A Prayer Request

Back in May, I mentioned in a post my friend from church, Christine, who is expecting her first baby. She has scoliosis and so can't have an epidural, but she is fine with that, since she was raised in Germany where something like 90% of the women give birth naturally. Well, her due date is Tuesday. Things are going just fine. The head is nice and low, and she's about 1 1/2 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. She had an ultrasound last Monday because her doctor thought she was big, but the baby looked fine and normal sized. You would think that the doctor would then just let things go as they happen, but no, not here in Virginia! The doctor wants to induce her on Friday. Not for any good reason--just because. When Christine reminded her of that fact that she could not have an epidural if things took a long time, or if she didn't handle pitocin-induced contractions very well, her doctor said, "Well, labor hurts with or without pitocin, so that shouldn't make a difference." Umm . . . wow. That's a pretty darn uncaring statement to make, and frankly I wonder if this doctor has ever even SEEN a woman deliver naturally, much less one delivering her first baby after an induced labor.

I think the doctor is setting Christine up for a c-section, to be honest. We talked a long time about possible scenarios, but Christine is like me, pretty nonconfrontational, and it's really hard for her to tell her doctor that she doesn't want to be induced. I'm afraid that the labor will take a long time, and that she'll be too tired to push effectively. It takes a great deal of mental concentration and focus to deal with contractions naturally, and it can really get tiring and painful, especially if the doctor keeps ramping up the pitocin if you don't dilate according to their neat little schedule. A first baby usually means oh, 1-2 hours of pushing, which is exhausting even when you haven't labored all day naturally! What is up with these Virginia doctors that think that inductions are the best way to go?! I have never been anywhere where they are pushed as much as I have heard and experienced here. Ridiculous.

Christine has another appointment on Tuesday. Please pray that she will be able to clearly voice her concerns to the doctor, and that the doctor will be receptive to hearing them. But most of all pray that she will go into labor on her own before Friday!