It’s official – I am ready to pop.  Days shy of 40 weeks pregnant, I am feeling pretty over it. As much as I know that welcoming baby to the outside world is a game changer – it gets harder before it gets easier. At this point, I don’t even care. I am swollen, waddling, aching, not sleeping and generally an uncomfortable and grumpy mess.

A few weeks ago, already growing impatient with my lumbering pregnant form. I've only gotten bigger since then.
Three weeks ago, already growing impatient with my lumbering pregnant form…only gotten bigger since then.

My midwife’s practice that is super pro-natural birth and allowing things to run their course naturally gave me some interesting news at my 38 week appointment. Because this is a second baby, I can opt to be induced any time after 39 weeks. Which means that if I chose to, I could basically cry uncle at any point and not be pregnant anymore.

And let me tell you, it is tempting.

I spent the weekend stewing over the pros and cons of whether to induce.

For those who aren’t familiar with my first birth experience, Colin was born via induction at 41 weeks 5 days, and despite being induced, I had a quick, pain-med-free, generally uneventful birth.  While my induction went beautifully, it definitely colors my outlook on the decision.

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When I sat down to put pen to paper, my first move was to list the cons. Some were very obvious: pitocin, higher risk of c-section (my midwife said this isn’t true and is purely anecdotal), more intervention, mandatory IV. Other concerns that are more unique to my previous experience is whether this baby is staying put because he just needs more time to grow; C was only 6lbs 11oz at nearly two weeks late. What if this baby just still needs time to cook? And strangely, my other big hang up is that I have a real desire to “go into labor.” To wake up in the middle of the night, feel that it’s baby time, yell “Thundercats are go!” at my husband, and hustle to the hospital. Plus I hear that Pitocin-induced contractions are significantly worse than natural contractions, so it might be nice to just have that Pitocin-free organic labor. The final cons were thrown in by my husband (and fairly quickly discounted by me): inducing meant he gets to start the sleep deprivation sooner (whatever, dude), and based on his work schedule, he will be more easily available the later this baby shows up.

The pros for the induction form a much shorter list. The first and more important is the most obvious: I won’t have to be pregnant anymore. Of course, getting pregnant and carrying baby to term is such a blessing, but as the days tick well past the viability point and into the realm of post-due, all that appreciation goes out the window. I may have told my husband that Colin would be put in time-out immediately after birth for being so non-punctual and torturing his mother (obviously that didn’t happen), and I’m starting to get that feeling all over again.

Beyond the first and biggest reason, there are a few other pros. First, with a toddler at home, scheduling birth removes the uncertainty surrounding who will be available to watch the elder Confetti babe when the new one decides to make his entrance. We could plan in advance, have my parents come out (they’re a 6 hour drive away), and it would be easy and uneventful. Other perks include getting to meet baby sooner, an end to the mystery of how much longer this will drag on, and end the barrage of “how are you feeling?” questions from well-meaning individuals who don’t really want an honest response. Finally, since I managed my first induction well, I don’t have the fear of the unknown, should I decide to induce (although every birth is different, so who knows).

Mr. Confetti has removed himself from the decision-making process because, as he says it, the one pro of not being pregnant anymore could outweigh every con on the list. And only I can know when I will have reached that point on this journey. And he has ensured me that he will happily endorse and support my decision either way (yes, that is exactly what you tell a pregnant woman. Amen, Mr. C).

So here I sit, on the fence. As the days pass me by, a pre-40 week induction is off the table just based on lack of time. I am torn about scheduling an induction before 42 weeks versus waiting to the bitter end. I could hold off in the hopes of going into labor on my own and still end up with an induction 2 weeks late anyway, all while knowing I could have skipped a couple weeks of post-due pregnancy and induced sooner.

As of now, this post is just a window into the debate stewing in my brain. No decision made yet. I would love input from moms out there who chose (or didn’t choose) to be induced the second time around.  What did you decide to do, and why? Were you happy with your decision?