A full term pregnancy is 40 weeks- it is at this time that
the baby is fully developed, plumped and ready for the world. If delivered before 40 weeks there are risks
of underdevelopment and a low birth rate.
If delivered after 40 weeks there are risks of merconium (baby poop) in
the amniotic fluids and the gradual disintegration of the placenta (increased
delivery risk). An even more common risk
of an overdue birth is the irritation, anxiety and crankiness of the overly
ripe pregnant woman. I was one of those
women!
At my 40 week Doctor's appointment I was still closed tight
(like unto a dish) and not showing any signs that my body was ready for
delivery. With the doctor we discussed the risks of a post term baby and
decided to set an induction date (for a little shy of my 42 week date) on a day
that the doctor would be on call. Induction is when the doctor artificially
stimulates and starts childbirth.
The plan: IF the baby had not come naturally by then- come
in at 8:00pm the night before the actual induction date, the doctor would
insert a suppository (a pill that helps soften the cervix) and let me sleep through
the night with it in. This would
hopefully soften me up and help my body move into a 'natural' labor and if this
did not work we would use medications to create contractions. Either way- we
were having our baby girl no later than Friday February 8!! YAY!
As our day drew near I learned that there are some positives
and some negatives to having an induction date.
Positive: You know when it's coming (again, if not naturally
before). I was able to make a good list
and a well thought out plan of what to be done before going to the
hospital. For weeks I have been on the
end of my seat ready to rush to the hospital when I go into labor and therefore
'sitting' on some of my To Do's until the last minute. You want the kitchen to be clean/sanitized,
dishes done and floor swept before going to the hospital but do you really want
to keep it sanitized and unused for weeks (and do you really want to do that
while laboring before going to the hospital)? Then there is laundry, washing
the toilet, watering plants, paying bills- all things that should be done
before a big 'trip' away from the home but if done to early, must be
repeated. Knowing I was going to the
hospital on Thursday night helped me manage this list. I was able to repack our hospital bag with
freshly washed cloths, vacuum the entire house and expertly make the bed (so we
could come home to something nice). By Thursday afternoon I had completed my
list and checked it off twice (now to wait the last four hours before getting
to go get this thing on the road)!
Negative: You know when it's coming! All of the
anticipation, anxiety and worry of childbirth, parenthood and the change of
life is a normal part of pregnancy and expecting parents. These worries dot and trickle through your
everyday life as you get closer to the birth of your precious wee one. When you
have an actual date in which your world will explode and then change forever
you can rest easy and save all of these worrisome feelings until THAT DAY! So
in essence it makes the rest of the time easier because you can rest at ease
that you know the date, time and place of the end of your life, as you know it.
With the worry also comes the excitement- we're going to
have a baby! We're going to have a BABY!! Thursday morning was full of these
emotions. By 10:00 am Ben had called and
texted multiple times, unable to concentrate on work (or assigning his workload
out- yay paternity leave). We were both
keeping a countdown- only 8 HOURS!! 7.5 HOURS!! 6 HOURS!! (Yes, that sounds
like a lot but after over 9 months a couple of hours is an exciting thing.)
Thursday February 7 turned out to be quite a day of emotion-
anticipation, excitement, worry, joy and...ANGER!?!
Around 5:00 Thursday night while I was sitting at home
anxiously waiting Ben's arrival and the final countdown to our stay at the
hospital and the arrival of our baby girl, I got a phone call. I didn't recognize the number- oh, well, it's
probably someone calling to tell me how super excited they are for us and how
amazing my night will be- LIE!! It was the head nurse at the hospital calling
to inform me that they had an unexpected amount of walk in's and they were FULL
and would have to post pone our induction.
WHAT? How can a hospital be
full? How can you postpone this? It's on
the calendar; the bed is made, the bags are packed (even my toiletries), the
trash is emptied. Is this even allowed?
Yes, we get to go in the next morning but then what am I
supposed to do while the suppository is softening me? SIT THERE? You want me to
just sit there in the middle of the day and WAIT to go into labor- I have been
doing that for 9 MONTHS!! And then I have to unpack our hospital bag and remake
the bed- HOW IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?
I called Ben to inform him of our misfortune- he was shocked
but laughed at our bad luck (remember how they cancelled on us when we were
finding out this little squirts sex? You would think they would pick on someone
else for a change!) I...could not...laugh.
I was so frustrated, annoyed and angry- I have decided to blame my
intense fiery furry on my pregnancy hormones and disintegrating placenta!!
In my anger I decided to post my woes on facebook- get some
sympathy to fuel the fire- but NO. People congratulated me- WHAT? Told me I had a great doctor to have me wait-
STUPID! Told me I was so lucky to be having a baby- YEAH and with all the
cancelations, when will that be?! To stop any additional ranting, I will just
state that I was very disappointed in my 'support system' of facebook for not sustaining
my anger and offering to punch someone in the face for me!! Seeing this anger
Ben had me call Andrea- "She will let you be angry and make you feel
better." He was right- thanks
Andrea, I know I can always look to you for some loving angry support!!
So, now having no plans on a Friday night, we decided to go 'stick
it to the man' and have a date night with hamburgers and fries at Red Robin-
who needs hospital food? AND to stick it further, we got an appetizer! The only problem with this plan was that I
was so upset from my day of anxiety, excitement let-down and angry rampage that
I worked myself sick. All of this
amazing food arrived at our table and I had to excuse myself to go be sick in
the bathroom (our poor waiter thought I ate something bad). No I didn't throw up, I just sat grumpy,
nauseated and sad in the Red Robin bathroom on the night I was supposed to be
induced! Talk about a letdown!
On a good note, some
of our friends (who are awesome at letting me gripe and whine- thanks Olsen's)
had us over for dessert and some much needed distraction. Now- if we can only get one last night of uninterrupted
deep and peaceful non-anxious sleep- ha...yeah right!!!
