That is the question.
Boston was 9 pounds and 1 ounce, so when the doctor delivered him, he told me I should consider inducing at 39 weeks for my next baby to avoid any potential complications that could come with making ginormous babies. That sounded great to me - I hated the final week of my last pregnancy anyway, and it would be great for planning purposes to know exactly when I'll be having this baby. But now that I'm actually getting to that point, I'm having second thoughts.
Fact #1 - Girls tend to be smaller than boys at birth. So the problem may not even be a problem this time.
Fact #2 - There could be problems with delivery if the induction doesn't work, in which case they'd have to perform an emergency c-section, which is highly undesirable. There were no problems last time.
Fact #3 - My water broke on Boston, so even though I'd had a few contractions, they had to give me the drugs to make it go faster (same stuff they use to induce you) and it worked fine... but I was already in labor... sort of.
Fact #4 - Your first baby (statistically speaking) is your smallest. So maybe size WILL be an issue this time.
Fact #5 - Babies with birth weights that are too low have way more health issues.
Fact #6 - I'm a bit of a control freak.
Fact #7 - But I'd prefer to have a healthy baby over controlling when she comes.
Fact #8 - What if I choose not to induce, then I go OVER my due date and am suddenly faced with 11 pounds worth of baby instead of just 9? (Boston was born right on his due date.)
Fact #9 - You can't really tell how big they are until they come out... using the "measure your belly" method, Boston was supposed to be a little smaller than average.
Fact #10 - I really hope I just go into labor all by myself at 39 weeks.
Thoughts, feelings, horror stories one way or the other?
14 comments:
I was induced with Sydnee six days early. Bryan was against it till I did it. Then he loved it. Addy was 6 pounds 9 ounces and my water broke with her 7 days early. I was also given the same stuff with her for a few hours to get the contractions going. I was started with Syd at 9:30 am and she was born at 3:23pm. So 6 hours of labor. They say also that your second comes faster than your first and that was true with mine. Good luck on deciding. I will be induced with my next.
I would induce
Having never had a child, I don't know that I'm really qualified to weigh in on this, but I do think that the medicalization of pregnancy has caused us to do things just because they're convenient without really thinking about what's best for the baby. Unless there were serious health concerns, I think I'd let the baby decide when to come.
I see the dilemma though; I certainly wouldn't want to deliver an 11 lb baby, because that really could cause complications of its own.
In the end, I'd probably gather the advice from my doctor, my own thoughts and feelings, and advice from others, and then I'd pray about it and see what felt right. That's the course that I most recommend.
Since our situation was the same and inducing worked GREAT, I would say go for it, but I had the exact same concerns. When it got closer and my body was starting to progress it was easier to feel comfortable with it.
You could plan on being induced, then if you feel like your body isn't ready, post pone the induction. Or plan on being induced at 40 weeks if she hasn't come yet.
I felt like the risks of complications from being induced balanced pretty evenly with the complications that can come from delivering a giant baby.
The great thing is - either way, she's coming pretty soon! :)
I was induced with Ivan. I was also 3 days late. My doctor wouldn't consider it before my due date because nothing was happening. I was not in any form of labor before induction. Not even braxton hixs contractions (I didn't have those with either kid). I was barely dilated to a 2 and not really efaced (sp?). I went in at 7, Ivan was born at 12:30ish. Not bad. Once they started me, it just happened. I was nervous, but am glad I did it.
I have been basically induced everytime. Cree my water did break before the pitocin but it still worked. I agree pray about it and you will know what to do when the time comes!!!
I HATED being induced. Hated it. I was in labor for 16 hours and I hated the fact that medicine was telling my body what to do. I understand that sometimes medicine has to take the place of nature, but I still struggled with it. I have always wondered what day Hayden would have picked as his birthday if I hadn't forced him out. My second labor, I was one week over (but totally fine with it), my water broke and 4 hours later I was holding my little (big) guy. He probably would have come sooner had they not had to stop my labor to I could have an epidural--I guess sometimes I am okay with medicine telling my body what to do! :) But I will never be induced again, unless my baby is in danger. But I agree with everyone else's advice--Pray! That's the best way to know what to do! :)
Induce so that I can plan it at a time where I can still make it to all of my sporting events.
I don't recommend induction just because the risk of needing an emergency c-section increases by a ton when you induced. I had complications with both my c-sections-- other people seem to recover faster, but I say do anything to avoid going down that road.
Kim! I just rediscovered your blog. Congratulations! I can't believe the last time we saw you guys was right after you had Boston. Good luck with your upcoming delivery, and I have nothing to offer - no clue what I would do.
First off, Jeff agrees with Nate. Of course :) Second, although I haven't had any children myself, I have seen a lot of deliveries and from my experience, induction is usually only horrible if it's your first baby. They usually have to resort to a c-section when the mom has been in labor for hours and hours with no or little progress and that's usually first time moms. I think you'll be fine. Personally, if my doctor recommended it, I would totally do it. Good luck!
Brianne
I may be too late joining the discussion. So Kim, I hope you and baby are happy and doing well, regardless of whether you've induced or not. But in case induction is still upcoming, I'd like to add that I think induction, as with any medical intervention should be taken very seriously. For one thing a due date is an estimation and a "full term" baby could be a couple weeks away from fully developed lungs. Ultra sound weight predictions are estimations too. Also once induction is started the chances of needing a C-section doubles. There are many successful induced birth, but is it really worth the risks, maybe not.
But above all do what you think is right, don't let anyone make your decisions, this is your body, baby, and birth.
But for now I would recommend you check out the documentary The Business of Being Born
And these websites, the first one is about big babies specifically:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_labor-complication-big-baby-macrosomia_1152319.bc
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/vaginalbirth_inducing.html
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/induction/a/risksinduction.htm
Above all, good luck and congratulations, most important thing is healthy and happy mommy and baby.
Ha! I'm not sure when you're due, but I'm a hippy, so I would avoid an induction at all costs unless there were some serious indications (not just guesses, because those are often wrong, and certainly not for convenience sake--though that would be SO... convenient!) Although some people get lucky and have a great experience with them, many don't. Hope you do!!!
Oh, I also like the movie suggested in the last comment. Good luck! We'll be thinking of and praying for you all!
Thanks for your input everyone. I think I'm just going to wait and see how things go. At my last doctor's appointment he said, "Let your cervix be your guide". I think I'll go with that and lean towards not inducing unless I'm measuring really big or I go past my due date.
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