What to expect from induction?
I’ve been booked in for induction next week (getting the balloon) and I’m feeling a bit anxious. Could anyone who has had it tell me if it is painful or just uncomfortable? Is there anything you wish you knew before getting it done?
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I have heard the balloon doesn’t really work as usually it just pops out. Apparently sweep first then pessary is the best. I’m 1 day overdue so currently just weighing up options too, and I’ll start with a sweep if needed x
I currently have the balloon in after trying the pessary twice, and it was painful at first where your body reacts to it as being something that shouldn’t be there; but with some codeine I was then okay. It was uncomfy to sit for a while (was on my feet for 4 hours after it being inserted) but I managed to get through it. Now 7 hours in and being able to relax whilst waiting for it to hopefully do its job!
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I had the balloon with my first boy, for me it didn’t really work so it may feel and be very different for you. I was about a week into my induction process of pessaries & gels, when I said I’d try it. It’s basically like a sweep procedure but they pop it through your cervix and then inflate it. The goal is to get you dilated and kick start things or cause friction with the sac to pop your waters. Unfortunately I was already quite dilated (3/4cm) so it went in easy & popped out on one of my walks about 15/30 minutes later. I tried 2 different catheters, think the first was the foley bulb which should help if you want to google it.