To voluntarily induce or not? Hmm...

We had our 38 week biophysical yesterday and in the last 5 days, Kaleb went from 6 lbs to 6 lbs 9 oz! The dr said we could choose to go into the hospital next Tuesday night so they can ripen my cervix, then induce him on Wednesday.

She mentioned that him gettiing bigger so quickly could lead to him having to be delivered via c-section so this is a possible way to avoid that.

I just don't know what to do. This is our first baby and everyone else in the world seems to have a different opinion. Some say wait until 40 weeks and do it then. Some say let him try to come on his own and don't induce at all. Blah blah blah.

I really don't know what the answer is here!

This is my first so I don't have any opinion or thoughts of what you should do; however, I will be interested in seeing your answers.  My husband is set to deploy one week exactly from my due date; dr. say they will induce me one week early.  So I am hoping maybe go early on my own, but if not we are leaning towards the extra week early.

good luck!  Stacey

Personally I say wait for the baby to come on its own. It was so great to be able to experience all that comes w/ being pregnant like waking up in the middle of the night w/ contractions and rushing to the hospital etc... I am just so grateful that I didn't have to be induced. The biophysical can be very inaccurate and they are give or take 20% or something crazy so your baby could be much smaller than that (or bigger). I would understand induction if you were at 42 weeks w/ no cervical change because that's when the placenta can get old and that can get scary but right now baby still has some baking to do and I would just wait it out. Now that I had my baby girl I wish I would have just enjoyed every single day of pregnancy rather than worrying about if she was going to come late. I miss being pregnant now even though I LOVE having her here of course! As for the C-section possibility the way I look at it is you have NO control over your labor and delivery for the most part. What's going to happen will happen. I don't think waiting until the baby is ready to come really increases the odds by that much. My OB told me that so many times and I was so worried and Annie came out at 9lbs 5oz w/ only 2 pushes! I had NO problems delivering her what so ever. You may be different but you may not be that's why I say they really cant know if you will be able to vaginally deliver your baby no matter how big or small until the time comes. Good luck w/ whatever you choose though!! I hope you have an easy labor and delivery and a healthy baby!

-Ashlie

Just my opinion...I say wait!  Coming from a mom of a 38 week / 5 day little boy born last July.  He ended up in the NICU for 2 weeks.  One week of it was on oxygen.  I am NOT trying to scare you, but my dr. told me boys lungs don't mature as fast as girls.  My little boy was a scheduled c-section and he still ended up in the NICU!  I would wait, unless there is a medical reason to induce.  I have always heard ultrasounds can be off by as much as a pound. 

If it was a little girl, I would almost be inclined to say go for it, but a little boy, wait!  My little girl was born at 38 weeks, 3 days and she had no problems. 

Just my opinion....

Debbie

I have a very strong opinion on this, but I won't go into it LOL I will just say that you should NOT induce just because a size u/s said your baby might be "big" (they are often unreliable and wrong), since inductions with no signs of labor present often end in c-sections, harder labors and complications. Do your research before you decide to do it.

I had an elected induction just 3 days before my due date. Would I do it again.......no. Never even got to do the pitocin. About 11pm at night they put the cervidil to soften the cervix. About 8 the next morning they took it out. My cervix was still hard but I was having contractions and they were pretty strong. OB decided I didnt need anymore meds to help since contractions were going good. 11 am he checked and nothing was happening with my cervix but contraction were now 2 minutes apart and Max's heartbeat was dipping way way to low, scared the **** out of me. OB and couple other docs decided that csection was best since my cervix would not give in. 12:30 pm my little man came into the world healthy and sounded like a kitten crying.

I truely believe that if I didnt try the induction that he would came naturally just fine and never would of had a csection. Of course I dont know that 100%.

There are plenty of people who have had perfectly successfull inductions. This is a choice that only you can make. Its tough at the end, I know. This probably wasn't any help but I just wanted to share my story with you.

Good luck on the decision and do what you feel is right!!!     Now I just need to decide if I want another csection or go natural with this one, some decisions suck.....

I am with everyone else and say WAIT.  I was induced at 39w1d because my little girl stopped growing.  I was totally against being induced, but the doctor gave me no options.  It was extremely painful, and I hear way more painful than if you went into labor on your own.  I was in labor for 17 hours and finally gave in to an epidural and then ended up with an emergency c-section.  My body was exhausted and my baby girl was exhausted and couldn't handle it any longer.  I honestly believe that had I waited and went on my own that I would have been able to experience a vaginal birth.  My baby girl was born extremely healthy and 5lbs 15oz, very tiny.  Healing from a c-section sucks!  You are more at risk of a csection when being induced because most doctors won't let you go over 24 hours after your water breaks. 

Just to even the score a little- I was induced with my daughter because of uterine growth restriction at 39 weeks. I was in labor for a very short time and I had no complications. I know lots of people who don't have horrible experiences with induction- it always seems that the negative stories are heard more than the positives. At first I wondered if I should really choose my child's birthdate, but I got over it really fast once I held her in my arms. I am expecting twins, and my OB will induce at 38 weeks if I have not gone into labor before, so I will have an induction again this time. Still not too worried about it. I think it is a personal choice- no one knows if they would have waited to go into natural labor if thisngs would have still been difficult. That being said, I wouldn't elect to have an induction before 39 weeks, which is what the AMA recommends, otherwise there are more risks involved. ultrasounds can be off too- my daughter was much smaller than they thought she was at 39 weeks, so that is not always the most reliable.  Again, everyone has their opinion, and life is life. It never goes as planned. Your experience of a natural, non-induced labor might not be the classic "middle of the night" scenario either- You never know. Hopefully that gives you something else to think about.

Carrie

In all honesty . . .Big Baby Bologna; article I am NOT a fan of inductions for the reason of "possible big baby".

You will NOT grow a baby too big for your body!!! My biggest baby was 10lbs 9oz born vaginally at home without tears and in less than an hour!

I know this is your first but babies are supposed to average 8 lbs at birth and if this weight was diagnosed by ultrasound, then u/s are KNOWN to be off on weight by 2 pounds!!!

I also second what tripmom02 said, early inductions for no reason more often end in more difficult delieveries and more often than not end up in a c/s which could have been avoided if mom waited until baby and body was ready and not just when the doctor is ready.

I could really get on a soapbox here too but this is all I will say on the subject.

My vote is to wait.

If you can wait, do it. I was induced at 37 weeks due to high blood pressure and I was in labor all night and all day the next day. That evening around 8 I started pushing, pushed for 3 hours and couldn't get her past my pelvic bone. They ended up doing a C section and because I labored and the baby started down the birth canal, they pushed all that bacteria from the birth canal up through my stomach to deliver the baby for a C section. Well, the incision ended up getting infected and I had to be hospitalized for a week. So needless to say, I'm against induction if you really truly don't need it for the baby's well being. They say that chances of C section go up so much with an induction of your first baby. The things I wish I knew then.