Pitocin Is Not Always Needed
21 Replies
 | Jo - April 14 |
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I am a mother of 3 and now 4 weeks preg with my 4th. I want to warn women about the use of pitocin. My labor for my last 2 kids which included pitocin and epidural, were by far worse then my first labor...The labor for my first child was 7 hours, my second was 22 and my 3rd was 30 hours long. My first was what i considered 'natural', they only gave me stadol to cut the edge off the pain. My transition phase was 45 min long, in which i begged for an epidural but didnt get one because I was close to pushing. My second child was induced because the doctor felt it best to get it over with because of a slow start. with the pitocin i was 4 cm and was having transition pains for hours and hours. it feels like an endless train running over you. then of course i asked for the epidural which lead to more problems, the contractions stopped so the added more pitocin and my blood pressure dropped so low that the nurses were scared. Now with my 3 kid,i was 5 weeks early and my water broke and they wanted to deliver me within 48 hours but my contractions wouldnt increase on their own. i tried walking, bathing, bouncing on the ball, everything. so they induced me. then the train showed up...i asked for an epidural because my cervix wasnt opening fast enuff and i couldnt handle the pain of the induction. so the anesthesiologist was called out of bed late thanksgiving night and he was grouchy. he was banging his instruments and didnt talk to me at all. he stuck me 3 times unsuccessfully and on the 4th time he only numbed one leg. well we had to call him back out of bed and now he was really mad...he finally got it right on the 5th attempt. then my blood pressure dropped so low they had to get the crash cart and inject me with something. i dont know what it was, i was out of it. They say that labor gets easier with successive pregnancies but in my case my first labor was by far the most natural and enjoyable. Now im not here to say that no one should get pitocin or epidurals! but ive learned that most situations can be avoided...if you are in an emergency situation then your doctors decisions are best. I have decided to go with a midwife for this delivery and if any emergency may arise they will whisk me to ER so i am not worried about it. Ladies please, take my advice, natural labor is by far the most fulfilling experience. you may think that you cant handle pain but you are a woman and youd be amazed at what you can do!!! good luck to you all!
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| Jo - April 14 |
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I forgot to add that after my 3rd delivery i got the spinal headache and the way they fixed it was with a blood patch...they draw blood from your arm and inject it into your spinal colomn. so that was 6 sticks into my back....i went home so miserable, my belly hurt from all the ma__sive contractions i had, my back hurt from the epidural sticks and my perinium hurt because i ripped. if you can avoid all that, please do!
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i had a bad induction experiance with my first baby. pitocin is not something my body tolerated at all and baby didn't care for it either. after that mess i'm fine with waiting for baby to come on it's own. induction can be a nessisary part of delivery, and i'm not the type to tell anyone how they should plan their delivery, but i do encourage everyone to get all the info you can before making decisions.
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I've never used pitocin to augment or induce labor. With my fifth, I was induced using cervidil. Maleficent is right; people need to educate themselves so they may make informed decisions regarding their own health care.
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Thanks Jo, for your post. I plan on going au natural and will use your post as a reference when i get the "dont be a martyr" "you have nothing to prove" comments shoved in my face daily. I believe everyone has the right to chose. But, it is good to know both sides.
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At the hospital where I'm having my 2nd baby everyone I know has gotton pitocin there, they just give it to everyone to get you out of there It's like they dont ask you if you want it they tell you when they are giving it to you. It makes your contractions hurt a lot. So unless I have to be induced this time I don't want it but I have a feeling I'm going to have to put up a fight to get my way
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I don't want to be induced but at 39 weeks my baby already weighs almost 9 pounds. I'm more than willing to go to 41 weeks but after that I'm afraid I'll have to get a c-section. Which I think would be worse than being induced? This is my first baby so I'm just really confused. At my 37 week appointment she said my cervix was still way far back and no signs of anything. She didn't check last time but gave me an ultrasound because she was worried about how large he seemed. I guess I'll wait and see what she says this Thursday, which will be 3 days before my due date. I have been having very consistent braxton hicks. They don't hurt that bad but they always seem to be there (5 minutes apart for the past 3 days when I time them). Sometimes I almost forget I'm pregnant and think oh I should go take an Advil to get rid of these cramps. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
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Candy - Ultrasound can be off as much as 20% when estimating fetal size in late pregancy. So your dr. is not absolutely sure how big your baby is going to be. Search this topic. Get all the info you can and don't let your dr. scare you. Good luck.
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Actually, my doctor was fine with his size. She said everything looks good, see you next week. I think from her manually feeling my abdomen she thought he was a lot larger. I'm more worried about my cervix not dilating yet and if it hasn't started by this Thursday. I am just hoping all of my braxton hicks have actually done something. If I go to 42 weeks, I'm just afraid he's going to be more than 10 pounds. That just kind of scares me but I guess I don't know the difference at this point.
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My last baby weighed 10lbs 3ozs. She was born v____ally, no epidural, no tearing, no episiotomy. It would have been a quicker delivery if I were upright not reclining.
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I'll let you know how it goes after this Thursday. Today I'm not feeling too well. Very tired and kind of nauseous. It's probably from all the cleaning I did yesterday.
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| Jo - April 18 |
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To Jill,,,,to make your fight a little easier you can prepare a birthing plan and make a copy for your doctor and for the hospital you are going to. you can find a form to fill out online, thats what i did. they cant make you do anything unless you consent so stick to your guns!!
To Candy...just because you are 1 week overdue that doesnt mean they have to rush and induce you. as long as you and baby are doing ok then they should let it take its course. things they should be watching for: pre-eclampsia, low amniotic fluid, less movement etc. Good luck and let us know what happens!
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Aaawwww shucks! Twarn't nuthin! It WAS my fifth delivery, I DID have a few abrasions, and I do have BIG hips.
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I went yesterday for my weekly and my bp was 150/100 so they did blood work again. Today I got my results and again I don't have toxemia (I had the same scare at 35 weeks). She checked my cervix and I'm 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said she'd induce me now but because my blood work was fine she'd rather wait. Because if she induced me now there is a greater risk for a c-section. I go back on Tuesday and if I'm further along she's going to induce me on Wednesday. Anyway, I'm hoping I go on my own (my due date is Sunday). Oh, and she put me on relative bed rest which means no work and to take it easy. Does anyone know if this means I can't go for a walk each night? I really think that was helping me to start dilating and I'd really love not to be induced.
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Candy, she probably doesn't want you walking around but why don't you call her and ask? Good luck. Keep us posted as to how you're doing.
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