I want to give birth

It's official, I want this baby out of me NOW. For weeks, I've been wishing for this pregnancy to end. I'm not in any pain or extreme discomfort, but the novelty of being almost 30 lbs overweight and having no control over my bodily functions has waned. I want my body back. I want to move on to the next stage, so I can get closer to getting my life back.

Desperate to get this critter out of me, I asked my OB what I could do to speed things up. He offered two suggestions: stay active both on your feet and between the sheets. He cited that 50% of women who prescribe to this recommendation give birth early. These are perhaps the very last things I'm interested in doing at this point, but with such odds, I couldn't not try.

I've been a trooper, but as my doc confirmed a couple weeks ago, my critter likes his/her current home and shows no signs of leaving anytime soon. It was at this point that he looked at me and asked me to start thinking about alternative options to bring on labour. Since I still had some time, I waved a hand and stated: "We'll do better next week."

So, Mr. Oh and I put in double duty. I began eating very spicey foods, engulfed foods that will get my bowels moving and gave myself regular foot massages (all supposed cures). I've also had some serious conversations with my belly, explaining how proud mamma will be if he/she sticks it to the doc, showing him who the boss really is. Unfortunately, all was for not.

So, at my last appointment, my OB asked me to pick a date to go into the hospital to induce labour. Seeing the tears welling up in my eyes, he paused and asked what I thought of the suggestion. My response: "That doesn't sound natural. I want to give birth to this baby."

Shocked by my words, my hands flew up to cover my mouth. Like many things with this pregnancy, I had never given any real thought to how the critter was going to leave my body. So, this idea of "natural" and "giving birth" surprised me. Why did I care if it was "natural"? I know I'm not a tree-hugging, granola-eating hippy who prescribes to the natural side. I'm a modern gal who likes 21st century conveniences. So, why all of a sudden do I have an issue with getting a little help from modern medicine?

I've been pondering this question for days and I've come up with no answers. For some reason, absolutely unbeknownst to me, I want to give birth to this baby the way women have for thousands of years - grunting (or perhaps screaming) my way through it all. Even Mr. Oh was surprised by my admission. Like me, he can't understand why I'd want to stay pregnant longer, especially since he's been listening to me whine and beg for an end to come.

I have agreed to the doctor's recommendation and have scheduled an appointment at the hospital for next week. But, I'm completely apprehensive about it all and have yet to decide if I'm going to keep my appointment.