Baby #2: Week 39 and 4 days (an update)

I think the midwife appointment this morning went well.  I am still dilated to 3 (can stretch to a 4) and everything seems "ready to go".

We talked for a while about where I am physically and mentally.  The midwife I saw today has been doing this for 27 years.  She said that she gave up predicting when babies will come a long time ago, but could see why the other midwives thought it would be soon based on my dilation, effacement, and how soft the cervix is at this point.  Even though he is engaged in the pelvis, he is still higher but she said with second pregnancies this is really normal. 

As far as the mental stuff...well once again I am reminded that I made the right decision by switching to a midwife.  Her patience with me was really reassuring.  I didn't feel rushed and she had a way of making me feel at ease with all the decisions we made by the end of the appointment.  My anxiety and obsessive thinking has really taken over (yes, I will eventually post the entry about all of that) and she seemed to understand that right now talking through it, telling me to get over it, or to stop thinking about when labor will happen wasn't going to make things change for me, that a lot of this is chemical and will be dealt with when I meet with my psychiatrist. 

Based on this conversation, she initially suggested an induction (apparently depression and anxiety disorders that are causing problems with pregnant mothers are frequently the medical reason for inducing at the end of a pregnancy in order to avoid making things worse postpartum).  She thinks that I will need very little Pitocin to get things started and then hopefully we would be able to stop the Pitocin and let things go naturally.  She wasn't even sure that they would have to break my water because I am so close to that point naturally.

I asked her about stripping the membranes as a first step and she agreed that it would be the least intrusive way to encourage things along (and isn't considered an induction).  So we decided to have her strip the membranes today.  She also suggested some castor oil and an enema...although I can't say that I am too excited about that idea. At any rate, if the stripping doesn't work, we are working on setting an induction date for Friday.

It is nice to finally have an end date. I am hoping that the stripping of membranes work, but if not that will be okay too.  We have a plan now and I always feel better when there is a plan. 

I appreciate all the support that I have been getting here and on Facebook.  It means a lot to me to know that there are so many amazing women cheering me on.