Hi All! I am a Mommy!! Yes 2 weeks early and induced by Cervidil and Pitocin. Long story, but I intend to share it all in this post {well the events leading up to the induction}.
As you may know from reading my previous posts I am a huge proponent for natural birth and allowing a pregnant woman to begin labor on her own with little to no medical intervention. Well honey THEY GOT ME!! Last Thursday, 3/10/11, I went to my scheduled 38 week prenatal appointment thinking I would get an ultrasound, check my vitals, and listen to the baby's heart beat then go home. Obviously that was not the way it was intended to be (I won't speculate and say this was part of the master plan but I'm just saying).
I arrived at the appointment and was taken into the ultrasound room where the doctor explained to me the reason for this 4th (5th if you include my October visit to the ER) ultrasound was because my primary doctor considered the measure of my fundus to be small. She began the ultrasound exam by looking to see if Baby Cruz was developing well, then she began to measure pockets of amniotic fluid. This is when things got out of hand. After her assessment she stated that my "fluid" was low -- my AFI was 4.3 and because the baby was full term this could raise a number of possible issues. She named a couple and told me she would confer with my midwife and primary doctor on her recommendations for the next steps. {At this point mentally I am thinking, "This is some Bullshit . . . they just want to deliver this baby on the weekend and will give me any excuse to do it!"}
After the ultrasound I was placed in a regular examination room to meet with my midwife for the routine checkup, or so I thought. The midwife came in and immediately began her spiel for induction. {INDUCTION! I'm screaming in my head! I didn't come here for that!} As my students' would say she totally "blew mine". It took me a minute to process how I went from having a low risk pregnancy for 38 weeks to high-risk-must-deliver-now overnight. I asked her this question and she stated that it happens that way sometimes. She went on to say that she would administer the drug Cervidil in the office and send me to the hospital to be admitted. YES!! Crazy right! Of course I told her a resounding NO! At this point she realized I was totally not willing to adhere to their "medically sound recommendations" and said I should speak to the Doctor (the one that administered the ultrasound). She went away and I immediately took out my phone and did some research on low amniotic fluids and if this was a reason for induction late in pregnancy. From my research I concluded that it was an inaccurate assessment to consider the measurements from an ultrasound as a reason to induce.
I'm detraught at this point, so I called D and told him the situation. He immediately told me to calm down and call Lynn (our Doula). I told him I didn't have Lynn's number {further reason to panic} and that they are waiting for me to say yes I will be induced. Sometime between hanging up with D and texting my family the doctor arrived to speak with me. I told her I didn't want the Cervidil and what else could she suggest I do. She asked me if I considered the consequences of my decision and I told her I had and what was she willing to do to appease me. She said she would give me a prescription to the L&D floor at Beth Israel Newark for overnight observation (i.e., fetal monitor and IV fluid) with a follow up ultrasound on Friday morning. {Score: 1 for me, 0 for them}
After the doctor left to write the prescription the midwife came back in. She said she wanted to do a vaginal exam and then I would be allowed to go home and eat before checking into the hospital. This is where my ignorance messed me up. Her "vaginal exam" included her stripping my membranes. I didn't understand that this is done to begin the induction process--I was totally VIOLATED and didn't even know. {Score: 1 for me, 1 for them}
I left the doctor's office at 1:30 p.m., went to West Orange to Panera where I spent $17 on a meal. After eating I went home and decided to lie down for a nap -- never happened. D came home and insisted that I take a bath for 1 hour and drink 48 ounces of water to "increase" my fluids, so that's what I did. After my bath we packed up my bag (just in case), got the birthing ball, Bloggie camera, and my pillow. We arrived on the Labor and Delivery floor at 8:30 p.m.
