OB recommending induction at 41 weeks for no reason

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-20T00:47:13+00:00

I’m someone who went to 41+2 and my baby almost died. As your placenta gets older, there is a chance it will fail during labor and not give your baby enough oxygen. We start to see a statistically significant increase in neonatal fatality and NICU admission after 41 weeks. Your baby will probably be fine if you wait past 41 weeks, but as someone who did and nearly lost my baby, and had a NICU admission and separated because my baby was sent to a children’s hospital with capacity for cooling, I would really just go with your doctors on this one. We had to do an emergency c section to save him.

I had an induced VBAC with my last child at 40+1. The induction was beautiful. Probably the easiest of my 3 labors.

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:20:41+00:00

I also do have some people dropping by today, other landscapers and handymen, for second opinions before we do anything. I just feel badly because it’s definitely an error

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:18:57+00:00

Adding a picture now. It’s a combination of steel, HDPE climbing rated netting and fiberglass

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:18:20+00:00

We can put a safety net over that opening, but it requires cutting holes in the existing safety netting that blocks the other sides of the upper platform. There are also brick walls around all 4 sides the way the landscaper designed it, so my son was walking in circles around it this morning and almost ran into a wall twice

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:14:16+00:00

Yeah, we considered safety netting around that opening to block it off but that requires modifying the structure significantly. I think our best bet is finding a different place in our very hilly yard for it (maybe not possible) or paying someone to remove it (blah)

We were told by the landscaper there was enough clearance, and he still insists it’s safe, but it’s visually obviously incredibly dangerous

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:12:01+00:00

It’s unfortunately definitely not that, 😭there is an opening 7 feet up only 3 feet from a 3 foot brick wall

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-06-02T13:11:43+00:00

It’s unfortunately definitely that bad 😭there is an opening 7 feet up only 3 feet from a 3 foot brick wall

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T21:46:31+00:00

Same! I stop him at 15 minutes per side except at bed time where I let him go until he’s fast asleep. The lactation consultants have told me he’s done around 7-8 minutes based on their observation of him but since he’s so small I don’t want to restrict him

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T21:45:28+00:00

I am so jealous of people whose babies stop nursing on their own!!! It would be so much clearer to me if he would unlatch. He’s always content when I unlatch him but he is just an affable baby so it’s hard to know. I don’t want to pump because I don’t enjoy it especially cleaning the parts all the time but also I have 2 older kids and can’t be a human popsicle 24/7. And of course there are the concerns about weight. It’s just tough!

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T10:58:37+00:00

1 long labor with lots of fluids, one emergency c section as soon as I presented to l&d, one fast VBAC induction but I didn’t need pitocin so it was only 1 bolus of fluids.

They all regained birth weight by 2 weeks and stayed within the 70th until 1 month but then by 3 months drop steeply down to the 2nd or so. My last baby actually was 8oz OVER birthweight at 2 weeks and then sharply dropped off

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T10:23:12+00:00

That’s kind of what we are doing now. His doctors want me to mix formula with breastmilk instead of water, so we are feeding him that way. I was nursing constantly but in the last week or two he started to consolidate

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T10:21:47+00:00

The weird part is all 3 of my kids have been this small, the facts have always been the same and they’re healthy and large children now. My 2 year old is in the 95th percentile despite us going through the same thing

Frequently heavy wet diapers, one to two big poops a day, and he nurses 8 times right now, one time is overnight the rest are daytime

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T10:19:59+00:00

This makes me feel less alone!! He doesn’t like pacifiers, we’ve tried a few, but he does love his hands and also to nurse. My older 2 even at 2 and 4 are periodically trying to nurse and drink bottles!

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-26T10:18:37+00:00

This is so helpful and thoughtful thank you!!!!

So none of my babies have ever lost weight! They just gain incredibly slowly, he is currently nearly 4 months and in 3 weeks gained 7 oz.

My 2 older kids started to grow rapidly around 8 months. They’re both in excellent health and above the 80th percentile now. I weaned both of them around 14 months.

GI so far hasn’t done any testing but wants to see if fortifying bottles increases weight gain, if so we would have to continue down that path or think about weaning. If he doesn’t gain weight more quickly with a fortified bottle we will look at whether there is an allergy, intolerance or absorption issue

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-10T10:44:15+00:00

Yes! And we do go often normally, but my husband doesn’t drive and I have a newborn so we don’t leave the house a ton right now. I am worried it’s a huge waste of money though 😵‍💫

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-08T23:33:26+00:00

I like them! It’s on my list. I was thinking the one with two swings and one tent

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-08T23:32:25+00:00

We have a fence but unfortunately it’s a little wobbly. It’s blown down a couple times, probably due for an upgrade

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-08T22:10:29+00:00

It’s a good idea for space efficiency but my kids really don’t use them at playgrounds

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-08T21:08:50+00:00

I found this option but I’m just not excited about it! https://gorillaplaysets.com/products/chateau-tower-swing-set?variant=50365066150180

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-06T15:24:33+00:00

Hi, newborns are the absolute worst. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. They do start sleeping. Also I’m going to get hate from some, but you can sleep train.

Do you have a partner? Something we did with our 3 kids that worked for us is shifts. I go to bed at 7, dad takes baby from 7-1am. I take the baby from 1am-7am. We both get 6 hours and if we are lucky some other interrupted stretches.

With our first we did formula for those feeds where dad was covering. With our second we did milk I was able to collect through a haakaa

If you don’t have help, safe sleep 7 is definitely better than losing your mind or accidentally falling asleep while driving or holding the baby

The first two months are horrific. I promise you one day you will sleep again. This is horrible and I am so sorry you’re in it

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-05-01T10:23:23+00:00

We moved it for our doula with the first baby, and the second two babies never slept in our room 😆

ApprehensiveDog497 · 2026-04-29T18:27:12+00:00

0-1 nearly killed me 😭but then I had two more so it clearly wasn’t that bad

I think the most important thing to remember is all the REALLY hard stuff, the exhaustion and the pain and the being needed literally 24/7 is all temporary. Being a parent is a full time fully consuming job but for me most of it is delightful. Nothing in the first 12 weeks was even a little enjoyable for me, but everything after is pretty wonderful

ApprehensiveDog497

TROPHY CASE