Yesterday, I had another doctor's appointment, and it was oh-so-fun to go with my mom. My doctor had already told me that she doesn't feel comfortable waiting more than one week past the due date, so yesterday, we started talking about an induction date. Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't still go into labor on my own before then, but she wanted to at least set a date to induce assuming that nothing happens in the meantime. This was an expected conversation, and I had already told my mom that it was coming. And yes, there's a little bit of variation in that some docs seem to allow for a little more time (10 days to 2 weeks) and it seems to be mostly a matter of personal preference/sense of caution. My doctor says 1 week, and I'm fine with that.
Anyway, so we start talking and my mom immediately chimes in. Well, actually, she had already chimed in the moment she met my doc by saying that she hoped that my doc had good news for us and could tell us when to expect the baby to pop out. Um, ok, it doesn't really work like that. And there were a few other random questions after that too, that were already starting to rub me the wrong way because I had plenty of questions on my own, and I hate being railroaded in my own doctor's appointment. Plus, I'm not a kid, I like to ask my own questions thank you much. AND, it's not like she's been to any of my appointments before, so she just kept asking repetitive stuff that I already knew.
So then, we started talking induction. And our conversation went something like this.
ME: I'm a bit worried because I've heard that inducing is associated with greater risk of c-sections.
MY MOM: I don't understand why you can't wait longer. Can't you wait 10 days to 2 weeks. Why do we have to schedule this now? (Hopefully, you caught the bit earlier about how this whole conversation was expected and I had already explained to my mom the reasons the doc gave me for not wanting to go past one week. But to my mom, apparently, my doctor is like a salesman. It's all about getting the best deal possible).
ME: The other thing about inductions that worries me is that I've heard contractions with pitocin are much stronger and more painful. I don't deal with pain well.
MY MOM: So if we're going to induce, I'd like to do it on the 20th because that's supposed to be an auspicious day to have the baby.
And that's when I lost it -- seriously, she started contemplating the best possible dates for induction based on the Indian calendar. I was - and still am - pissed. This is something that has always annoyed the hell out of me. In my family, everything's always about what the right time to do something is (right day, right hour, right month). I mean, I should be tolerant and all that, but I can't help it. I find it to be the most ridiculous thing ever.
And pretty much that's how the rest of the appointment went. Me asking what I felt to be serious medical questions with my mom trying to hijack the conversation with Indian superstition. And what made it worse is that my mom doesn't really know the Indian calendar that well (with respect to what's the best day and all that). So she was just hypothesizing, probably in the hopes of asking my dad or some one else later on. "What about this day, would you be able to induce that day?" etc. etc. My doctor, I have to say, was much more patient than I was.
On the way home, my mom asked again why she couldn't predict when my labor would be. After all, she's a doctor. She had my ultrasounds. Why couldn't see with more precision when I'd deliver? It's ridiculous. And on and on. Apparently, my doctor now needs to have super powers.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Poll
So I'm now officially in overtime. My due date was yesterday and the little sucker has decided to stay in a bit longer. I know, I know, everyone's thinking that the whole being late thing must run in the family. :) But if that's the case, I'm kind of wishing the kid had inherited my impatience rather than the lateness gene.
Anyway, with nothing better to do, I was thinking of getting a little poll going. Any guesses on what the kid will be and when it'll turn up? Was thinking I could have us all guess on when the baby will be born (what date, what time), gender, weight, and length. Winner will get something eventually . . . though I think I still haven't delivered on that $5 Starbucks gift card to Lisa way back when for the last poll I did - sorry!
I'm going to do it too, so will start us off in the comments section. And I'll tell you now what I already know. My due date was yesterday, and my doctor wants to induce on the 19th if I haven't already had it by then. So in terms of the date, you only have a short window to really play with. Everything else is up for grabs.
Here are a few recent pics of me too for those of you that want to see how I'm carrying or something like that to better guess the gender.
And stay tuned, I actually have another post coming today also, just because I really do have nothing else going on.
Anyway, with nothing better to do, I was thinking of getting a little poll going. Any guesses on what the kid will be and when it'll turn up? Was thinking I could have us all guess on when the baby will be born (what date, what time), gender, weight, and length. Winner will get something eventually . . . though I think I still haven't delivered on that $5 Starbucks gift card to Lisa way back when for the last poll I did - sorry!
I'm going to do it too, so will start us off in the comments section. And I'll tell you now what I already know. My due date was yesterday, and my doctor wants to induce on the 19th if I haven't already had it by then. So in terms of the date, you only have a short window to really play with. Everything else is up for grabs.
Here are a few recent pics of me too for those of you that want to see how I'm carrying or something like that to better guess the gender.
And stay tuned, I actually have another post coming today also, just because I really do have nothing else going on.
Monday, July 12, 2010
the last week
So as of last Tues, I've been at home on maternity leave. Last week, the whole idea of maternity leave seemed great. I couldn't find enough hours in a day to do everything I needed to do. A spa day (with massage, facial, pedicure, and haircut) on Wed, a bunch of errands on Thurs, a string of coffee and lunch dates on Fri . . . I was bummed on the days that I couldn't squeeze a nap in or watch all the tv I wanted to. It was a tough life, and I felt like I could just do it forever.
Everything changed though on Sat after my mom came. I mean, it's been nice having her here (AWESOME home cooked meals, need I say more?), but she had been in the car maybe 20 minutes before she started nagging. And it hasn't stopped. It's usually mixed in with normal conversations, so it's not like we've spent the whole visits arguing. Far from it. But my mom has this knack for never letting things go. And just when you start to feel like things are all right and we're getting along, she'll manage to throw that nit picky thing in. It's pitch perfect timing, I almost wonder if she practices in her spare time.
So far, she's found plenty to nag about. She can't believe we let all 3 dogs in the house. Isn't it time to throw them in the backyard now that we're about to have a baby? How do we even know that they'll get along with the baby? G said at one point that of course if it becomes a problem, we'll have to consider it, but until then they're indoor dogs. This was on top of me becoming almost apoplectic approximately the 10th time she brought it up. But I'm pretty sure it's not a topic that's been laid to rest yet.
The whole name thing has also been high on her list of annoying topics. She thinks we should use my maiden name as the middle name if it's a boy. For those of you that know it, you realize why that's a terrible idea. She keeps telling me how it's tradition to name at least the first kid after their grandparents, and the fact that I'm not doing it makes me a terrible Indian and so disrespectful of my culture. I'm thinking that the next time she brings it up, I'm going to tell her that she's absolutely right. We should name our kid after his or her grandparents, and out of respect for our family heritage, we've decided to go with G's parents' names as middle names. See how that sits.
What else? The house is old. Our couch is old (never mind that when we moved as kids, my parents kept this ratty old couch for years after until they finally decided it was time to get something else). There is no fan in the bathroom. The dogs shed too much (though in her defense on this one, the dogs are definitely shedding a lot at the moment). And they smell. The pillow is too soft. There is no disposal in the kitchen sink. She wants me to come up for two weeks (dude, she's only been here for a day and a half, she's already thinking ahead). I made the mistake of saying 2 weeks was a long time so that was pretty unlikely, so she's been on me about that ever since (G was much more tactful, said that we could see, but the damage was already done by that point - I'll never learn).
Anyway, so it's been a fun time. So now, I'm on a mission to get this baby out as fast as possible, to at least have something to distract me from the rest of the visit. According to the internet, there's lots of natural ways to induce labor, and I've been trying them all. Of course, exercise is supposed to be the most effective. So I've been taking the dogs on at least 2 walks a day. I also read in an online forum that some women have managed to induce labor by rolling around on an exercise ball. So guess what I've been doing while watching tv? Spicy food is classic of course -- I was tempted to drink a bottle of hot sauce except that that brings on one of my major labor fears: pooping during the delivery. Same with castor oil, which is supposed to just give you diarrhea (but sometimes also gets contractions going too with all the activity down there). Sex is an old standby too, but man, it's pretty uncomfortable at this point. If you know of any other tricks, please let me know. I'm willing to try most things.
Everything changed though on Sat after my mom came. I mean, it's been nice having her here (AWESOME home cooked meals, need I say more?), but she had been in the car maybe 20 minutes before she started nagging. And it hasn't stopped. It's usually mixed in with normal conversations, so it's not like we've spent the whole visits arguing. Far from it. But my mom has this knack for never letting things go. And just when you start to feel like things are all right and we're getting along, she'll manage to throw that nit picky thing in. It's pitch perfect timing, I almost wonder if she practices in her spare time.
So far, she's found plenty to nag about. She can't believe we let all 3 dogs in the house. Isn't it time to throw them in the backyard now that we're about to have a baby? How do we even know that they'll get along with the baby? G said at one point that of course if it becomes a problem, we'll have to consider it, but until then they're indoor dogs. This was on top of me becoming almost apoplectic approximately the 10th time she brought it up. But I'm pretty sure it's not a topic that's been laid to rest yet.
The whole name thing has also been high on her list of annoying topics. She thinks we should use my maiden name as the middle name if it's a boy. For those of you that know it, you realize why that's a terrible idea. She keeps telling me how it's tradition to name at least the first kid after their grandparents, and the fact that I'm not doing it makes me a terrible Indian and so disrespectful of my culture. I'm thinking that the next time she brings it up, I'm going to tell her that she's absolutely right. We should name our kid after his or her grandparents, and out of respect for our family heritage, we've decided to go with G's parents' names as middle names. See how that sits.
What else? The house is old. Our couch is old (never mind that when we moved as kids, my parents kept this ratty old couch for years after until they finally decided it was time to get something else). There is no fan in the bathroom. The dogs shed too much (though in her defense on this one, the dogs are definitely shedding a lot at the moment). And they smell. The pillow is too soft. There is no disposal in the kitchen sink. She wants me to come up for two weeks (dude, she's only been here for a day and a half, she's already thinking ahead). I made the mistake of saying 2 weeks was a long time so that was pretty unlikely, so she's been on me about that ever since (G was much more tactful, said that we could see, but the damage was already done by that point - I'll never learn).
Anyway, so it's been a fun time. So now, I'm on a mission to get this baby out as fast as possible, to at least have something to distract me from the rest of the visit. According to the internet, there's lots of natural ways to induce labor, and I've been trying them all. Of course, exercise is supposed to be the most effective. So I've been taking the dogs on at least 2 walks a day. I also read in an online forum that some women have managed to induce labor by rolling around on an exercise ball. So guess what I've been doing while watching tv? Spicy food is classic of course -- I was tempted to drink a bottle of hot sauce except that that brings on one of my major labor fears: pooping during the delivery. Same with castor oil, which is supposed to just give you diarrhea (but sometimes also gets contractions going too with all the activity down there). Sex is an old standby too, but man, it's pretty uncomfortable at this point. If you know of any other tricks, please let me know. I'm willing to try most things.
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