anyone else going nuts waiting on an overdue baby?

[EMAID]

Hi everyone,
I've never introduced myself because I'm generally just a lurker on MDC, but I've been reading posts lately because I'm bored waiting for my baby. I'm having a boy at home, and my due date is today (Thursday 8/5). I have a 6 year old DD and a 5 year old DS, both birth center births.

Anyone else going crazy waiting on the baby? My parents are here to watch my kids during labor (they're not ready to watch), and I have my (hopefully) last MW appt. tomorrow, and my husband is between duty stations right now, so he's home too. We're all bored! It's like sitting around during a snowstorm. We're driving each other crazy. I just want this darn baby to get here to relieve the monotony of it all!

[MaerynPearl]

DDCC-

Dont stay home!

Go out! Go to the park, go to the mall (depending on the weather) and walk walk walk!

[buckeyedoc]

I am not due until Tuesday but always go late. I try to stay busy by working until the last minute and getting out and doing things (festivals, restaurants, etc.). I keep on going with my "normal" life until the last possible moment.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I'm due today too and going stir-crazy! We've been chatting about it on the "Random Chat Thread".

[maciascl]

I am going nuts waiting on a baby that isn't 'due' for another 8 days I just have really felt that this one would be early all along. Oh well, I guess I should be out walking more to help things along.

[BethMama]

YES. I am nearly a week overdue (went on my edd with ds), and my family has been here for weeks waiting (we thought I was in labor 3 wks ago). I am truly starting to think I may just be pregnant for the rest of my life.

We have not had any u/s, no doppler, no nothing, and now are being made to do NST's, and soon, an u/s if baby hasn't arrived yet (we plan to be at a birthing center). I am SO far beyond frustrated with people staring at my stomach like a grenade with a pulled pin and asking me a hundred times a day if anything is happening. IT. IS. NOT.

I know this babe must come, and will hopefully do so without induction, but it is driving me insane to feel like I'm sitting on an egg that won't hatch....

[gingerbane]

I'm 41+2 and still waiting....

[MidwifeMegan444]

I'm 41+2 as well and still waiting....

[sarahusesthis]

I'm not over due yet- dd is 8-8. I have pre-e and if I don't have the baby on my own soon I will have to be induced. I really want to stick with my original birth plan which is to deliver naturally in our birth center. My midwife told me that if I don't have the baby by next tues she would have me try castor oil.
I'm only 1-2 cm dilated and baby is still high which I've heard can make it not work?

Has anyone done this? I've heard mixed results...

[lindsayb]

Due yesterday, trying to stay Zen about it, and go about my normal life and keep active. Although, yes, I'm definitely getting antsy!!

[violet_]

Six days "overdue" with my first here, and my MW is seriously pushing to induce.

I've been at 1cm and Station Zero for about 5-6 weeks.

MW wanted to induce me last night, starting with Cervidil and then moving to pit if needed today, so I packed and went to the hospital last night, only to be told they were out of beds and I need to come back Sunday. Rollercoaster day.

[buckeyedoc]

I also try to keep in mind all the studies that show average gestation is usually longer than 40 weeks for healthy women, especially Caucasian women. I mean, this 40 week date was estimated in the 1830s, right? So I always count down to 40 weeks as the soonest I will deliver and consider anything up to 42 weeks very normal. I did have to decline due date-related induction in my first pregnancy and postponed a C-section for breech presentation until 40w4d with my second pregnancy. I'm planning a VBAC, so we would prefer not to induce unless I go ridiculously post-42 weeks. I talked to several women this week who went to 44-45 weeks, and THAT would really suck.

[AutumnAir]

Yeah, despite going to 43+1 weeks with my last baby, and being *really* prepared to go pretty overdue with this one too, I still had a bit of a hissy fit yesterday, which was also the 40 week mark for me.

I'm exhausted and having heaps of prodromal labour, and I'd just like to 'get it over with' - though I'll be patient and wait until baby's ready, like I did last time. I just hope the stories about second babies coming earlier and easier are true!!

[lisalulu]

I was due the 5th too and I was late with my other two. I wasn't expecting to go early or on time but I'm starting go a little crazy. Luckily my "to-do" list still has things on it to keep me busy and I'm trying to take the older 2 out to do some fun things before the babe arrives and I can't so easily.

[EMAID]

Frustrating "last" appt. today. Baby's head is central and down, but nowhere near engaged. Baby is also flipping back and forth between anterior and posterior. No VE, but I didn't really want one. They gave me some acupressure points to work on, but otherwise nothing I can do. As I expected. And I'm starting to have medicated birth friends asking me when they're going to induce me, which is annoying. My MW won't even tell me a timetable because she's not worried at all. She said no tests or anything unless I feel a significant decrease in baby movement.

I'm just sick of telling everyone that nothing is going on too. And I'm so sick of getting stared at when I go out that I hesitate to do it. It's over 90 degrees here everyday and I'm having some problems with edema in my legs (but normal blood pressure), so walking outside isn't a good idea for very long. Last night I walked 1 mile on my treadmill, and it really hurt my back. So I'm afraid that I'm just too out of shape to do the kind of walking that will make anything happen. The acupressure seems to trigger a minor contraction each time I do it, but I never get more than one. They want me to focus on getting the baby as low as possible, but it isn't working. I'm not even waddling. I feel low pressure sometimes, but usually it's his hands punching me.

I'm such an impatient person. Since I know the date of conception, my due date shouldn't be too far off, right? I wish I could just stick with my normal routine, but because it's summer and so much of the rest of my life is in a state of flux right now, there isn't a normal routine. And my parents are stuck here; they live 4 hours away and would never get here in time if they went home. And my poor father, who has Alzheimers disease, is not completely understanding why I can't just have the baby, and I think he's starting to complain about it (to my mom, not me, my mom wouldn't tell me, but I think I overheard).

Ugh. Sorry I'll stop moaning now. I keep trying to tell myself that this time will seem like nothing when it's all said and done, and a year ago when we had been TTC for months I would have given anything to be here now.

[lindsayb]

Originally Posted by buckeyedoc

I also try to keep in mind all the studies that show average gestation is usually longer than 40 weeks for healthy women, especially Caucasian women. I mean, this 40 week date was estimated in the 1830s, right? So I always count down to 40 weeks as the soonest I will deliver and consider anything up to 42 weeks very normal.

great attitude. I'll keep this in mind when I get impatient!

[Beltane]

My husband is going nuts.

My EDD was yesterday (8/6) and I have no signs that anything will be happening soon. We are also planning a HB, so I told DH to keep busy keeping this place clean.

[BlackSheepPDX]

Average first time mom goes 41w1d. I kept this very clearly in mind last time, and basically considered THAT my due date. And went 41w5d, so I'm glad I was mentally prepared! Don't make yourself crazy...you know what they say about watched pots!

[EMAID]

Yeah, I know this is totally normal, it's my boredom thats the problem. That and I've never had a summer baby before, and I can't believe how much the heat bothers me. I can't be outside for very long at all before I'm too uncomfortable and my legs swell up. I have pitting edema, but no other signs of pre-e, so no one's worried, but I've got to keep an eye on it.

Thankfully, I do have some new developments to obsess over. Last night I started having some extremely light contractions in the evening, which increased when I did some walking, acupressure, pelvic tilts, and nipple stimulation. But they stayed so mild that I could still be up and around, and they were only coming like every 40 minutes or so. But they were really long- like 90 sec. Weird. I had very irregular contractions with #2, but I thought it was because I did black and blue cohash. I was almost convinced I was in labor by about midnight last night, but then there was no increase in the pain or frequency after DH and I watched some TV together, and then I fell asleep. When I woke up this morning the same kinds of contractions were STILL happening, so I'm guessing this went on all night, but they were just so mild that I slept through it. It continued until around noon today, then stopped. Plus I had loose bowels all day. Everything stopped this afternoon, but just now I had a couple more of these irregular, long, mild contractions. But this time I did nothing to bring them on. I just hope and pray SOMETHING is happening.

I hope I'm not being too annoying, especially since I just popped up on the board when I got bored with waiting. I honestly just have nothing else to do but obsess about this.

[seattlemamma]

EMAID~I don't think you are being annoying just voicing many of the woes a few, if not all, of us are thinking! Hang in there you will have your little one soon and the whole pregnancy thing will seem like a distant memory.