Friday, September 17, 2010
pregnancy update
Well, as of today, I am one week past my due date. But stats say that first time mothers on average give birth 8 days past their due date. So technically, that means I'm not late yet! Last week I was discouraged because after my exam, the doctor said baby was not descended yet and my cervix was still closed. A few days ago, I began to feel some differences...the top of my stomach seemed lower and I was getting some nerve pains on the inside of my left leg throughout the day (instead of just in the evening). And sure enough, today, the doctor said baby is descended and I am 2 cm dilated! Yay! Things are moving along! I was secretly starting to fear that I just wouldn't go into labor at all. I have an appointment to be induced on Sept 24th, but I really just want to go into labor naturally because I am going to do it without pain meds (hopefully). Everyone I've spoken to that has been induced said it is very painful and contractions come unnaturally intense. I feel like I can handle the pain if it is natural, but if it is artificially induced, I fear I won't be able to handle it both physically and psychologically. I made the choice to do no pain meds because of the risks involved for the baby when you use them. Even epidurals carry some risks, and babies are not as aware at birth as their unmedicated counterparts. Plus, I don't want someone sticking a needle into my spine. Ick! Women have been giving birth for thousands of years without pain meds. I can handle it. Birth is a natural process! After all the stuff I've read, I do understand that risks to the baby increase when you get past 42 weeks, but I worry that most doctors are too induction happy...Someone I know just had a baby yesterday - she was induced and was 13 days past her due date. However, when the baby was born, they measured her to be at 38 weeks! So clearly someone was not ready yet! Can you imagine how bad it would be if they tried to induce earlier? I also know someone else who had a baby 3.5 weeks late, back in the days when they didn't induce. Her baby was 10lbs, a girl, and definitely more aware than the average newborn, indicating that she was more than ready to come out...and her labor was the easiest of her 3 kids, she said. Her other babies (one before and one after) were only 7 lbs, but both were much longer labors. So, it is perfectly possible to deliver a healthy baby past the estimated due date without interventions. After all, they say 40 weeks, plus or minus 2 weeks!
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2 comments:
I'm sorry you're having to wait so long! My son did that to me. He was 12 days late. It's terrible to have to keep waiting and waiting when you thought you'd be done by now.
With my first I thought I'd decide during labor whether I wanted an epidural or not but I thought I'd probably do it naturally. When it got really painful I asked for an epidural. But she was definitely alert and VERY angry when she came out into the world!
I hope you can do it naturally like you want to. But I hope you won't feel bad if you get an epidural. I think they're wonderful.
Andrea, I did go through half of it without pain meds (12 hours!), but I'd spent 2 hours with the most intense contractions and learned that I hadn't dilated any further than the last check (at 6cm), I broke down and became frustrated and asked for the epidural. I think I could have lasted longer without it if I hadn't been up all night and had been standing the whole time (it was the only position I could deal with contractions in). The epidural was wonderful (except it was awful when they put it in). I was able to sleep and progress, but then right when I started pushing, something went wrong with the epidural (probably clogged) and I finished of the labor without pain relief for the most part.
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