give me your stories of happy, healthy, "late"/overdue babies and births, please! - Page 2

[Shazer]

Hugs to you. I understand the pressure you are under.

My first was born by c/s at 42 weeks 4 days after a cascade of "natural" induction methods. There are lots of women who are "overdue" or they are told their babies are gigantic and need to be born, only to have the induction methods make labor and birth difficult. If you feel like your baby should be out by now, then maybe see a chiropractor to make sure your baby is lined up. Otherwise, if you feel like it isn't time yet, then go for walks, shut off your phone so relatives and friends don't pester you, get a massage, watch all of your favorite movies, journal. Be good to yourself and try not to let everyone's pressure make you nervous or upset.

[MamaMonica]

Moved to Birth and Beyond. My first was born a few days past 42 weeks with no complications Be kind to yourself

[cappuccinosmom]

I've had two 42+ weekers.

Both *big*.

But both were around 4 hours labors, minimal tearing. With the "smaller" of those two, I had excess bleeding after he was born, remedied with Pit, and prevented the next time with Pit. That "smaller" one (he was 9 lb 15 oz) also had sticky shoulders according to the midwives, but it wasn't a major problem and I didn't even hear about that until the first post partum appt. His little brother (10 lb 8 oz) wasn't the least bit "sticky".

[SunshineJ]

Um I was born 6 weeks late and was just fine, though my mom said she did get awfully tired of being so pregnant after a while. Keep in mind this was in the 60's. They did do an xray around my due date to make sure I wasn't too big, then sent mom home and basically forgot about her. I was a "big" baby for our family, weighing in at 7lbs, 12 oz.

DS was 3 weeks overdue. LOL I know the exact date he was conceived so there's no question of when he was due. Late babies run in our family. I did end up with a c-section with him, but it was completely unrelated to his gestation time. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz, so not a huge baby either. They pushed me into a c-section with dd at 39 weeks, and she came out sleeping 5 hrs at a stretch. She just really didn't seem to me like she was "done" yet to be honest (and I'm convinced she was pissed about that and made us "pay" for it for the first 6 months! LOL!).

[Chula13]

I had my vbac baby happily at home at 42wks and a day , no complications other than a bit of dry skin

[smeep]

My mother went into spontaneous labour with all five of us at 41-43 weeks. So I told myself 42 weeks, so if I went into labour before then, no biggie, and I wouldn't feel "overdue" based on a stupid "due date" until after 42 weeks. At 41w3d I went in for an ultrasound to make sure everything looked good (I was going to a freestanding birth center and my uber crunchy cnm sends clients in to a local hospital once a week after 41 weeks for an ultrasound to keep an eye on things). Everything looked fine except he didn't react much when the u/s tech jabbed my stomach (ouch!). She brought in an OB who also found minimal reaction and they flipped and told me to induce immediately. Don't go home, just go straight to the center, and they would call my midwife on our way there. My mom was with me and when we got in the car I said I didn't want to induce. She said that, since we figured I was in early labour (I had been having irregular contractions since about 11pm the night before), that was why he wasn't moving much. She said we all slowed down during her labours, and it didn't concern her at all. We went home and called my midwife, who agreed with us, and said we could consider castor oil in the morning at 6am if I wasn't in active labour yet. My water broke at around 11:30pm, I went into active labour within a few minutes, and he was born at 5:21am, at 41w4d, all on his own time. Fast, uncomplicated, great labour. If we had induced in hospital with pitocin after my 3pm appointment as recommended, I likely would have had a cesarean, all for nothing. He came when he was ready. Your babe will too!!! Of course, having even more information under my belt in the 4 years since, if that happened again I would probably laugh at the tech and OB and tell them over my dead body will I induce. He was fine, and there was still movement...he was just preparing for his journey into the world!

[phathui5]

I was a healthy overdue baby myself. My mom was almost 43 weeks pregnant when she had me.

[zoebird]

one of my dear friends was 44 w 4 days, and her brother was 44 w 2 days. they are both healthy adults.

in order to refuse and combat the pressure of the medical establishment, i recommend printing out a copy of the ACOG's assertion about when a person is "overdue" and take it with you.

i also offer you this pulled from an article:

A large study done by Weinstein, et al. , compared nearly 1,800 reliably dated post-term pregnancies with a matched group of on-time deliveries ( between 37 and 41 weeks ). The outcomes were surprising. Perinatal mortality was similar in both groups ( 0.56 / 1000 in the post-term and 0.75 / 1000 in the on-time group ). The rates of meconium, shoulder dystocia, and cesarean were almost identical. What was most interesting, however, was that the rates of fetal distress, instrumental delivery and low Apgar scores were actually lower in the post-term group than in the on-time group.

another thing you can look up and take with you--see if you can find the study name. i'm having trouble.

here's the source of the article (author): Christine Fiscer is a Traditional Midwife who blogs at www.midwiferyramblings.blogspot.com and also www.joyfulbirthservices.blogspot.com. She enjoys all things birth, sewing, and spending time with her family.

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Caden was born at 40+6 weeks although as another poster has also said i too don't concider this overdue as a normal pregnancy lasts 37-42 weeks.
to you mamma i know it gets hard when you go past that de, but lo won't be in there forever, she's obviously very comfy inside you, you never now you've posted this you may just go in spontaneous labour tonight.

[wonderfullymade]

I carried all of mine (except the twins) 'overdue'.

First was 42 weeks.
Second was 41.6 weeks
Fifth was 42.6 weeks

[lynsage]

My first was 10 days past her EDD and was tiny, but otherwise perfectly healthy and born safely at home...I'm sure she needed those extra days to grow! Don't worry

[AutumnAir]

I had my DD at 43+1 weeks. She was fine - no indications of post-maturity other than a little dry skin on hands and feet. She didn't even pass mec until after the birth.

My mom was induced at 42 weeks with both me and my brother, so it's a safe bet that she would have gone a bit longer. My gran (mom's mom) had my aunt at 46 weeks - a VBAC no less!! So, obviously, longer gestations run in my family too.

OP - how are you getting on? Still baking, or holding your baby now? Hope you're both happy and healthy either way

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by jsh7809

I still don't want to be induced but I am so emotional and ready that their attempts at striking fear into me are working more effectively than I thought

I haven't gone post-dates but I have had to deal with this kind of pressure.
Are you open to ultrasound? You could ask your caregivers about doing a biophysical profile and detailed study of the placenta. I bet it would help set your mind at ease that baby is thriving and your placenta doing its work to grow you a healthy little baby, whenever he or she decides to make an appearance.

[donutmolly]

DD3 was born at 42 weeks (both her big sisters arrived almost on their EDD!) I was very surprised to be going so long. She was born healthy at home, 9lbs 10oz, and her enormous size was the only indication that she was "overdue".

My mw did want me to start monitoring baby and placenta at 41+3, which I agreed to -- however, it did nothing for my peace of mind, and if I had the chance to do it again, I would not agree to go in for monitoring. There was no indication that it was necessary besides the number of days past the EDD. I feel the tests were totally unnecessary, and know that they could've used it to force an induction, which is something to consider before consenting to testing.

Everyone in my due date club gave birth before me -- I moved to the next month's group, and it seemed like half of them had given birth before I ever did!

Hope you are already holding your lo!

[Belia]

Don't give into the pressure, mama! You're doing great, and when you look back these last few weeks will have been the blink of an eye.

Turn off the phone and don't respond to anyone's panic. Afterwards, when everyone freaks out and asks "Where were you!!! We couldn't get a hold of you!" Tell them you went out of town for a few days. That will really freak them out!

[coldandsleepy]

My son was born at 41+1. We actually tried to induce with cervidil at 40+6 (my cervix was quite favorable and had been for some time, so it was worth trying) but the insert fell out after like an hour and a half and I was given the choice of either having a pitocin induction or going home.

So I went home-- this was on the 41+0 day-- and then went into labor naturally and had a totally awesome and problem free birth the next day.

My son's been super healthy since day one.

So yeah, hang in there. I remember the end of pregnancy being SO hard... I was just so impatient and so ready to be done with it. I remember someone telling me "no one is pregnant forever" and that kind of helped me mentally at the end.

Good luck, I hope you have your baby with you on the outside soon!