Hi dear, i gave birth slightly more than a month ago. I was advised to go for an induce because at 38 weeks i was only 1cm dilated. The doctor gave me until my due date, if baby decide to come out on her own then no induction is needed. I reached my due date and i have no signs of labour. I did my best, walk 10km everyday, do squats and those exercise but on the day of my induction they did a check to see how dilated i am before proceeding and i was still at 1cm. Yes i fear alot, i think alot, stress about it alot and cried about it too. I decide to accept the way it was meant to be and went for the induction, 2hr-3hr later my cervix dilated to 3cm and that was good progress. At that point i felt the contraction pain and to me it was quite bearable. Over time the pain only increases and i know my body was stressed out. I tried to hold in the pain as much as i can. It was very painful but i was trying my very best to not get the epidural. I endured the pain for so long but it doesnt help to dilate my cervix further, i was at 4cm-5cm for many many hours and it doesnt dilate more. I knew i couldnt “push” the baby well if i was in that intensed pain so i gave in to my body and opt for an epidural. It does give me comfort and because i no longer feel the pain, my body was able to relax and that was when my cervix dilated fast and eventually reached 10cm. I an a first time mum too so i was clueless and scared of all the unknown, i dont want to end up being operated too. This was all the factors that made my body tensed up and because of stress my cervix refused to dilate. My advise to u is to try to stay as calm as u can in order for u to dilate. But some things are not easily controlled, i was a no no epidural person but it turns out to be something that helped me relaxed and dilate at the end, managed to give birth normally too. At the end my gynae told me that i actually have a very soft cervix which is supposed to dilate easier but because of my tensed level it made cervix not wanting to open up. I hope my story somehow gives u motivation to calm u down and try to be relaxed, or at least it gives u an idea of what to expect and how u can react to it later okie. I did eat dates because it was said to help soften the cervix. Maybe it does but my stress end up controlling my body. I pray that things will go smoothly for u and u dont need any surgery. If u want the epidural to help u, then u should okay. Dont be like me who tried to take in all the pain but i end up having to be in so much pain for very long hours with no further dilations. *virtual hugs* u can do this. :)
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