Induce Labor Naturally

To induce or not to induce...that is the laboring question. My poor wife has been with child for the full 40 weeks and has been dedicated to caring and nurturing our unborn daughter from the moment of discovery. She has followed a healthy diet balanced with fruit, vegetables, cereals, juices, and an occasional serving of thoroughly cooked chicken or beef. She has taken her prenatal vitamins religiously, refrained from any type of caffeine or medication even through a small late season cold. We now sit waiting three full days past the due date wondering if we should have accepted the doctor's offer to induce labor on the due date. We opted to belay the artificial stimulation in favor of a natural delivery but as the days, hours, minutes and even seconds tick by (and trust me...by now, we are counting them) we question this decision. Late into the day on the due date, I scanned the internet for some ideas of how to "induce" labor naturally (which seems like an oxymoron like a jumbo shrimp). I found a myriad of suggestions that ranged from the sensible to the down right obtuse.

My wife, ever hopeful to celebrate success immediately ate an entire pineapple followed by a long walk through the mall without so much as a twinge of labor. We drove rather quickly down a bumpy road and other than jarring my car's front end out of alignment, we got nothing more than some hiccups from the baby. A warm bath followed by some very spicy Mexican food resulted in nothing more than a slight case of heartburn. She tried more spicy food followed by a pineapple and orange juice smoothie. The woman has literally eaten her weight in pineapple, walked a veritable marathon, climbed a Mount Everest worth of stairs and yes...before you ask...we did THAT too.

After another doctor's visit today and having listened to the precious heart beat rhythmically rise and fall as she turned and rolled in the womb, we decided to take the doctor's offer for an induced labor in four more days. After the doctor explained the procedure and we verified the correct time and place, she turned to walk out the door, but paused momentarily...she turned slowly and with a funny little smile she said, "Do you know the best way to bring about labor?" We nodded and shrugged unknowingly. "Schedule the induction and the baby is sure to come." With that she left the room.

My wife and I stared at each other and grinned. Neither of us had to say it but I'm pretty sure that she was thinking the same thing that I was. "Why not...we tried everything else."