to keep a close eye on the monitors, and the water interfered with it too much. I tried a shot of morphine, but it really didn't stop the urge to push.  I spoke to the nurses about gas, but it wasn't likely to do much about the pushing and I was really worried about hurting baby with the pushing too early.  So I ended up going for an epidural at that point. 


After I requested the epidural, they called the anesthesiologist.  I was impressed by how quickly he came.  I think after the decision to have it, he was there within 20 minutes. The nurse came to our room after calling him and said he should be there in 10 minutes, but the phone had died right as she called so it may take longer as he might have to charge the phone for a minute and call back.  Luckily, he saw the call was from labor and just showed up.  So once he was there, they had me sit on the edge of the bed with my feet on a chair.  Nick stood behind the chair and I was holding onto him. As they were setting everything up, I got some really strong contractions and really wanted to lean to the side to help get through them.   Leaning forward was really hard. With the contractions and with a big belly in the way.  The doctor asked Nick if he wanted the processes described.  He was doing it but noticed that Nick was getting a bit pale.  I said, he may not, but I do.  It is helping me.  So he talked us through the processes.  Sitting still through the contractions was the hardest part.  The doctor told me that it was in.  "Great! Can I move my legs?" "Yes, you-" "Nick sit!" He had gotten a bit woosy, but he was ok.  At that point it was amazing, the pain disappeared.  I was given the button to push if it started to hurt again but was also told that I should push it at least once an hour to keep the dosing up.  After a while, I said it felt like it was wearing off, and pushing the button didn't help much.  At that point the nurse investigated and we discovered I was doing it wrong.  Turns out you are supposed to hold the button down for a few seconds.  Whoops.  But once I knew that, the epidural really worked.  After the epidural was given, I ate my lunch that had been sitting around.  Nick had been eating his lunch in between my contractions.  It was wonderful.  I was so glad to eat something.  At that point, I had to stay in the bed. I was given certain positions to be in at first.  So Nick and I both slept for a while.  Dinner arrived while we were figuring out the process of how the button helped with the epidural so I wasn't hungry for a while.  I was checked around there by my doctor and I was at a 9.  Which was great. I was also given the peanut ball at this point to have between my knees to help with the baby's position.  When I was thinking about dinner I was told I could drink, but I really shouldn't eat much.  So I just ate the diet jelly that Nick and I both had been given.  And a yogurt from earlier.  Time was a huge blur at this point.  At around 9ish I think, my nurse said my doctor called for an update and asked to check me again.  She did and I was at a 9 still, but it felt like less with a lot of swelling.  My doctor came, checked me as well, and agreed that I had a lot of swelling and the baby's head was further up.  At that point, the discussion turned to a c section.  My doctor said that at this point it was very unlikely that the baby would be born through natural birth.  So they prepared an operating room for me.  They wheeled me down the hallway to a different part of the hospital.  


First, they transferred me to a different bed. The transporter grabbed a transfer board to transfer me and the midwife told him I didn't need it.  They were very surprised by how much I could use my legs.  I wasn't in pain, but I could use my legs, which I'm glad for. In a preoperating room, they topped up my epidural and told us what was going to happen and introduced us to everyone who was involved.  Once I was in the operating room and everything started happening I started shaking so much.  I felt like I was going to vomit, but I didn't.  I was just uncontrollably shaking, I was told this was normal.  It was enough that Nick was concerned.  I could feel what was happening.  No pain, but tugging and pulling. It was interesting, but I was mostly shaking and sleepy.  When Mary was born, We heard her cry.  Nick started laughing maniacally. and kept saying she’s just so pitiful! She is so pitiful! She really was, all covered in goop.  My Baby.  They brought her up by my head and let me cut the cord. Nick didn't want to, but I did.  the cord was long enough that I was able to cut it for the first time. (They said they'd never seen the mother cut the cord in a c-section.)  Normally they have to do an initial cut and let mom cut it shorter, but I did the only cut.  It was apparently the first time that had happened for everyone in the room.   Once the cord was cut, they put her on my chest and Nick and I just looked at her.  We finalized the name, looking at her.  I was shaking so much.  They took baby to the side to weigh her and do the apgar score. I remember someone said that I could look to the side and see baby as they did the apgar score.  I remember looking over and going "Ok, good" and staring back at the ceiling. I was shaking so much and so sleepy.  They came and put her back on my chest.  She was on my chest for a few minutes, but then Nick took her and held her instead.  I was shaking so badly.  and I was so sleepy. It was hard to focus.  but I reached over and tried to touch her as much as I could.  Once they finished stitching me up, they sent baby and Nick to the special care nursery and they sent me to recovery.  Recovery was hard.  There was someone there keeping an eye on me who kept talking to me and all I wanted to do was sleep, but I think her goal was to keep me awake.  And that is my birth story.  I'll write another time about our time in the hospital. 

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