So we were playing Cranium last night, and I had to do the equivalent of a charade for “Walk the plank.” I walked across the couch and walked off onto our hardwood floors. I hit kinda funny, and my knee is killing me now. I sprained my MCL in that knee before, so it has a history of injury (though it’s been a long time and had plenty of time to heal). I didn’t sprain it again or anything, but it’s in just enough pain to be annoying. Rachel didn’t get it, but she has an excuse: she was having a hard contraction.

Speaking of that sort of stuff: We went to the OB yesterday, and here’s what they told us:

1) The baby’s placenta is dying. It’s not; it has small flecks of calcification, so it’s just aged. However, this is what medical professionals tell you so that you will induce with pitocin. The placenta looks fine. It’s aged at 38 weeks and 2 days when Rachel is 42 weeks.

2) Rachel’s fluids are fine (they’re an 11 or 12), but we should really be concerned because they could just disappear at any time. Well the truth is that won’t happen until the placenta is a grade 3. Calcification flecks indicate it’s only a grade 1 or 2.

3) Rachel really needs to go to the hospital and induce with pitocin because the baby is too big for her pelvis and her cervix is posterior. The chances of this being true are very, very small (though doctors tell a lot of women that).

4) The pitocin won’t work (yes, they told us this right after they said she needs to use pitocin). And Rachel has a 100% chance of needing a cesarean. This is 99% true…if she were in a hospital. When a doctor gives pitocin, it usually puts the baby in fetal distress. Thus, if there isn’t quick progress, the doctor has to get the baby out to get the baby out of fetal distress. With Rachel’s cervix position, a posterior baby, and a small pelvis, labor is probably going to be slow and painful. But a midwife will be a lot more patient than a doctor. Hospitals are much more concerned about liability (thanks to guys like John Edwards) than patients.

Needless to say (for anyone that’s familiar with midwifery), everything we heard was a load of crap. There is a slight chance that she may need a cesarean (there always is), but medical professions typically exaggerate the need for them and underestimate the danger of them (especially on the baby’s lungs).