Hi! So I wanted to share my induction story because I know they get a bad rap. When I was on the fence about it I tried to look for other birth stories that were positive and all I got was negative comments/shade. So I wanted to share my positive experience in case there’s a mamma out there on the fence and feeling guilty about her choice.

First of all, it is your choice! And if doctor says it’s okay, don’t feel guilty!! I was getting nervous about birth and labor and all the uncertainty right around 38 weeks. Doctor said that if my cervix was favorable, we could talk about induction after 39w. So at my 39 week appointment he said it was soft and roughly 2cm. He gave me a couple of options on days and I left the office without an appointment. I went home and researched and talked to my family and my husband. After a few days I decided to schedule it. I was a little nervous about baby being too big and I’m pretty petite! 5’3 and just over 100lbs pre pregnancy. I was scared about C sections and tearing. Doc said that elective inductions actually have a lower risk of C sections per a more recent study!

Went in on Sunday 1/26/2020 at 7am and got started on Pitocin around 8am. I got a really low dose (2m?) and they were going to increase it every 30min, but I told them to wait till every hour because I didn’t want to have a super fast labor. Turns out, if you ask you receive! My nurse said ok and she increased it by 2s every hour. I was having contractions but I couldn’t feel them so I held off on the epidural. Around 11:30am, my water broke. By noon those contractions got real!!! I asked for the epidural and got it around 12:35pm. I was getting checked every now and then and I was dilating slowly. The nurse put me in a couple different positions and things starting picking up! By 4:30 I was getting ready to push! Doc came in and checked me to make sure I was ready and I started pushing at 5pm. It’s hard to push when you’re numb so they turned off the epi and I got just enough feeling in my legs to push, but no pain. Baby was born at 6:44pm! 7lbs 7oz! I had a second degree tear which was painful for about two weeks PP. I’m definitely glad I got induced a little early. Babies only get bigger and I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it had he been any heavier! I probably would’ve ended up with a C or with worse tearing.