induce with a balloon

First time: I got a balloon in the morning around noon. I thought it was a balloon. The next morning at 7:00 they checked if I had enough dilation to induce labor, and that was the case. So at 9:00 everything started. They broke my waters and started an IV with oxytocin.
At 18:38 that day my son was born.
Second time: I got a balloon at 15:00 and again the next day they checked. Around 8:45 they broke my waters and at 13:19 that day my daughter was born.
Both times there was no dilation to start with. First time I gave birth at 39.4 weeks, second time at 40 weeks.

It did go fairly smoothly both times indeed.
You just can't say anything about how your body will react. I also know stories of people who needed multiple balloons. But such a balloon only feels weird, it doesn't hurt or anything.
Sometimes you're even allowed to go home between balloon insertion and induction. (Not me because the babies hadn't engaged and there was a risk that if the membranes would rupture spontaneously due to the balloon, the umbilical cord could slip in between) but even if you have to stay in the hospital it's not bad at all. The maternity ward is actually a nice place to lie. And they are very nice here at least.

I was also induced with a balloon. I had to check in on Friday evening. That’s when they inserted the balloon. I stayed overnight in the hospital. On Friday night around 10 PM, the balloon was already removed. Then in the morning, they broke my waters and started contractions with medication. And that afternoon at 2:39 PM, our son was born. Well, via an emergency C-section, so that was a bit less than ideal.