Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I am never wrong...


When it comes to issues that are a matter of opinion, rather than proven fact, it is, indeed, possible to never be wrong.

I love this concept! I was raised on it, in fact. My father (may he never rest in peace, because he would get bored out of his skull and start annoying people) Was. Never. Wrong. Not even about indisputable facts. It was, in fact, dreadfully annoying to live with him, because he was usually right about not being wrong.

There was that one time he said a bathmat was a towel, and shouted at someone for not putting it on the towel rail, but we moved past that, and he does concede that that the one time he was wrong was when he doubted himself on the bathmat vs. towel saga.

I adored my father, and although his I Am Never Wrong drove me absolutely up the walls, it did teach me to stick by my convictions, even in the face of Overwhelming Opinions To The Contrary. I like to think that I have learned to give slightly in the face of said overwhelming contrary opinions, but let's be honest; not always. Or even usually.

Sometimes one must be right. Especially when it comes to matters of opinions and the capitals of South American countries. La Paz is to Bolivia as social inductions of labour are to Just Wrong in my world.

And yes, that's what this post is all about.

I stand (on my soapbox, of course) comfortably buoyed up by the fact that the Overwhelming Opinons (and medical evidence) on this issue agrees with me.

The very act of inducing labour comes with a multitude of medical risks. There are many situations where that risk is absolutely warranted - maternal high blood pressure, placenta previa, foetal distress and a million others are all very good reasons to get that baby the hell out of Dodge before more harm is done to either mother or child.

Daddy being about to play in the AFL Grand Final and doesn't want Mummy to go into labour on 26th September and fuck up his chances to both be a footy star and a new daddy on the same day is quite simply not one of them.

This blog is not the place to go into the medical risks of inducing a labour before the due date, so I will leave you and Dr. Google to research that yourself. Let's just say that my own research, as well as my own in-depth debates with my personal obstetricians have given me a pretty good idea of what those risks are.

All birth carries inherent risk. All birth carries inherent inconvenience. It might, God forbid, start in the pickles and ice-cream aisle at the supermarket. It may start when Dad is about to be deployed to Afghanistan or sent to an oil rig off the Pilbarra. It may EVEN be thinking of starting around Grand Final Day, or on the first day of the Myer-One cardholders only presale special event.

The point is, we don't know when baby is going to decide to make it's grand appearance, and we have to schedule our lives accordingly. Nothing can be written in stone around Due Date. Our children only get one birth. Isn't it our responsibility as parents to make that birth as safe as we possibly can?

To say in a cavalier manner that we are going to schedule the birth of our children around the other events in our lives, by using a medical intervention that holds risks to both mother and child is both irresponsible and selfish.

It comes down to priorities, in my book.

And this is my blog, and in this perfect world of mine I am never wrong!

STxxx

PS. It's all my dad's fault, ok?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on that. I was induced with #1 - 12 days after my due date and 2 days earlier than I was originally scheduled. I was in England and my sister was going to fly back to Australia and I was an idiot who didn't realise what rocky path medical intervention could take me down. And so when it seemed that my waters might be leaking, I pushed to have it moved earlier.

One day I'll bore everyone with my eldest child's birth story - EVERYONE I TELLS YA - but for now, I'll agree that you are definitely not wrong on this matter as far as I'm concerned - and *I'm* never wrong.

LBA said...

Interesting that notdrowning was allowed to go 14days over in the UK. Interesting.

Both my boys were exactly 10days overdue each. Neither of them wanted to leave my warm womb, neither of them were in distress, and I love being preggers, so it didn't bother me. It does, however, bother the medical community.

Anyway, I won't go into birth stories ( but since you shared yours - here's my firstborns here: http://tinyurl.com/metmem
.. the 2ndborn is yet to be written .. )

But.
Yes, I agree.
Stupid footballer and stupid footballer's wife.
I hope it all goes well for them and the baby, but did you get the impression they fast forwarded their firstborn previously so it wouldn't clash with Christmas ?

How inconvenient dahlink !

Joni said...

Haha hilarious! I don't think I've ever heard the induction debate (which is always so serious and boring) being spoken about so cheekily! Did you get your sense of humour from your Dad too?

Aussie-waffler said...

I agree, that's all I would like to add today.

Sparkly Tiara said...

Thanks for the comments, peeps! I have also had 2 inductions (overdue) which I had some unpleasant, but thankfully not tragic, consequences. I really did let myself get bullied into them both times, so this is (in case you can't tell) a bit of a pet issue with me.

Oh, and Joni, yes, my father was the embodiment of cheeky. Around his workplace he was affectionately (and also with trepidation) known as The Mad Irishman :-)

Jayne said...

Totally aggree ST. I was induced for less trivial reasons both times and I still think they were unneccesary. Induction sucks the big one. I'd
NEVER be induced again. I'd go surgery over induction!!

S3XinthePantry said...

I agree with you 100%

nevyn said...

You have my sympathies as a fellow daughter of a Dad who is Never. Wrong! It definitely makes life interesting. Me, I'm a glutton for punishment, my Husband is worse. That makes life frustrationg :-)

I read that story about the Footballer and his Wife, I think Moron was the politest thing I had to say. I hope the Kid sues them both when he/she gets older.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with you 100%!

Alpaca Farmgirl said...

I understand. I am never wrong either. And I live with 4 other people who are never wrong. It's noisy here.

And I cannot believe that you oversalt your food. We will have to talk. I'm a serious saltaholic!

Amanda {My Life Badly Written} said...

I have never been induced - I tend to get into the planned C-section debate!! I was going to be induced for #1 but he came 2 days before induction and then #2 was 5 weeks early!!!!

I'm never wrong in my house either just ask my hubby ha ha!!!

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