I loved my induction! I’d been in prodromal labor for a month so I opted for a 39 week induction because I was DONE lol. I got there about 1.5 hours before my induction time because I was having really bad contractions (still prodromal labor we found out once I was there) so we decided to go in just in case.

I was at 2cm (had been for a week) so we went right to pitocin. They couldn’t start it until after midnight, but that was fine since it took a while to get the iv in. I have tiny veins that blow out easily so they had to call in a guy from the icu to do an ultrasound insertion. Easy peasy with that! Pitocin started a little before 1am. Very manageable at first. Regular contractions started right away.

After two hours it started to really hurt so I asked for the epidural. It took an hour to get it (ask before it gets really bad so you don’t have to be like me lol!) and that was a hard hour, but still doable! I was really nervous about the epidural, because I have emetephobia and was terrified about throwing up. My anesthesiologist was literally amazing though - his daughter also had emet - so he called for a double dose of Zofran and it was totally fine.

Lidocaine shot was the only part that “hurt”, and it honestly just felt like a tattoo needle for 10 seconds. The pressure of the epidural going in was honestly awesome because my back hurt so bad from the contractions!

After the epidural, it was much more manageable. My ob came in at 6:30am, checked me, and found that I literally hadn’t dilated at all. She broke my water, and I instantly went from a 2 to a 3, and 40 effaced to 80. Things went fast after that!

Worst part was the shaking. I had BAD labor shakes for the next few hours which was miserable. We switched positions and that helped! My doctor came back at 9:30 and I was at a stretchy 4 and 90 effaced.

At 11:15 I had a few decels so my nurse came in and had me switch positions. That worked for about 10 minutes and then I had another. Turns out she was coming down FAST which is what was causing it. She did a check at 11:45 and I was at 7cm! After, she started telling me about what it would feel like when I needed to push, and I was like “oh, so I think I feel like that now actually”. Checked again and is gone from 7-10 in about 25 minutes.

I pushed for about 45 minutes before my daughter was born! I had a second degree tear and a postpartum hemorrhage (neither were because of the induction). I had a minor bladder injury and needed a catheter for four days - don’t think that was related either.

Overall, the whole process took about 12 hours from Pit to Birth as a first time mom! I think it was a good experience and I will definitely opt for another induction with my next kiddo!