Precipitous Labor

Has anyone had a very fast labor? If you have, did you think about inducing a week early with a subsiquent pregnancy because of your trauma from that birth?

My labor with my second son was just under two hours. From my first contraction to holding him in my arms in the hospital. By the time we were getting in the car, my water broke, and my son was born an hour later just minutes after being wheeled into delivery at the hospital. No time for check in. No time for an epidural. No time to meet the nurses. My doctor didn't even make it to the hospital on time. I was a screaming in pain, terrified, panicked mess of a human being... 9cm dilated with my son coming down the birth canal, me trying to claw my way off the hospital bed and out of my own reality, I think. It was a very terrifying experience because I was not prepared in any way for that scenario. It was just so fast.

He was also a very large baby, 10 pounds and 23 inches long (I'm only 5'4 115lbs). Just a big ol beautiful chunk of a kid. Because of the speed of the delivery, I tore alot and the on call doctor didn't do a very good job of cleaning out the afterbirth and parts of the amniotic sac that burst when my waters broke. I ended up having blood clots and having to have a D&C at my OB's office 7 days later to remove all the clots and amniotic tissues. To top off the whole birth experience, my son was born so fast that he didn't get the proper "squeeze" in the birth canal and his lungs were very wet and he had trouble getting enough oxygen into his blood which landed him in the NICU for a week. So hard for me to not have my son in the room with me, trudging in pain back and forth to the NICU to see my newborn. I think the whole experience just about leveled me emotionally.

Fast forward two years later, my son is a wonderfully healthy 100% height and weight big chunk still and I have healed from the experience as much as one can (I honestly thought I was alot more healed before I started writing this and found myself crying feeling those scary feelings again).

I'm 9 weeks pregnant with my third child and have had past recommendations on scheduling an induction at 39 or 39 1/2 weeks so I do not have an even faster labor and end up delivering my child on the side of the road in a car or at my own home alone. I'm very scared about that. If an induction were to happen, the idea would be that the situation could be much more controlled, my fear and my pain and our safety, as much as one can really control such a spontaneous event as labor & delivery.

I was reading some people think induction, even under scary circumstances like my prior one was, in selfish to schedule. That you're not letting the baby lead the way, comming when they are ready to. I'm starting to wonder what the best path would be and was curious if anyone had ever been in my position before? Or knew anyone that has?

Would you think about induction in this pregnancy after a birth like that or leave the birth to chance and let the baby come when he or she is ready?

I usually lean one way or another on these issues, but I'm so conflicted on this one. 😒😩😥😣🙄😲