Ponderings of a Scientist

We’ll the kid has now fermented for an estimated 41 weeks and 1 day (8 days post estimated due date).  This is totally normal for first time babies, but I still wish she would hurry it up already.  We had a marathon appt on Wednesday which consisted of:  1) non-stress test; listening to and record the baby’s heart rate for at least twenty minutes to make sure it fluctuates when she moves, that she is moving enough, and to record any contractions; 2) ultrasound - double check on baby location and make sure there is enough amniotic fluid, 3) the usual belly check (measurements, blood pressure, urine, etc); 4) pelvic exam to check the cervix.  We found out basically nothing new: 1) she is super happy in there, moving a lot with enough fluid; 2) my cervix is very ready to have a baby and things have progressed beyond the point where most women are already in labor; 3) she is very low in my pelvis (hence my new found waddle), looking the right way (face toward my back), basically locked and loaded.

Now we wait for the chemical signal from the baby to tell my body it is go time for real (instead of all the fake go time I’ve had for weeks).  Oh and if this doesn’t happen by Tuesday am, I get a forced induction.  Hospitals don’t let you go beyond 42 weeks (which will be next Thursday) so the midwife kindly schedule an induction for me.  It was actually a funny conversation as we both expected different things from the other person:
she said: ” the baby is so really and you are so near labor. This baby needs to come out.  I want to you wait the weekend and I suggest an induction on Monday.”

I said: ” How about we discuss induction on Monday - I would prefer natural all the way.”

She said: “Wow, I expected you to want the baby to be induced sooner - as most first timers do”

I said: “No thanks.  I’m sick of the pregnant thing, but don’t want to fall into the slippery sloop of intervention labor”  (Pitocin means IVs, constant baby monitoring, laboring the entire time at the hospital, not being about to move around, having super intense contractions due to the medicine, likely not progressing as fast at they want, possible epidural because of the unnatural pain, and possible C-section because of slow progress because they were trying to force something that wasn’t ready.)

She said: “I agree (being a midwife and likely these natural things), but you still have to be induced before 42 weeks per request of the hospital (for all these scary reasons that often don’t hold to be true- I guess that is what I get for choosing a hospital delivery instead of birth center or home - mostly for Zipy’s well being and stress level - but now we are constrained by the hospital’s fear of malpractice if they let me go too long and the placenta stops working or the baby gets too big); I will call the birth center and schedule it for a late as I can.  (Hence the Tuesday, instead of Monday deal!)

I said: “Ok” - but I was thinking not ok, not ok!

So now we all need to beg the baby to come out on her own before Tuesday at 6:30am when I’m scheduled to call the birth center at the hospital and get my morning induction schedule.  I’ll be working my body through every wive’s tale on how to naturally induce a baby between now and then and working my brain through the idea of an induced labor and how I can make that work for us.