Rantings of an Annoyed Overly Pregnant Woman

So, since said people don't look at my blog, this shouldn't offend them. And, if they decide to randomly, I guess they'll know how I really feel...which is annoyed. I'm a bit hormonal these days, but really think that this would annoy me pregnant or not.

On the subject of our baby being due in less than a month, it's been a little tricky finding someone who can come take care of Henry while Jason and I are at the hospital. With so many changes about to take place, and Henry not even 18 months old yet, we really wanted to keep as many things normal for him as possible.
-We haven't moved him out of his room.
-He will still sleep in his own crib, until our baby grows out of the bassinet anyway.
-We worked out a way for him to stay and sleep in his own house so that he doesn't feel like we just abandoned him for 2 days at some strangers.

This part has finally worked out. My SIL and MIL have agreed to drive down here (a little over an hour drive) to take care of him at our house. That way he's with people he trusts and knows while we're gone for 2 days. (The exception to that being that if I go into labor quickly or my water breaks or something, someone from church or our neighbors if they're home will keep him at their house until the fam. can come down and get him). Also, after the baby is born, Jason will come back to nap, play with Henry, etc...I just hope that it doesn't rain, because some of our family members are more like Arizonans when it comes to driving in the rain. They are terrified of it, and won't do it for the most part. So odd to me. Anyway, so Henry will be taken care of one way or another. Where his emotional state will be at the end of this-who knows?

Leaving out other details to that whole thing, let's move on to the annoying part mentioned in the title. Maybe you'll think I'm just hormonal, or maybe this would bug you too. While talking to someone else about coming here to help with labor and the first couple days, it was suggested to me that maybe I could/should just get induced. Now, in this time of induction craziness, when woman do this purposefully all the time, as you may have done, you might think this is not a big deal. Sure because then you can just plan it, right? Wrong. Induction is PURE HELL. And I know this because I was induced with Henry. I only believe in inductions for medical reasons. After Henry's skull was measured very large a few times(we didn't pay attention to their estimations of weight-which was good since they were 2 lbs. or more off) we prayed about it, researched it, and decided to give him a week past his due date. If I wasn't making any progess dilating by then, we'd induce. Well, I was still just a little over an inch, and not having contractions, save 1, so, we went for it. We felt right about it in this situation, but I'd NEVER reccommend this to anyone else. Again, HELL. There is not build up to the pain. Just straight off the charts contractions for hours, trying to get your body to dilate.

What annoys me, is that said peron knows how horrible it is, because she had one. She thought it was such a terrible experience that she refused to do anymore with her other children, even when they were 2 or more weeks late. And now she is suggesting it to me, like, no big deal. I asked her if she was insane (or maybe just seriously forgetful). She passed it off by saying that I'd just get an epidural and it wouldn't be a big deal. Seriously? I wanted to punch her through the phone. With Henry-I was induced around 1:30am. I didn't get an epidural until 11:30am. 10 hours of seriously painful, 3-4 minutes apart-then 1-2 minutes apart, lengthy, off the charts (literally as we could see from the monitor) contractions, before I EVER got relief with the epidural. I hit my ending point when I was so exhausted that I had trouble focusing to breathe through them, and at one point broke down sobbing. Only Jason saw all of this part of the process. Yah-I really want to relive that. And after I got the epidural, my forced progress was slowed down some, and I went through labor (thankfully not feeling the contractions from Haites anymore) for another 6 1/2 hours before I pushed for an hour and 15 min. That was weird-pushing without feeling it. But even with the epidural, I felt the pain of the crowning and the pushing him out. Yah, I'm really excited for that part again. :( So, I was annoyed that it was even suggested by someone who knows how horrid it is, and then even more annoyed and hurt that all that I went through to get Henry here safely was just kind of passed off, like-oh, just get an epidural and no big deal. It's not even smart to get an epidural early on becuase it CAN slow or stop labor.

With this baby, as with Henry, I'm planning on going as long as I can, and getting it if I feel like I need it. Since I've already progressed further at 36 weeks than I had with Henry at almost 41 weeks, I'm thinking that I will go into labor naturally. I'm definitely not going to get an induction just so that I can plan it to work around other people's schedules. And even if I end up getting an epidural at some point, it doesn't just make everything honky-dory, at least not from what I've experienced, as already described. It just made the pain go away for said hours so that I could have enough rest to have the energy to push when it came time.

And why is it that some people think that if you get an epidural at some point during labor, you are somehow not tough? I think that sometimes it's the most intelligent decision for certain situations...like getting induced, and then being so exhausted and not being anywhere near dilated enough still to have the baby yet, that you need to get rest somehow. Pushing a baby out takes work man!

Ok. I'm done now.