Day Four

Day 4: I didn't know what to expect on this day and I was kind of hoping that they would try that gel on me which was mentioned the day before because it seemed to be working for my friend. When the doc arrived to do his rounds around 8:30am, he was reviewing my file (again, special treatment because he got there went straight to my bed, got my file and I followed him out to discuss it. He could have had me wait till he got to me because I certainly wasn't first) and said hmmmmm, you're only 38 weeks? I said well now I'm 39 and a couple of days and he said, it's not going to work (meaning the gel). I was like, really? You don't think so? He said that he would order it to be brought from the hospital pharmacy but he wouldn't know if it would really work until he checked me to see how my cervix was and if I was even dialated at all. This is not the doc that hospitalized me and as we all know, different docs, different opinions. I don't just have one OBGYN here in the universal healthcare in Costa Rica, you get who you get, but you get used to it. So, after he checked me, he said he was going to let me go home and I should just wait until the baby's ready. He said we could induce and induce and induce and if the baby's not ready, it's not going to come. That would be bad for the baby and could also cause uterine rupture among other problems. He didn't recommend a c-section because he said if the baby's not ready and we take it before and then his lungs aren't fully mature (one of the last things that matures before a baby is born) then we'll end up at the children's hospital in San Jose (4 hours away) in a neonatal unit with my son hooked up to oxygen and it's just not worth the risk. It's best to just be patient and let nature take it's course especially in this case when there is no emergency and there is still time left in the pregnancy. I was so happy to hear this news and I just wanted to get out of there and stop inducing (two days of contractions even though the second day wasn't all that bad) and go on my merry way. I was getting pissed at the doc who sent me for induction in the first place although I'm sure he had good intentions and probably thought he was doing me a favor as well since most women at almost 39 weeks are just ready for it to be over and meet their new baby. I know and have known these docs for a while now at least since my first pregnancy 3 years ago and they are good and I respect them. I just think that the one who hospitalized me for induction made a mistake. It was a rough 4 days being without my son that long (longest I've ever been away from him) and away from home but I made some friends and actually had an ok time. Even if they did serve dinner by 5pm and I was hungry again by 10pm and missed my nightly bowls of ice cream while watching Everybody Loves Raymond or Friends with my husband.