March 11th, 2014 – So Close

It is amazing how quickly time flies!  In only 2 short weeks we will be holding our son.  I saw the OB this morning and he is keeping a very close eye on us both.  Baby boy is growing right on schedule.  I have a little sinus infection, which normally I would let resolve without antibiotics, but being so close to delivery we decided to treat it.  I worry a lot about our baby being born while there is so much respiratory junk still going around.  We had a long winter and the hospital is full of sick kids.  It will make Doc and I both more paranoid about people holding and visiting with our son.  The problem of knowing too much is very real.  I will be counting down the days until our son is fully vaccinated.  Most people probably don’t give it that much thought, but most people don’t see the horror stories. 

For the most part I have been doing well.  In the last 2 days I have become very swollen, but the doctor said it was just another sign of impending labor.  I made the nurse laugh because I told her the weight gain wasn’t from eating Chinese food this time.  I don’t like the swelling because it means I had to take my wedding rings off.  The only other time I have had them off was when I broke my wrist our first year of marriage.  I really hate having them off.  The doctor said my body is ready for this baby to come and has begun its own count down.  It feels like it has gone much too fast! 

The plan at this point is to induce me at 37 weeks.  Depending on labs and how the baby is doing it could be sooner.  My doctor has been ordering a ton of labs and weekly 24 hour urine analysis as well as NSTs.  He said today that he doesn’t want to skip a week and rock the boat because he knows the moment we take our eyes off of it things will go wrong.  I agreed.  I think we all feel better watching closely, especially this close to the end.  I can handle the sticks, tests, and inconvenient collections.  As long as my son is healthy, I am okay. 

Once we hit 37 weeks I will go in on Sunday for cervical ripening.  This is when they put oxytocin on the cervix to help it soften and efface.  Normally this happens all by itself, but because we are not waiting for natural labor to begin the folks at the hospital are going to help me out.  Then Monday morning they will start giving me Pitocin to stimulate contractions (if they haven’t started on their own).  Even if contractions have started on their own they may still give me Pitocin to increase the speed of labor.  I have been asked a few times why they don’t just wait and let me do it naturally.   The main reason is that the longer they allow me to be pregnant, the higher my blood pressure will become.  High blood pressure during pregnancy is a problem for many reasons.  First, the increased pressure decreases blood flow to the baby, limiting his oxygen supply.  Second, it puts me at an increased risk of stroke, seizures, and organ failure.  During the normal progression of a pregnancy blood pressure increases, and for most people these increases are not significant enough to cause impairment.  In cases of preeclampsia or eclampsia it becomes a much bigger issue.  So they don’t let women with preeclampsia or eclampsia wait until 40 weeks to deliver.  Delivery provides additional risk for these women because during delivery blood pressure increases naturally.  Blood pressure increases as pain increases and it also increases with each push a woman makes during labor.  For these reasons I won’t be allowed to labor naturally and they will attempt to make the process as quick as possible.  So once I am admitted to the hospital I will be stuck in a bed hooked up to a lot of monitors.  I find this very frustrating and it is not at all how I had hoped I would be able to labor, but it is what needs to happen in order for me to bring my son safely into this world.  I am holding out hope that things with the induction will progress smoothly and we will be able to deliver without the need of a C-section, but we will all just have to wait and see.  I am kind of amazed at the reactions I get about being induced.  People seem to think I just can’t wait to meet him or that I don’t want to labor naturally.  Neither of which are true.  I was looking forward to sharing my birthday (or close to it with my son) and was perfectly happy to wait until April to meet him.  I also had been looking forward to being allowed to labor for at least a little while in the comfort of my home or being allowed to walk the halls of the hospital before being admitted for delivery, but those things are out of my control.  When I get my epidural may also be out of my control because pain management is one of the ways they try to reduce blood pressure increases.  It is very difficult for me to give up this much control, especially over my own body.  I am very grateful that I have a friend who is a labor and delivery nurse who has helped me understand what things I can control, or at least ask about, and get a better understanding of the process in general.  I have asked my doctor about a few of these things and he is happy to let me do what I can, but makes sure I understand that at any moment things could change and we may need to do things differently.  It is a tough situation to be in.  I try to focus on the end result of a happy and healthy baby boy who I am looking forward to finally meeting!