Monday, April 27, 2009

It's The Final Countdown!

I am generally a patient person. Okay, not really....I should clarify--when it comes to the Hubby and kids I am generally a patient wife and parent. As a person, I'm not so much with the long suffering. I prefer things to be quick, efficient, organized, and above all PLANNED....

So you can see how pregnancy might be difficult for me (and those unfortunate people who love me and might occasionally be within 100 yards of me). There is very little planning involved in pregnancy including-for us-pregnancy itself (unplanned in our household 66% of the time). My husband is virile enough to impregnate me via a toilet seat.

Of course the next 10 months following said porcelain encounter is always long, hectic, and unpredictable to a degree which makes me turn into insane-o-woman (like I'm not already crazy enough as it is). There are a lot of things I find infuriating aggravating inconvenient about pregnancy, but thought of going into labor "at any moment" tends to make me more basket-case-y than anything else. Talk about an inability to plan and be organized! Just the thought of waking up in the middle of the night on just a random night and having to rush to the hospital all haphazardly makes me grind my teeth.

I know a lot of people do it. Heck, most people do it. I once planned on doing it, despite my natural aversion to the idea. When I was pregnant with Monkey I thought for sure I'd be making the midnight run....and just the thought of that level of panicked hurry bothered me so much that I packed FOUR labor bags (containing nearly my entire house) in preparation for the baby dash. Then my due date came.

And went.

I went to 41 weeks.

Then 42 weeks.

Then 43 weeks....at which point I developed preeclampsia and they had to induce me. It was an emergency induction, so it wasn't quite the same experience as a planned birth, but I definitely had an appreciation for the mechanical clockwork like planning involved.

When I was pregnant with the Baby Bug I looked very fondly back on the relatively planned nature of my previous induction with a fond little sigh...but I was still willing to go the middle of the night route so long as I didn't go overdue-THAT will never happen again. Ever. That time around I only had a single labor bag (experience is the best teacher) but it was ready (if unhappy) to grab and go. Unfortunately, I developed gallstones during my pregnancy and by the end I was actually passing gallstones and doing liver damage. I was losing weight every week (I lost nearly 30lbs during my pregnancy), and was in horrible pain. Then there was that whole thing about being nearly 4cm dilated and 100% effaced but somehow managing NOT to go into labor. [Wha?! ARG!] So with Baby Bug we had a planned (but medically necessary) induction.

It was beautiful. Quick (4h 50m from first pitocin drip to crying baby), efficient, painless (I love epidurals), planned...everything I've ever dreamed of. It was a flawless labor.

This time around I have a choice. I don't need an induction for medical reasons-this pregnancy has actually been my easiest!-and there is no foreseeable reason why I would need an emergency induction/c-section (though I suppose by their very natures emergencies are unpredictable). I could wait and have The Bean in a middle of the night hospital dash if I wanted to.

Turns out I don't want to though-thank GOD there is such a thing as a social induction. (Sorry if I am offending any "natural labor" people.) With my previous labor being less than 5 hours, us living 45 minutes away from the hospital, and with the kidlets needing to wait for grandma and grandpa to pick them up before we leave (of course Gma and Gpa live an hour and a half to two hours away depending on traffic) the only thing that would stop us from getting a social induction would be if my body wasn't ready-I'm not going to force anything that I'm not prepared for....good thing there are no worries on that front. My cervix already 2cm-70%-and soft, and I'm already having mild-to-moderate contractions 3-5 times an hour. [Sorry men who might have accidentally wandered onto this post....]

Translation? Let's do this thing. (And by "do" I mean "birth" and by "thing" I mean "baby".) I have an appointment in the morning with my OB and we should be scheduling my induction date. I'm aiming for May 18th....wish me luck~tomorrow (all things going the way I want them to) we should find out The Bean's expected birthday!!!

6 comments:

Jenny said...

I can't believe you went to 43 weeks with your first born. That's crazy!

Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. I have a May baby too :)

Kirsty said...

Oh that last stretch when it could happen at any moment and you are going crazy trying to keep the house perfect and the laundry up to date and the kids accounted for should you have to leave in the middle of the night-it's awful, I remember it so well.

May 18th is my anniversary-a great day :)

Don't go til you get the camera ;)
Hope you got some definitive info today.

Mandy said...

Wow. We share similar stories with our children. I will be coming to you for advice about bringing home baby 3. Ours will come home in November. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Muthering Heights said...

Oh my goodness, I know what you mean...I am completely paranoid that I'll go in to labor, somehow be stuck at home, and give birth in the bathtub or something!!

Musings of the Mrs. said...

Good luck. I am definitely not one of those natural birth types. When I finally get pregnant, and its time, you can bet will be requiring this type of social induction/planned c-section like the celebrities. I doubt I'll have a willing doctor, but a girl can hope (and plan) right? Thanks for coming to visit my blog!!! I'm glad to find you.

MrsM said...

The Blonde Duck-Hi! Thanks for stopping by!

Jenny-Thanks :) They don't normally let you go that long, but the doctor didn't agree with the due date I calculated and went with his instead. Turned out he was wrong (I was, by the way, right). I hope my May baby is as cute as yours!

Kirsty-Thank you~I did (see post above). Thank you again, so much, for being so sweet and thoughtful. I can't wait to take a billion pictures!

Mandy-Congrats on your newest little one! Thanks for stopping by. I don't know what my advice is worth, but you're welcome to ask and you're welcome back anytime :)

Muthering Heights-Ssssshhhhh, don't even say that! I tend to push kids very fast (I pushed 3 times with Monkey and only 2 times with Baby Bug) and I can't help but be a little paranoid that all it will take is one good sneeze and this baby will just jump out on her own! Here's hoping we both deliver comfy and cozy in the delivery area of our CHOICE.

Musings of the Mrs-Thank you for stopping by! There are doctors out there that are willing to do pretty much anything-you just have to find the right one. I think everyone should get to have exactly the kind of birth they want to have (barring any problems of course)...if that involves Lamaze instead of pain meds and home births instead of hospitals, then I hope that's what they get to do. On the OTHER hand if it involves inductions/c-sections, sterile environments, and OB/GYNs with degrees stacked a mile long I hope the people who want that (ME!) get that too. Every woman, every pregnancy, and every labor is different but they are all for the same goal(A BRAND NEW FAMILY MEMBER) and that's what makes them special!