Trigger warning

Early induction

Mental health

Due to my baby measuring at least 3 weeks ahead of schedule, my midwife and doctor have discussed possible early induction.

At my most recent appointment, we talked about the chronic pains I have been having (particularly my mid-upper back, and pelvic floor, but also sciatica, swollen and sore feet, chronic carpel tunnel etc) and how it is impacting my once again fragile mental health (was pretty stable through years of hard work when we decided to try for a baby).

I have had a long and dark mental health history, as well as experiencing post natal depression with my daughter (now 9 years old), so I was already a high risk patient.

Now baby's size and my lack of coping has spurred the doctors along and they agree that a 37 week induction is reasonable (benefits vs risks). I wanted this pregnancy, but I currently hate being pregnant and just want it over.

I'd never intentionally hurt my baby, in fact she is the only thing that has stopped me from falling into old habits, but sometimes my thoughts haunt me.

I am just really struggling to get through this. My partner is there for me as much as he is able to be, but he can only give so much and is stressed himself. I have a whole mental health team and my midwife etc supporting me as well.

I will be 37 weeks along on the 17th September 2019. Looking at inducing a couple of days later because I don't want to miss my daughters school concert on that date, and I'd hate to disappoint her.

So only 4 more weeks until my induction, and I am definitely counting down the days, but also dreading having to sit with this pain for another 4 weeks. It gets worse everyday. I can't get up or down without pain. I haven't slept through the night since I was about 25 weeks along. No sleeping position is comfortable. Not even with pregnancy pillows etc. I am just so done with this.

I guess the reason for this post is because I would like to know if anyone else has gone through something like this, and what your experience was like. How quickly did the days/weeks go until your induction? How was your induced labor (compared to natural labour if you have both experiences)?

True labor with my daughter only went for approx 3 hours. Painful Braxton hicks from the night before until I went into labor, but other than that it was pretty short for a first pregnancy. So we aren't expecting too many hassles with this one, but apparently induction can cause more pain and longer labor.

I'm well aware that every pregnancy and labor is different, I guess I am just looking for some reassurance or to know that I'm not alone.