Progress Report

[dandyloo]

This morning, when I got up around 8:20 or so, I got "bloody show." I had an appointment today at the ob/gyn's and the midwife had me get an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid, since her test showed that I was "borderline" on the amount of amniotic fluid I had. The ultrasound tech office had to squeeze me in, so I sat in their waiting room

Comments

[nofantasy]

I wonder the same thing. Other than taking castor oil to induce or whatever home remedy existed prior to the intervention of modern medicine, it seems like overdue births would fare just fine.

[dandyloo]

I think it has to do with the risk of the baby not doing so well by being late. Maybe it's a liability thing. I think it's kinda lame and I wish they didn't have to be so insistent about it. I'd rather just wait.

I put "Why Induce?" into my search engine and this was the first article that came up. I think I remember from my reading that post-term babies get all skinny and wrinkled and that the placenta doesn't function as well when the baby is overdue. But also, all the monitoring that they do could definitely lead to an unnecessary Cesarean.

I'm currently overdue by one week, and they plan to induce if I'm still overdue in a week. My original due date was 10/19, but then I was also given a due date of 10/23 by one doctor and 10/21 by another, so basically time is running short, in the doctor's mind.

Inducing

[edsnug]

I was talking to some mothers at work today and pretty much asking the same thing. I was saying, "Babies were born for centuries without all that stuff...". They reminded me that it used to be that many more women (and babies) died in childbirth during those times. I never thought of it that way. I am all for protecting yours and Willow's life, even though I agree that the natural way is definitely best!

[little_ribbit]

Another thing to consider is that if the baby is overdue by a large margin, it's not like it has stopped growing. So the birth will be more difficult the longer it goes, since the baby is getting bigger and bigger. A friend of mine had her little girl about a month late, and her newborn pics looked like a wrinkled one month old, and was something like 10 or 12 pounds. Not to mention that poor Kate was apparently in labor for 10 hours.

I am all for avoiding drugs, and I don't want to scare you, but I would take their advice and go with the induction if they feel it is appropriate. For both your sake and Willow's.

Good luck! We are all looking forward to meeting Willow!