i had my 41 week appointment yesterday. first they left me in the waiting room for a half an hour so i could ponder my largeness compared to all the other pregnant ladies in the waiting room. then they left me in the exam room hooked up to a bunch of monitors for an hour and a half non-stress test while i listened to the beep beep beep of little baby’s heart and wondered how uncouth it would be to run out into the hall without my pants on and see why the bleepin bleep a test that was supposed to take twenty minutes was taking my entire life. then the midwife whirled in and looked at me and said, “how are you? what should we do? should we schedule an induction?” and i didn’t know what to say.
i am definitely done being pregnant. and i am definitely not interested in pitocin and IVs and drips and epidurals. [do i stand alone here in my indecision? i'm sure most women know that either a.) they want an induction Right Now or b.) they don't ever want an induction Ever.]
so i walked home from my appointment in the absolutely cold single-digit midwest winter, crying the bitter tears of a really big pregnant lady who just wants to be done, who just wants the baby to come out by herself and Soon. [like right now. or in the next hour or so.]
am i crazy to wait another week? any advice?
and, barring induction wisdom, anyone seen any good movies lately?
the new persuasion (well, at least new to me) with sally hawkins was lovely. i really enjoyed it.
and as to induction, i am all against it except for medical reasons to protect the health of you/or baby.
as in: baby is too large, baby is getting moldy inside your belly/preclampsia/etc.
as to getting it out merely because you ‘want’ to, well, let me tell anyone in that situation a few horror stories to change their minds. i consider it selfish, but that’s my humble opinion.
Poor Jessie! That really stinks. (And I cannot believe they left you hooked up to all the non-stress test stuff for an hour and a half.) You’re definitely not alone in your indecision on an induction in this kind of situation. I think I’d feel pretty similarly, actually. I do not think inductions for non-medical reasons are a good idea, but when you’re past 41 weeks I think you start to have a medical reason given the additional risks associated with a true post-term pregnancy. How sure are you about your dates? Any chance they’re off by much? If it were me, I’m not sure exactly what I’d do, except that I would insist on frequent non-stress tests and the like to make sure the baby was handling the long pregnancy ok. I’d also be extra careful paying attention to fetal movement.
Maybe you should consider nipple stimulation as an induction technique. That would still save you from the pitocin but might help jump-start things. Or what about having your midwife strip your membranes? It’s not always effective but sometimes it is, and though there is a risk of her accidentally breaking your water, it’s not a very big risk. Or would your midwife be willing to try just giving you some Cervadil to see if that was enough to jump-start labor (once again avoiding pitocin and its associated risks)? Are you softened/effaced/dilated at all? I know some people go into labor just with the Cervadil….
Either way, I don’t think you need to feel badly if you decide to go with an induction. It’s not as if you’re a 37-week pregnant woman who’s just sick of being pregnant (which I’ve got to agree is selfish). Certainly there are risks associated with an induction, but there are also risks associated with a post-term pregnancy as well. It’s all a matter of weighing the risks, I suppose. And since you’re as far along as you are, you might only need a little bit of pitocin to get things going. What’s your Bishops Score? An induction wouldn’t automatically mean an epidural either, especially if you have a good Bishop’s score and they were able to turn off the pitocin after just a little bit.
I’m sure everything will be fine either way, but mostly I really hope your baby girl decides to come out on her own ASAP!
my second baby was induced and it ended up being a really good thing she was! From the time they turned up that pitocin to the time she was squealing was about ten minutes. (Sam took eight hours; they expected maybe 3-5 second time around.) They had to pull the doctor out of surgery, my mother in law had rubber gloves on ready to catch the baby, and I was freaking out.
anyway, the doctor said if I had any more babies (heh) that I should have an induction every time. without one, Lily would have been born at a stoplight in my car. which would have been dramatic and interesting, of course. but you don’t want *dramatic* births, you want *boring* births.
hang in there!
Wow. I don’t think I understood an entire word in Maren’s comment. Probably because I’ve never gone through this and so I haven’t done the research. Due to my lack of experience and knowledge in this area, I have absolutely no opinion, but I will be praying for you. Hang in there! You are a strong woman and you will make it through!
I’m so sorry you’re a week over due and that little unnamed baby girl doesn’t want to come out and play with her Mommy & Henry yet. Hang in there! BTW: I was induced with Jacob 4 days early because he was measuring small. I whole-heartedly support being induced, but then again, I had a good induction and I also had an epidural. But if you’re not into that type of delivery, I guess you’ll just have to pray for patience and yeah, maybe the Cervadil would work. Put my sister into labor (they were going to induce her the next morning but she went into labor with the Cervadil instead!). Good luck and hopefully pretty baby girl will come out soon!
Very interesting discussion. I am keeping my opinion to myself. However, I thought for sure this little girl would have wanted to be born when Cleveland was covered in 12 inches of snow last week. Hang in there Jessie!
Hey Jessie, I just saw your status on facebook, hang in there, but that’s easy enough for me to say. I am not a fan of getting induced for no reason, but I have been induced with both my babies because my water broke and I was not going into labour on my own. Both times were a very positive experience for me, but I don’t have anything else to compare it to. So if you do end up getting induced it can still go okay, I don’t know if that really helps you though. Good luck with whatever ends up happening, and I hope your sweet baby girl arrives safe and sound and soon!!
I think you know I put a lot of trust in the medical field, childbirth was the number one cause of death for women for many years. I think doctors/ midwifes are good and we should listen to their opinions. I asked my mom what women did back in the day before medicine was advanced as it is now and she said many women would go a month over their due date, but there were a lot of complications associated with that outcome. So my vote is listen to what the medical professionals recommend.