Mixed Emotions

Today we had our 40 week OB appointment. They were very backed up, so we did have quite a wait to be seen. The midwife who delivered Micah (and who has been on maternity leave since February) was on duty, and it was great to see her!

I was initially hooked up to the NST (non-stress test) machine...and once again, Twoey was sleeping and not moving so much. Her heartbeat was not jumping around as it is supposed to - it was just very steady. I had DH go get me some apple juice, and luckily, she started to cooperate. Even better, my contractions returned and we got them recorded as well.

Shortly thereafter, the midwife came in to see us. She was very kind, and talked to me about my situation. Naturally, we immediately began to discuss induction. I talked about my fears and she said she understood. She did say she felt that simply breaking my water would likely do the trick at this point, but she could understand why I would be concerned. Initially, she recommended waiting until 42 weeks to induce me (2 weeks from yesterday - July 6), but as we looked at the calendar and she reviewed my file, she waffled. Her concern was that I am flagged as a "possible" case of gestational diabetes (because I failed the 1 hour glucose test) and they generally do not like to allow people with gestational diabetes to go beyond 41 weeks. She suggested setting an induction for the end of next week - when I am 41 1/2 weeks (July 1 or 2). As we looked at the calendar for Thursday and Friday, we realized several things: 1) the midwife I dislike is on duty those days and would be doing the induction; 2) that would put me in the hospital over the weekend when we do not have daytime childcare coverage for Micah; and 3) it is a holiday weekend (4th of July).

The more we spoke, the more we leaned towards doing the induction earlier in the week - on Tuesday or Wednesday (when the midwife we like is on call). On Wednesday, the midwife we like is only on call until 6 pm. Our concern was that if simply breaking my water does not work, I could end up with needles, and that would like happen during the nighttime when the less sympathetic midwife would take over. So, we decided that we would induce on Tuesday so we could guarantee which midwife would deliver Twoey.

After we tentatively set the induction, she checked me. I'm still 3-4 centimeters dilated and 80% (or more) effaced and the baby's head was nice and low (and pressing on my cervix). She said she really thought a few good contractions should kick me into labor, and she gave breaking my water a 75% chance of succeeding. We talked about all the "natural" induction techniques...walking, raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, castor oil, black cohosh, pineapple, and sex. She stripped my membranes AGAIN (not as uncomfortable this time) in the hopes it would stir things up. She said I should come back in again on Monday and have my membranes stripped one more time before the induction...or if I change my mind, I can postpone the induction on Monday and reschedule.

I really would like to have this baby...and sooner rather than later. I guess I'm hoping she decides to come on her own so that I don't have to think about induction options. The whole thought of induction just really terrifies me.