Alright, so, once again, no hard feelings if you haven’t been keeping track of my Birth Plan. I’m actually really touched by how many of my readers are keeping track! I’ve had a lot of comments lately asking if I was cleared for out-of-hospital delivery so I could have the home birth I decided I wanted at 36 weeks. Short version: no. Slightly longer version: OMG I almost had to be induced tomorrow based on my ObGyn consult on Monday but—phewf—Little Miss Cub is going to be allowed to come out on her own.
If you missed the last episode of my pregnancy diary, despite being under a midwife’s care, I had to consult with an ObGyn on Monday to be cleared for an out-of-hospital birth due to the fact that I take 60 mg of Paxil (an SSRI used to very successfully treat my anxiety and OCD). Because of the very small risk of my baby having withdrawal symptoms (Cub experienced no adverse side effects, but was born in hospital), the ObGyn insists on a hospital birth so that baby can be monitored for up to 48 hours. Definitely a disappointment, and of course I wish that my attempts to come off of my antidepressants prior to getting pregnant had been successful, but the conclusion prior to conceiving Cub was that it was better to be on them and have a healthy pregnancy and be a healthy, happy mother than come off them just to avoid a slight chance of withdrawal in my newborn and an even slighter chance of an (easily fixable) heart problem.
After my consult with the ObGyn, she did an ultrasound on Little Miss Cub, which is when we discovered that I had low amniotic fluid! (Otherwise baby was in tip-top shape.) The ObGyn wanted to see me again on Thursday (today) and if levels hadn’t improved, she wanted an induction on Friday (tomorrow)! And so began Operation Avoid Induction. My midwife recommended that I drink as much liquid as possible: over the weekend I had been quite ill (out of both ends), so it was possible that this was contributing to the low amniotic fluid. If getting myself re-hydrated didn’t work, an induction would be on the horizon!
This morning I saw my midwife (prior to the ultrasound appointment), and found out I was 3 cm dilated, 75% effaced and baby was well positioned. I got a Bishop Score of 6, so she was confident that if I did have to be induced, my body was at least in decent shape for it. She also swept my membranes! (A totally bizarre feeling, but not as uncomfortable as I’d expected.) Thankfully, at my ultrasound, my fluid levels had drastically increased! No induction for me! No induction for me!
So now, it’s the waiting game! Membranes swept or not, she could just as well come tonight as two weeks from now.
What’s been your experience with induction? If you had your membranes swept, how quickly did you go into labour?
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