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My best friend was just induced with her second 2 weeks ago and it was over in like 4 hours! I am guessing it might depend on how much pit they give you/how fast and whether or not your cervix is already soft or if they had to give you something to soften it? But I haven't got a clue - just guesses.... Anyone else?

I have. I just had our second child with induction last Thursday. My first induction was 11 and a half hours, which included 1 hour and 45 minutes of pushing. This time my labor was 10 and a half hours, and I only pushed for 20 minutes. It was great! This time was so much easier. I am sure you will have an easier time since this is your second child. You will do great. Are you having a boy or a girl? We had a baby boy and named him Nathaniel James Venable. We call him Nathan or Nate for short. Right now though, I call him my monkey. I am so in love with this little man.

Mj- We are having a little girl. (2nd girl for us) and are naming her Alyssa Lynn. You give me hope! Thanks for your response. I just do not want another really loooong labor. I remember how incredibly tired and hungry I was last time. It would probably seem like a breeze to be in labor for only 12 hours...hopefully I'll get that much shorter labor!! Congrats on your little guy by the way!!!

Tomorrow is your big day! Let me know how it goes.

I was induced with my first and it took 3 days from start to finish. With my second my waters broke so they told I'ld be induced again on the Sunday but I went naturally the same day with a 5 hour labour and had a water birth. Its not quite the same but second labour was much shorter for me. Hope it goes well.

Ohhh, all these stories of induction are a bit saddening. I know it's huge in the USA and UK, but in 95% of the cases it is just unnecessary. I know you will all probably jump on me for saying so, but going 2 weeks past a due date is NORMAL. Why don't women feel empowered to let nature take care of her and have faith that her body will birth when ripe. Trust yourself ladies! Induction is the fad. Just like c-sections. Why all of a sudden do so many hospitals have a 50% induction and c-section rate?!?

" Convenience has become a fixture in American society. As life grows more fast-paced, people look for more corners to cut and ways to save time. But should the desire for convenience extend to one of the most fundamental natural functions -- the act of childbirth?" Most European countries are a bit better in this regard, but this trend for INTERFERING in a women' s labor is getting stronger! I just cringe every time I hear hospital birth stories with inductions and ending in c-sections. Any one see Rikki Lake's doc_mentary the Business of Being Born.... She hit the topic to a T!! More and more new birthing nurses in hospitals actually say they have NEVER seen a natural birth!!! I had my 1st in a hospital, horrible experience and therefore had my 2nd at home. Of my friends who have birthed within the last years, only ONE had a natural birth, the other roughly 20 were all induced, vacuumed out or c-sectioned... And sadly they all believe it HAD to be done--well that is what they were told. Good luck!

Ladies, lets not be divisive... I don't disagree with what you are saying, but this forum is about supporting one another during this special time in our lives. Lets not judge one another for the decisions each other is making - you don't know the life events each of us has encountered leading up to these decisions, nor should anyone have to explain or defend themselves. Bottom line, each of us LOVES the child growing within us right now and only wants the ABSOLUTE best for him or her. We are all going to be terrific moms - look at how consumed with our babies we already are by chatting on these forums everyday! The method of their delivery is not nearly as important as the love and care they will each receive everyday of their lives.

While I agree with Iona and Franny that inductions are becomming just a "conveinence" the Dr's have decided in my case, it is more for the baby's safety. She is not growing well, and have decided that she would do better on the outside then staying in. My first I was induced because of Pre-eclampsia. My baby had IUGR and nobody knew it until after she was born. She weighed under 5 pounds at 37 weeks. This baby is suspected to be around the same, although this time I'm 39 weeks, so hopefully this baby will at least be a little bigger. They don't know why the babies are small, which makes me nervous and I will feel so much better when this baby is out and I know she is happy and healthy, intsead of chancing lettng her stay in there when there seems to be something wrong with the placenta. So, like I said, while I agree with the other women, in some cases I think induction and/or C-section is truly the best option for both mother andy baby. I WISH I could have gone into labor naturally...and I tried everything I could think of....But it just didn't work for me.

Preggosauce - Hope the induction goes well and you have a short labour. Just to clarify the induction with my first at 37 weeks was because my waters broke and was deemed essential by the doctors for medical reasons. Personally I would never go against the recommendation of a doctor. I would have loved to have given birth naturally - I was so sad not to have a water birth but they said it was too risky for the baby - and I was lucky to get a water birth with my second child. I know of someone who went against medical advice because she wanted to give birth at home -well her child is severely brain damaged for life as they couldn't get to hospital in time when complications arose. I agree though that there are too many c-sections and I told doctors I would only do one if medically essential and that I wanted everything done to avoid one. If there had been a medical reason I would have done it without a second thought. Preggosauce - hope all goes well. My first was also born at 37 weeks and was 5lbs 5oz - my second at 39 weeks and 8lbs so I got a surprise! Its a shame you didn't get to go naturally but you'll see your baby very soon and I found the pain easier the second time round because I knew I'ld get another lovely baby.

I agree with iona, just look at the last 10 or so birth stories in this Third Trimester room, they are ALL induced labor....I too had my 2nd at home after a miserable hospital birth. With my 1st I was constnantly threatened with a c-section and thank God I refused. Most doctors will say anything to get the mom to agree to intervention to speed things up. Once the 1st intervention is done the chance of a vacuum or c-section birth skyrockets. It makes sense, once you halt (epidural) or unnaturally speed up (picotin etc) the body has lost control to give birth its self, so naturally machines and medicine need to finish the process.

I saw R. Lake's doc_mentary! Man is that scary....birthing nurses saying they had NEVER witnessed a natural birth. No surprise, the USA holds the highest c-section rate at 30%!!!! That is insane, 30 birth of a hundred end in c-section. And of those 30, nearly all of them began with some form of intervention. There are so so many post on here in the labor section where women already say they will go 100% for the epidural! Imagine this mind set before going into labor...Homebirth and natural labor moms are convinced its the way to go, women who were interferred with believe that was the ONLY way to go. No convincing them either way.

Those of us on the July board that were induced (myself included), did so for various reasons. Some were overdue, some had complications late in pregnancy. It is not fair to judge us. What you failed to remember from our thread is that we all have healthy babies. Natural child birth is not something that all women want to experience, and that in no way means that we score any less "points" during our deliveries. In my case it was a good thing that I was induced at 39 weeks. Our little boy had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, so tight that my OB said if I would have gone in to labor on my own at 40 weeks or more that if I would have tried a v____al birth, epidural or not, I could have easily lost him. Either that or ended up with a true emergent c-section. Even at 39 weeks my labor was touch and go with his heart rate. At their most intense my contractions were somewhere in the 80"s, and during contractions his heart rate would plummet. I have no regrets regarding my induction, and would do it again. Natural childbirth is not for me, some of us don't want to feel that pain. However, if you are a woman who is confident in her ability to handle the stess and pain of labor una__sisted, then more power to you. That is great for you.

mjv, i think you misunderstood my last statement. i said no convincing either way, such as no convincing you and no convincing a women who wanted to and did a natural labor. both sides so strongly believe they did the best and safest way. i was making no reference to just the july births, just take a look the last few months.

mjv, don't get me too wrong, but on the labor thread you said you already plan on getting an epidural before you go into labor. my point is that women are programmed into believing that labor pain is so unbearable and horrible that we need drugs to deal with the pain. how disempowered (is that even a word...?) have we become to give our unique power (to conceive) and give birth up the the powers of man and medicine. if you do some research and epidural and other interventions do cause a fetal heartbeat to go up and down. if you read further into how exactly these interventions act upon your body and interfere with the natural labor process it is no wonder that it all ends up so often with an "emergency" c-section. anyway, i agree to disagree : )

Although I see the point that lots of inductions and c-sections are more for convenience than necessity, going past the due date isn't always the best action. My dr feels that when you have a full term baby, there is not much to be gained, but lots to potentially lose by waiting. SOme of these things include the placents becoming less effective at supporting the baby, as well as actaully breaking down, lower fluids, etc. I know not all drs and people look at it this way, but when comparing the pros and cons of inducing a baby who is at full term, with nothing to be gained by waiting except for increased risks, then I guess the induction seems appropriate.