UPDATE:
38 weeks and counting . . .
Saw the doctor yesterday and I'm 3 cm dialated and "very thin"! WOO HOO!! At least I have faith in my body to do the right thing when I need it too!!! We finally had the induction talk and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I am much more comfortable with an induction knowing that my doctor went through it will both of her kids. So at least she is familar with the procedure and knows how painful it actually could be. On the other side of this, an induction usually means that they will try to push an epidural, just because the contractions are about 8 times more painful than normal. We are talking about jump starting labor with fake hormones here! So we finally sat and talked about my fears of an Epidural. I love my doctor and I know I'm having a hospital birth, but I'm not the kind to go directly to pain meds. If I can do it without, the more power to me. I think this is partially the Kiser thinking too! I have never been 100% against an epidural, but I have my fears.
1. The stupid litocain shots for numbing. I have had 6 of them now and every last one of them has sucked.
2. not pushing effectively
3. not being about to move
4. the stupid catheder that they have to insert
All of these make an epidural not sound very fun. But my doctor did help with some of them.
1. The anethesiologists are REALLY REALLY good at Seton. So I can talk to them and let them know about the whole litocain thing.
2. 90% of the women that they administer an epidural too can still feel their legs and can still push effectively. I am a first time mom so there will be trial and error on the pushing in general.
3. There isn't much I can do about this
4. Again, not much I can do about it!
We also discussed the fact that I don't want it administered right away. I want to wait and see. She completely agreeded with me. My pain tolerance is much higher now, since I have had a few problems. I still don't think anything will EVER be as painful as that stupid cyst I have/had.
We also talked about my fears with tearing. My doctor is very straight forward . . . You will most likely tear, but we have stuff that we will give you to help with pain management and that area heals really really well. This at least made me feel better. She also assured me that the fears I am having are the same fears EVERY mom has, even those going through this the 2nd or 3rd time.
So more of an update about me from the appointment. My ob stripped my membranes. She checked me first to make sure I was favorable and then asked if I wanted her to do it. With Bree being sunny side up, this was NOT the most comfortable thing in the world, but not exactly painful either. Bree has made it so my cervix is still high, but nothing that my doctor is worried about. She is hoping this might move me into labor on my own. That was about it on my appointment yesterday, next wed will be my 39 week appointment and Chris will be going with me so we can talk about the induction and any questions we have. This is also our way of guaranteeing that we have MY doctor deliver Bree, since I'm not a huge fan of the other two.
Other things . . .
Now that the new carpet is in, I have begun to put the nursery together. Why we picked the smallest bedroom in the house as her nursery is beyond me, but we got everything in there. Its a bit cramped, but I think we have a great set up. We only need to buy 1 more thing for her room and that is blinds!!! We will pick those up this weekend and install them along with her curtain rod. I will begin to wash her bedding tonight and put it on along with some of her clothes. Then this weekend, while Chris is doing whatever, I will put away her diapers, toys, blankets and all that other fun stuff and put up her beautiful hair bow board and picture frames. Oh so excited I finally get to feel like I'm doing something productive.
We also decided that we will put up the pack n' play in the guest room until the Master bedroom flooring is done. The carpet in there is gross and we want the floor to be as clean as possible. If need be we can prop a bed up in the middle of her room and put her pack n' play in there, but I don't think that will be necessary.
Our dogs are now in freak out mode. I think they know something HUGE is about to happen. Joules actually cuddled with me last night and Ranger won't leave my side. We also let them into Bree's room so they can see the furniture and sniff around and Joules plopped herself right in front of the crib. I'm guessing that would be where she is going to sleep if we allowed her into that room. We were able to set up Bree's letters that her Godmother gave her and they looked fantastic! I was sooooooooo excited!
38 wks, 1 day and ready for Bree!
The unknown is always scary. In good things, if you dr is cool you can ask that they slowly increase your induction meds (typically pitocin) every 15 minutes to ramp up to the dose she wants you at. This is a more natural progression like your body would act naturally. It really helps with the pain management according to my teacher/doula friend (not my doula). She said a lot of Drs start from 0 to 250s and it slams you hard. Your Dr is right, everybody tears. The question is how much. An episiotomy is equal to a 2 degree tear (4 is the worst), 1 is superficial. The clinical trials I read (yes I am a dork), said that you are more likely to get 3 and 4 degree tears with an episiotomy than without. You want a one or two. A level one is similar to what you can get with rough sex. So it really isnt that bad. Certainly no worse than getting your membranes stripped. You are going to do great. It wont be fun and games but worth it in the end regardless of how the cards fall.
ReplyDelete