40 weeks 2 days
So one way or another, I will have the baby in 5 days. As expected, the doctor is insisting on inducing me early on Tuesday. I have an appointment on Monday to check my progress. If I'm still not in labor, they will have me go to the hospital Monday night and be given a drug to ripen my cervix and get me ready to be induced. Then the next morning they start my pitocin and hopefully have a baby sometime that same day.
The main thing that worries me about getting induced is I've had no dilation. My doctor says that if I haven't dilated any when they start the pitocin that my chances of needing a c-section go up to 50%. I'm trying to not think about it, but it does make me nervous about letting them induce me. A c-section could greatly impact my ability to vaginally deliver any future babies.
Also, because I've had off and on cramping for a couple weeks now, it's getting hard to get excited about the possibility of going into labor soon. I've had enough false alarms when I thought for sure my body was starting the process that I can't get excited about cramping and the occasional contraction. I know it's my body toning the muscles for labor, but I've grown despondent about it. I feel like the only thing I can do to maintain my sanity is just accept that I won't go into labor naturally, even though the point of waiting until Tuesday is to give baby every chance of coming on his own before then.
All I can do is try to distract myself. Unless I actually go into labor, I feel like I can't get excited about it. And the induction is just a mess of fear and doubts about if I'll be able to get my med-free birth. My comfort comes from thinking about afterwards, when I get to actually be a parent and put into practice everything I've been reading about.
Baby and Wedding Countdown
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Eviction Date
39 weeks 2 days
Well, I'm definately in the home stretch now. I've been getting off and on crampy with the occassional contraction, and walking has become a painful experience. Baby's head is definately down low (although I haven't dilated any yet >.<; ), but I haven't had any spotting or leaking of amniotic fluid.
At my weekly appointment yesterday, the doctor informed me that they don't let their patients go past 41 weeks. Perhaps earlier in the pregnancy I would have tried to ask to go to 42 weeks, but at this point I'm so uncomfortable that 41 weeks sounds lovely. If I make it to my appointment next week (I'll be 40 weeks 1 day), we will schedule my induction date instead of another appointment.
Hubby and I talked in the car about how we have a decision to make at that point. The doctors would probably not be adverse to scheduling the induction sooner rather than later, but that will take away any chance of letting him come on his own. If we ask to come in on the weekend or early the following week, it would give baby a few extra days to come on his own (as well as give my body some time to start dilating) before we make him come out. At this point, we're apt to say that unless there's something wrong that we'd rather wait as long as possible. The statistics for c-sections following chemical inducement scares me, and hubby likes the idea of giving baby the chance to choose his own birthday.
So now I have less than 2 weeks to do everything in my power to get this party started. Not that I really have much control over when it starts. I've bought ginger snaps and lifted my caffeine restriction. I've also been using the pressure points and using nipple stimulation. I get a bit crampy, but it's nothing time-table yet.
My next post will either be about we've scheduled the induction, or it'll be about how I had the baby on my own. Wish me luck!
Well, I'm definately in the home stretch now. I've been getting off and on crampy with the occassional contraction, and walking has become a painful experience. Baby's head is definately down low (although I haven't dilated any yet >.<; ), but I haven't had any spotting or leaking of amniotic fluid.
At my weekly appointment yesterday, the doctor informed me that they don't let their patients go past 41 weeks. Perhaps earlier in the pregnancy I would have tried to ask to go to 42 weeks, but at this point I'm so uncomfortable that 41 weeks sounds lovely. If I make it to my appointment next week (I'll be 40 weeks 1 day), we will schedule my induction date instead of another appointment.
Hubby and I talked in the car about how we have a decision to make at that point. The doctors would probably not be adverse to scheduling the induction sooner rather than later, but that will take away any chance of letting him come on his own. If we ask to come in on the weekend or early the following week, it would give baby a few extra days to come on his own (as well as give my body some time to start dilating) before we make him come out. At this point, we're apt to say that unless there's something wrong that we'd rather wait as long as possible. The statistics for c-sections following chemical inducement scares me, and hubby likes the idea of giving baby the chance to choose his own birthday.
So now I have less than 2 weeks to do everything in my power to get this party started. Not that I really have much control over when it starts. I've bought ginger snaps and lifted my caffeine restriction. I've also been using the pressure points and using nipple stimulation. I get a bit crampy, but it's nothing time-table yet.
My next post will either be about we've scheduled the induction, or it'll be about how I had the baby on my own. Wish me luck!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Troubling symptoms and Inept doctors
37 weeks 6 days
The past few weeks, it's become a nightly ritual to throw up within half an hour of trying to lay down. My evenings are usually filled with nauseousness only relieved when I'm able to get out a good burp. The most troubling part is that the nightly ritual involves throwing up blood. I even got freaked out enough one night that I called hubby home and spent 5 hours in the ER.
The next day, I called the OBGYN and asked to see the doctor. He doesn't really have any answers for us as my blood pressure and urine tests were normal. He prescribed some anti-ulcer medication and sent us on our way. I took it for a week, but I was still throwing up blood at least once every night after I would try to lay down.
The next week, I saw the same doctor and told him the medicine wasn't working. He prescribed something else, so I asked if I should continue to take the ulcer medicine. He sorta shrugged and said I could if I wanted to. That really perturbed me. This medicine was strong enough that the disclaimer sheet was talking about how I shouldn't take it while breastfeeding and that pregnant women should be careful. And he was nonchalant about whether or not I should continue taking a strong medication that wasn't even working. I made the executive decision that I wasn't going to continue taking it. He did order some blood tests as well though.
We get the prescription, and it's exactly the same nausea medication I was prescribed first trimester that I stopped taking because it wasn't working. Did he even look at my chart to see what prescriptions I've already been given? I'm peeved, but I give this medication a second try. As I suspected, it doesn't do anything for me. I'm still throwing up blood every single night! At this point, I'm weak from only being able to keep down one meal a day, I've lost 4 pounds from a couple weeks ago, and I'm exhausted from not being able to go to bed without needing to throw up. Grumbling about inept doctors, I consult a friend who worked in an ER to ask whether or not it was worth it to pay them another visit. She explained to me that the tests they would normally do they couldn't do because I was pregnant, so there was no point going to the ER unless I was vomiting blood continuously or if I started having contractions. She also suggested that I might be suffering from pregnancy induced lactose intolerance.
On Friday, I get a call from the OBGYN that they need to take another blood sample for their test because they didn't take enough vials. It's an annoyance, but we drive back out there to give a sample. If it could give us the answer, it's worth it, right?
This weekend, we try an experiment per my friend's suggestion. I go the entire weekend with as little dairy as possible. I love my cereal and cheeses, so it was a very annoying sacrifice to make. I even had a couple moody moments about it (mostly because hubby decided he would make himself cheese sticks, and I so wanted one >.<; ), but I get through the weekend. I'm still throwing up every night as per usual, but lo and behold, there is no blood! I felt like we solved half the problem, and it was without the doctor's help.
Today, I got another call from the OBGYN saying they lost my blood sample I gave them on Friday! I'm very annoyed with this doctor's office by now, but I do consider it an important test to have done. Unfortunately, they were busy today with only one lab tech on duty. So they made us wait 20 minutes just to get a single vial drawn.
I go back on Wednesday, and luckily I'm not seeing this same inept doctor who didn't seem to care about what medication he was prescribing me. I already have a doctor there I refuse to let see me ever again, and now I have a second to add to that list. I just hope this different doctor will be helpful or at least admit to me there's nothing they can do about it. I also hope the nausea will truly go away once I have this baby. The lactose free diet test gives me some hope it isn't something terribly serious, but it's exhausting to be throwing up every night, blood or no.
The past few weeks, it's become a nightly ritual to throw up within half an hour of trying to lay down. My evenings are usually filled with nauseousness only relieved when I'm able to get out a good burp. The most troubling part is that the nightly ritual involves throwing up blood. I even got freaked out enough one night that I called hubby home and spent 5 hours in the ER.
The next day, I called the OBGYN and asked to see the doctor. He doesn't really have any answers for us as my blood pressure and urine tests were normal. He prescribed some anti-ulcer medication and sent us on our way. I took it for a week, but I was still throwing up blood at least once every night after I would try to lay down.
The next week, I saw the same doctor and told him the medicine wasn't working. He prescribed something else, so I asked if I should continue to take the ulcer medicine. He sorta shrugged and said I could if I wanted to. That really perturbed me. This medicine was strong enough that the disclaimer sheet was talking about how I shouldn't take it while breastfeeding and that pregnant women should be careful. And he was nonchalant about whether or not I should continue taking a strong medication that wasn't even working. I made the executive decision that I wasn't going to continue taking it. He did order some blood tests as well though.
We get the prescription, and it's exactly the same nausea medication I was prescribed first trimester that I stopped taking because it wasn't working. Did he even look at my chart to see what prescriptions I've already been given? I'm peeved, but I give this medication a second try. As I suspected, it doesn't do anything for me. I'm still throwing up blood every single night! At this point, I'm weak from only being able to keep down one meal a day, I've lost 4 pounds from a couple weeks ago, and I'm exhausted from not being able to go to bed without needing to throw up. Grumbling about inept doctors, I consult a friend who worked in an ER to ask whether or not it was worth it to pay them another visit. She explained to me that the tests they would normally do they couldn't do because I was pregnant, so there was no point going to the ER unless I was vomiting blood continuously or if I started having contractions. She also suggested that I might be suffering from pregnancy induced lactose intolerance.
On Friday, I get a call from the OBGYN that they need to take another blood sample for their test because they didn't take enough vials. It's an annoyance, but we drive back out there to give a sample. If it could give us the answer, it's worth it, right?
This weekend, we try an experiment per my friend's suggestion. I go the entire weekend with as little dairy as possible. I love my cereal and cheeses, so it was a very annoying sacrifice to make. I even had a couple moody moments about it (mostly because hubby decided he would make himself cheese sticks, and I so wanted one >.<; ), but I get through the weekend. I'm still throwing up every night as per usual, but lo and behold, there is no blood! I felt like we solved half the problem, and it was without the doctor's help.
Today, I got another call from the OBGYN saying they lost my blood sample I gave them on Friday! I'm very annoyed with this doctor's office by now, but I do consider it an important test to have done. Unfortunately, they were busy today with only one lab tech on duty. So they made us wait 20 minutes just to get a single vial drawn.
I go back on Wednesday, and luckily I'm not seeing this same inept doctor who didn't seem to care about what medication he was prescribing me. I already have a doctor there I refuse to let see me ever again, and now I have a second to add to that list. I just hope this different doctor will be helpful or at least admit to me there's nothing they can do about it. I also hope the nausea will truly go away once I have this baby. The lactose free diet test gives me some hope it isn't something terribly serious, but it's exhausting to be throwing up every night, blood or no.
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