Actually, it's been too late for nearly 39 weeks, but you'll see where I'm going with this.
After suffering from horrible sacroiliac joint (also referred to as the SI joint) pain for the last week, so much so that my doctor got me an emergency physical therapy appointment and a really awesome pregnancy back/belly brace, I went back to see my doctor this morning for a last-minute appointment (I wasn't scheduled to be seen again until Friday). Things are fantastic; blood pressure spot on, EB2's heartbeat nice and strong in the 140's, fundal height measuring small but acceptable and weight gain is low but good. But, like a bad penny, the back pain just keeps coming back no matter what I do, so we had a discussion about labor induction.
GULP.
Up until we actually discussed the induction, I felt like "Give me the green light right now I'll put on a gown and have this baby!", because the only way to relieve the pain is to deliver. But when she said "Do you want to schedule and induction for tomorrow morning, I found myself freezing and staring down Jake, waiting for him to answer. And darn him, he just stared back and said "Why are you looking at me?"
It's going to sound so strange, and not at all logical, but I feel like being induced is a cheaters way out. Do I *want* to be induced, no. Do I want the pain in my back and hips and legs to go away. HECK YES! I'm getting more and more limited in what I can do and how I can move that I feel that my family is beginning to suffer. On top of that, I feel like I'm not giving my body the chance to do something that will come naturally for it, and instead I'm stepping in and playing God. And let's face it, there's only one person that should do that, and that's Him.
So I agreed to let the doctor 'stir things up' by stripping my membranes (I won't even attempt to explain what that entails - go to webmd.com if you're really that interested!). While this doesn't send you into immediate labor, it does speed things along by triggering the body to begin creating the chemicals needed to deliver a baby.
So it's too late to turn back now.
Ideally I'd *love* for my body to step it up and go into labor on it's own, and that's still entirely possible. In fact, that's what I'm praying for (feel free to jump on the prayer train with me!), which is why I nixed the chance to be induced tomorrow morning and opted for Thursday instead. Consider it me trying to buy my body some time to go into labor on it's own, thus making me feel a little better about not just sucking it up and gritting my teeth through the pain. But if Thursday morning rolls around and EB2 hasn't made her debut, then off to the hospital we'll go where I'll be hooked up to some man-made drugs, forcing my uterus to begin contracting before it's 'naturally' ready to, and EB2 will be here by the end of the day. YAY for baby EB2! Boo for playing God.
At the end of the day I know it doesn't matter how it happens; the most important thing is a healthy baby girl. BUT that doesn't mean I still can't put in an order with the Big Guy Upstairs. So, if you're listening (which I know You always do), please oh please won't you let me go into labor on my own?
The countdown is officially on - EB2 will be here by Thursday at the latest. I wonder when the realization is going to sink in....
14 years ago
