My wife was due July 13, but we are still waiting. She’s dilated to one. The doc wants to induce soon, as the estimated weight is 4000 grams, and 4400 is the cutoff for c-section. My wife isn’t excited about either intervention, and always imagined a natural birth. The doc says risk getting stuck halfway, which increases chances of complications, and even stillbirth if it takes several more days. We’ve tried acupuncture, jumping jacks, spicy food, and lots of sex (whatever a guy has to do). Any ideas? Stories to share?
My OB, who was pretty overall friendly to natural birthing and so forth (and who is also a big-deal research guy, for what that’s worth) told me once that the risk of infant mortality goes up pretty significantly at the 42-week mark, which is why a lot of OBs want to induce at that point if labor hasn’t started naturally.
In general, I am a huge, huge proponent of letting the baby come naturally when he (or she) is ready to do so, but at 2 weeks past due, I’d probably go ahead and let the doc induce. You hear stories of people’s grandmothers carrying babies to 45 weeks and whatnot, but that’s from a time when due date calculation wasn’t quite as precise as it is today, you know?
Either way, good luck to you, your wife, and the new little one!
Try a really hot bath!
Firstly, IANAD, but I did have an induced labour, ending with a vaginal delivery.
Don’t stress too much about the induction - they don’t always end in a c-section. I had an induction (due to increased blood pressure and bad fluid retention) and my daughter emerged barely 7 hours after they ruptured my membranes and started the syntocinon (“pitocin” in the US?) drip. I went from 2cm to fully effaced and dilated in about 5.5 hours. The only thing with an induced labour is that the mother doesn’t get the gradual build-up of contractions that you expect with a natural labour. You frequently get what is called “coupling”, where the contractions come very quickly one after the other or even overlap, so you don’t get a breather between them. Because of those two things, your wife should discuss pain management options with her doctor/midwife, and clearly establish what the boundaries are for changing the birth plan.
First - how sure are you all about the date of conception? If you aren’t really really certain, that might argue for watching and waiting (non-stress tests and whatnot, intervene only if indicated).
Second, realize that estimates of baby weight from ultrasounds are notoriously unreliable. And weight doesn’t necessarily indicate difficulty or ease of labor. One midwife I know attended the birth of a 13 pound baby - not only no problems, the mom had an intact perineum!
Third, dilation is no indication whether labor is near. Some women walk around for weeks dilated to 4 cm, while some have a tight closed cervix one day, and have a baby the next.
Some midwives advise using castor oil - I think the idea is if the smooth muscles next door in the bowel start contracting, it can get the uterus moving too.
Still, 42 weeks is the end of the comfort zone - you do have to watch out for the baby’s health and of course your doctor knows the most about the situation.
If you do induce, perhaps you could wait till exactly the 42 week mark, or a bit after, and then try the least intrusive first. Try sweeping membranes, then breaking membranes if that doesn’t work, and so on, with a pitocin drip as the last resort. Pitocin sucks. It makes laboring without pain relief incredibly hard. It introduces risks to the baby and mother.
That said, it’s probably better than a scheduled c-section!
I hope nature takes it’s course . . . . NOW, and you don’t have to worry anymore.
(Did it work?)
If I were her, I’d definitely let them induce. The reason the risk of stillbirth increases is because after 40 weeks the placenta starts to deteriorate and the baby may not get enough oxygen. To me that risk would be unacceptable.
I hope everything goes well for you guys.
My brother’s wife was told mowing the lawn is a good way to bring on labour. She mowed the lawns - hey presto! shortly thereafter she went into labour.
Pros: Might work and even if it doesn’t, hey! neat lawns!
Cons: Neighbours giving you filthy looks for making your poor 42-week pregnant wife do the yard work.
Seriously - and I’m fairly anti-induction - I’d listen to the doctors. If it all goes pear-shaped, at least you know made your choices based on professional medical advice. And all the best to you both on having a smooth, complication-free delivery.
Same thing happened with my second - I was 2 weeks overdue and beyond uncomfortable. Labor was still labor, you just knew when it was going to happen. With my third, as soon as I hit my due date, I was induced. Same basic labor for both, much as **Dotty ** described. With both, nothing really happened until they broke my water, then all hell broke loose, but it was only a few hours after that to delivery.
Well, she’s starting to have contractions about 10-15 minutes apart. She’s afraid that induction means epidural, and possibly not being able to push well enough at that point, which would lead to c-section. But maybe just being threatened with induction was enought to get things moving naturally. Thanks for the advice!
Ooh, sounds like this could be it! Good luck, Great Dave
Bath water shouldn’t be hotter than 100 degrees, so that momma’s body temp doesn’t get too high. It can stress the baby. Or so I’ve read. Pregnant women are supposed to stay out of hot tubs too.
So did I.
I did not have an epidural.
Thinking supportive thoughts of flowers opening up.
Just in case you don’t already have a baby, tell her to eat a bunch of pineapple. Old wives’ tale, but it worked for me.
Did my post work? 
I have a friend who called me around 40 weeks of her pregnancy, and moaned, “Why am I not in labor?!” She went into labor an hour later.
Maybe I’m magical!
They put her low dose pitocin to provoke some contractions for a stress test last night. She stayed at the low dose drip all night, and started to ramp up towards induction level dose about six. By seven she had some Stadol for pain. By seven thirty she was asking for the epidural, but it was to late. She had gone from 2cm and 90% effaced at minus one to complete in ninety minutes. Ineke Ellen was born just after eight. All of us are fine.
Congratulations!! So glad to hear all is well. And of course, you know you have to post pics when you’ve got a moment to breathe!
Great news! Congrats to all.
Congratulations!
Congrats.
Congratulations! Wishing you a lifetime of joy with your new family!
That’s about as successful an induction as you can get! Congratulations, and I expect pictures soon!