41 weeks pregnant and fed up!

I have an irrational fear of sharks.  Fearing a shark attack while swimming in the sea is not uncommon, but what I mean by irrational is that I often get freaked in situations that I know rationally would not be possible, for example, swimming in a deep pool and thinking there may be a shark in there about to attack me and the fact that I have never tried water skiing in a lake because I'm scared of sharks.  Irrational huh!

Anyway, coming up to a week overdue, I now find myself developing more irrational fears in the possibility of facing an unknown labour process - induction.   There are a lot of reasons I'm nervous about possibly being induced, like the fact the I have never gone overdue before so this is already unknown territory, that I have never been to hospital before, that I am slightly dramatic, that I have a new midwife this time, that I am slightly dramatic....

So to try to alleviate some of my irrational fears, I did what any rational person would do and googled.  What exactly are the risks of being overdue and of being induced?

Almost all websites I viewed agreed that the normal range for a pregnancy is anywhere from between 37-42 weeks, so up to 42 weeks is still considered 'normal'.  However, there are some real risks with going overdue and they are worth acknowledging:

• higher risk of uterine rupture
• bigger baby, more difficult labour and birth
• placenta and cord deterioration
• decrease in amniotic fluid
• meconium aspiration
•  and on a personal note I would like to add the risk to the mental well-being of the mother who is now very fed up and over it

Obviously the longer you have to wait while the baby remains 'inside the oven cooking', the higher chance there is of one or some of these issues affecting you and your bubba.  BUT, in the aim of trying to be rational here, rather than my usual irrational self, I thought I better look at the other side of the argument.

Risks associated with the actual procedure of induction

The induction process is a fairly invasive procedure which usually involves some or all of the following (you can read more about the process of induction here). There are a number of minor side effects associated with these medications/procedures (eg. nausea, discomfort etc.) There are also some major risks:

• prostaglandins to ripen the cervix: hyperstimulation resulting in fetal distress and c-section
• rupturing the membranes: fetal distress and c-section 
• IV syntocinon / pitocin: Mother – rupture of uterus; post partum haemorrhage; water intoxication leading to convulsions, coma and/or death. Baby – hypoxic brain damage; neonatal jaundice; neonatal retinal haemorrhage; death. There is also research suggesting that there may be a link between the use of syntocinon/pitocin for induction and ADHD (Kurth & Haussmann 2011)

The most extreme of these risks are rare but fetal distress and c-section are fairly common.

For me it comes down to the EDD (estimated due date) and your relationship with your midwive when deciding on when induction might be necessary.  In my case, I know my cycle really well and for this pregnancy I even know the conception date so I am very confident that the EDD of June 26th was accurate, which really does put me overdue.  I know that many other woman may think they are overdue but when the actually go for a late scan to check it turns out there dates are slightly off and they aren't really overdue at all.  It also raises the question of WHY this baby is overdue when my other 2 were early or on the due date.  Here comes that irrational fear again - is there something wrong with this baby?  I know I shouldn't think like this and that it's just a reality of some pregnancies, babies can come late, but it doesn't mean you won’t ask yourself these questions, especially with so much time on your hands waiting!

In terms of having a good relationship with your midwife, I think there are certain things you could both discuss and try before having to go down the induction path.  Like a stretch & sweep, (which I tried over a week ago but will ask to try again this week), and asking for a late scan to check on the health & size of the baby, the placenta and the amniotic fluid levels (for the Mums peace of mind and also to delay the need for an induction if everything looks ok).  

At the end of the day, the most important thing for us is to deliver a safe & healthy baby, whether I get to do that naturally at Lincoln Hospital or at home, having a water birth as planned or if I have to go to Chch Womans Hospital to be induced, will be decided sometime later this week.  I don't want to be induced but will happily do it if all the advice and evidence shows this will be best for baby.  In the meantime, I am asking you all to send me your 'go into labour now' vibes...perhaps that will be enough to get this party started!