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.
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