how does being "induced" feel, is it any different from "real" labor?

From my personal experience, the induction was way easier. I had pitocin with my second child, my labor was short and I had no pain until my midwife broke my water, and then it was only painful until I gave birth 61 minutes later. My other two deliveries were natural and were more painful. My first was terribly painful and my last labor was painful but manageable because I had prepared myself.
Many women say a pit induced labor is much harder, but for me that was not the case.

I've always heard that it was a lot more painful. Statistically inductions end in c-sections more often than "natural labors".

oh it is completey different from natural labor, there is no build up when your induced, the contractions are harder IMO . i was induced twice the first time they broke my water when they started the pitocin, the contractions started fairly quickly, the second time i was induced then sent home 36 hours later while i was still having contractions those kept going and then they brought me back 2 days later and induced me again, the contractions only got worse after 4 days of being in labor i was really cranky.

With my third baby i wanted a natural birth i spent the day with just a uncomfortable ache in my back then by 8 pm the contractions were closer together and stronger I lost my plug at 10 pm and contractions were 5 min apart i was still able to drive to the hosp. the strong ones didnt hit till the last 30 min of labor, overall it was a more comfortable experience.

I would never do an induction again it was horrible.

Both my pregnancies I was induced and once they gave me the pitocin my labor was 10X worse then before I had the meds. From personal experience...it is way worse.

both of mine were induced! actually, i went into preterm labor with my first and it was HORRIBLE!!!, then a month later when i got induced, i didn't even know it was time to push because the pain was no where near as bad as the 'uninduced' pain from the earlier labor.

2nd induction, i actually fell asleep and managed to get in some good rest, only to wake up vomiting and ready to push! So for me, the induction was great.

Being induced is much MORE than natural labor! I got induced once, and it was so much more painful, there was no building up with it. I also ended up with a c-section.

I had three different types of induction drugs.. and they broke my water... i had a epidual when i got to 7cm so i wasn't in much pain but it ended in a c section... my body wasn't ready

I had to be induced because my water broke and I wasn't having any contractions but was dilated to a 3. They started pitocin at 8:30am, I started feeling crampy at about 9:30, that lasted for about an hour when my contractions finally kicked in they took my breath away. I went from being dilated to 5 to a 10 in 35 minutes. Pushed for 20 minutes and my little man was here. This was my first and only pregnancy so far and yes the contractions were pretty terrible but then again I have nothing to compare it to.

i was 5 cm on my first when they gave me a kick start and 4 cm with my 2nd when they gave me a kick start. and i thought it went fine. labor progressed faster and i wasnt in a whole lot of pain. of course i was prepared for the pain and before and after i had my epidurals i was laughing and in good spirits. of course i was laughing when they did the epidurals too cuz im really ticklish. but for the most part i didnt miss a beat and things went really smooth for me. i think alot of it has to do with your own pain tolerance and the type of labor pains you have. i was lucky and missed out on the whole back labor for both of my labors. also its different for each person on how the medication works. its just like any other medication some may react differently than others. i loved the labors pushing and all my doc even said she never seen someone in such good spirits while in labor.

I had drug and intervention free births both times, but with my first I was hemorrhaging really badly AFTER delivery and so they gave me a pitocin drip. The contractions with that AFTER delivery were 10 times worse then the contractions during labor with no drugs at all. I can completely understand why women who are induced want an epidural after that. Basically the contractions would just hit me with a huge pain and then suddenly stop. Non drugged contractions during labor slowly ramped up and down and were much more manageable. Personally I would avoid being induced as long as possible.