Are you in pain?

Over the past week Bridget's due date has been changed three times, in many ways I've given up even thinking about when and how she will make her arrival. Every breath out of place Jared has been asking "are you in pain" and seems genuinely disappointed when I respond that I am not! Jared is becoming progressively more anxious to meet Bridget and the external pressure on me to chivvy this little girl on is mounting from many sources!
After refusing the induction scheduled for me, I went for an ultrasound to ensure that Bridget isn't a hippopotamus or a whale and therefore will not automatically require a c-section as my doctor appeared to think possible! The outcome was as expected, they couldn't tell me the weight, she is due tomorrow (24th March 2012) though will likely not make an appearance till next week! Oh, and they were fairly sure that Bridget is still a she and still has a full head of hair... so I'm not sure how helpful the fact finding mission was... but the outcome was peace of mind.

After spending Tuesday afternoon in the hospital having my blood pressure monitored, I was so relieved to hear that both of us are doing just fine! With that information in mind, I am glad to enter the weekend with no intention of being induced "for comfort" as the doctor suggested!

When I read reviews of OBGYN doctors in the area, I saw her ratio of patients to babies personally delivered and thought that the reported 98% was very impressive! It turns out that there are lies, damn lies and statistics and in this case the statistics reflect a very different story than that assumed by my first interpretation! Initially I assumed that the doctor must be really invested in her patients to make herself personally available for delivery and thought that sounded great! I've recently found out that the reason my doctor delivers such a large number of babies is due to her policy of routinely scheduling inductions and elective c-section as soon as the 39th week of pregnancy begins in order to ensure they fall on the days she works at the hospital!
If that weren't enough - the concept of informed consent (or just consent) appears to have passed her by completely... she performs procedures, schedules appointments and explains and asks nothing of her patients. This was not the approach I was looking for, and it's not one I appreciate!

As it turned out though she doesn't consult or obtain consent she can accept direct refusal to comply. Yesterday - when I overheard the nurse scheduling my induction for Monday morning starting with IV Pitocin I said, "erm, no, no thank you, I don't think I want to do that, I'm not quite ready to serve an eviction notice just two days after the due date!". Surprisingly, despite the commanding approach, my doctor accepted my decision with little discussion, though she seemed genuinely perplexed by my decision!