The week before.
I was told on Wednesday February 17th that if baby boy was not coming on his own I would be induced on Tuesday February 23rd, but go in monday night to start the process. It was my third week of being at the same dilation of 1cm and 50% effaced, nothing was changing and I was already 10 months pregnant. My due date was the day before, and of course some discouragement came over me that I was still pregnant and baby boy was not coming out. Going back a few days, I was actually told the friday before that this would be the plan of inducing me if he wasn't here by Feb. 16th, since Tuesday the 23rd would be week 41 of my pregnancy. I was semi okay with the idea of being induced when Dr. Thackeray told me this plan...really I didn't think I would need to be induced, having a whole week to have him after his due date seemed accomplishable. Overall though I just wanted to have my baby the safest way possible. I was still hopeful that I would go into labor naturally without needing the induction done. It was something I had been anticipating for over a month, even longer, that I would be sleeping and my contractions would start..or I would be home and need to call Zach to hurry home and take me to the hospital...and of course the hollywood idea of "my water broke!". I really was looking forward to experiencing one of these, I wanted it to be spontaneous, and even though it made me anxious and nervous I never thought of my delivery any other way.
So I had about a week to get things moving and try to naturally have my baby. I had my parents come to town on February 13th, since I was due on the 16th (at the time I was hopeful he'd come on time). So now Zach and I were determined to have baby boy, we knew everyone was here and ready to meet him and we were excited! I looked up every possible way to "go into labor naturally" and tried all the different remedies. Here are a few to mention. So my mom started acupressure on me to help open my cervix, every night we did that. I ate pineapple everyday, to thin out my cervix. My family and I took a long beautiful 3 mile walk, to possibly start contractions. I worked out and did squats and lunges to again, help my cervix. I bounced on a yoga ball for hours everyday, also thinking contractions would start. Zach took me to get spicy indian food at my favorite place. I walked/jogged stairs at my apartment complex...I did other things as well that were told to make a woman go into labor. It was worth a shot, but none of these worked for me. I was already overly pregnant and tired, and everyone was constantly asking if I felt different or had more contractions. It was kind of disappointing at some moments when they would ask and I had nothing to report. I tried and tried and tried and nothing came about it. As we hit and soon passed my due date I became more emotional and disappointed in myself. I continued trying these remedies and others. It's hard to explain the feelings I was having. The anticipation of having him spontaneously for over two weeks, at any given moment, didn't matter anymore because I knew I would be getting induced. On thursday my mom and sister took me out to get a mani and pedi to relax. All I needed was to relax at that point.
By the time the weekend came of Friday the 19th, I was worn out. Zach and I had a deal for the past week that I would not call him while he was at work or school before I texted him, just because every time I called he thought it was time. I had this breakdown on friday and all through the weekend that I shouldn't be induced and wait until I was 42 weeks, just to give my body and baby more time to deliver naturally. Induction really scared me. The rate of having a c-section went up to 30%, and I really didn't feel comfortable with everyone pressuring me and forcing my body to go through it with medication. Looking back at it now (two weeks ago) I think what the scariest thing was, was not ever believing I would be induced and never learning about it and preparing for it. And I wanted my experience to be as I always thought it would, as every woman thinks it would be.
To make this long emotional week short, I called into the doctors office and asked if going another week would be healthy and safe for the baby. I wanted to give my body and baby a chance to go through labor naturally. My doctor's assistant, Erica, talked to me and said that I would still need to go to the hospital to monitor the babies stress levels if I decided to wait a few more days. They wouldn't force induction on me but my doctor would highly recommend me to not wait three days past tuesday the 23rd. I was torn at what to do, should I wait or cancel the induction? After talking with Zach about which decision was best, we chose to go in that night...which was the scheduled day I was up for.
So I put all of my emotions aside of "it should have been this way" and "why can't I do this" or "what will everyone think?". I really got into my head and what was most important was having my baby arrive safely.
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