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[BubbleMa]

Originally Posted by Rowdie 

Hmm. I think I might be in labor.  

For the first few hours, I thought it might be constipation, but who ever heard of constipation cramps surging every three minutes? (And I checked on Dr. Google to see if others had ever mistaken labor for constipation.) I started timing them on a whim. They're not too intense, though. I could still make dinner and eat without having to breathe through anything.

Kiddo was active earlier today, but I haven't felt any kicks since the contractions became obvious.  I'm off to do the two glass of water, lie on my side to see if they go away.

Yes, have you ever seen an episode of "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant"?  lol  About 90% of those women think they're constipated end up pushing out a baby instead.  lol

Originally Posted by MLog 

I'm feeling better now that I've had some down time over the weekend.  Yesterday DH and I were at an anniversary party and actually did a little dancing and it was so fun.  It was totally worth not being able to walk by late afternoon.  I've got clean sheets on the bed too.  I love that!

And I was remembering that when I went to a La Leche League meeting awhile back they were talking about breastfeeding troubles and wanting to quit - one women's DH just told her to make it through one day and then re-evaluate.  If I can take this uncomfortableness one day at a time rather than thinking how far away the birth may be it's not so overwhelming.  Plus I really do need to buckle down and get everything at work settled for me being away.

DH and I are dragging our feet on packing a hospital bag.  The baby's coming home stuff is packed and car seat is in, but we haven't really gotten our things together.  Maybe we're not quite as ready mentally as we'd like to think.

I think I was so caught up in my swollen self that I forgot to share my funny car seat installation story.  I really wanted to get the car seat in the middle, but I have a Rav4 and the seat belt configuration is bizarre.  We struggled with it for far too long and then gave up.  So last week I went to the car seat check that the health department set up.  These two very nice firemen decided to tackle my seat together.  I asked if we could try it in the middle, but acknowledged that it may need to be put on the side.  Well, since I had asked for the middle the firemen were determined to put the seat in the middle.  The two of them struggled for almost an hour to get a good, tight fit.  It was hilarious to watch them try to both climb on the seat together.  A nursing student came over to try and help.  All to no avail.  Finally they asked the health department car seat expert to come try.  And of course, she was able to get the seat in snugly on one try.  The firemen decided to call it quits for the day after that. :)  And there was no end to the jokes about how I was going to deliver the baby right there in the street while they still struggled with the car seat.

On tap for this week: as many yoga classes as I can fit in, being diligent about putting my feet up, tying up loose ends at work, LLL meeting on Wednesday, MW on Friday, hoping for a pedi on Friday, wedding on Saturday, convinced BIL to host Mother's Day bbq for DH's family on Sunday.

Have a great week everyone!

That's how I got through the bad contractions.  I think someone here compared it to running, just make it to next light pole.  I just kept thinking that with each contraction I was closer to meeting Layla!  I must have helped, because I never got to the point where I thought, "I can't do this!" like I did with DD.

Originally Posted by Just1More 

Anyone heard from onemore?  Seems I've not seen a post from her in a while...

I'm 38 and 4, and not feeling like baby is coming anytime soon.  But, like lhm, my last was 41 and 5, so I'm not getting too excited.  I will say, though, I am feeling like this labor is going to be really fast.  I am working very hard to get myself in a mental place to be able to handle a long labor, but it's hard when everything "feels" like it's going to be 30 min to an hour.  Who knows, lol.  Soso...you might know.  All that work alread done!  Wow!

I also feel like maybe I could get into the mindset to have a baby if people would just get out of my house.  The house sold, but it's still thing after thing.  Like, over the weekend, we had to keep the doors and windows shut for the radon test in the basement.  This morning, at 8, they were all in the backyard discussing something about the septic tank.  Then, at 8:45, they had to come in to flush all the toliets.  (Last night I was told no one needed to come in the house.)  Hello.  I'm not cleaning bathrooms right now.  But I will.  For you.  Because I have nothing else to do.  Blech.  (And, actually, dh cleans the bathrooms because it makes me want to, well...blech).  And when they were done, they stood around in my (filthy) kitchen talking about the new dishwasher.  We are debating about where we want to live when we move, and if we want to rent again.  I do NOT. EVER. want to deal with this whole realtor stuff again.  Ever.  If it were MY house, I could lay a few ground rules, but right now we are just stuck in the middle.  The reason that we usually rent is because we know we won't be in one place for long, and the market isn't good to resell a house.  We'd rather not get stuck with one.  Humph.

I think I'm just extra grumpy because it was a long/short night.  And my 19m is being especially difficult today.  I'm not sure if it's her teeth, or she didn't sleep well, or if it's because she hung out with dh most of the weekend.  She seems to get attached to one or the other of us, and doesn't transition well. 

Sounds like everyone is kind of having a rough time...hives (awful!), puffiness, tired, and grumpy.  Are you sure you want us all in the same room, rozzie? :)

I can't believe they keep coming into your house for things like that.  I've never heard of people doing that before, have you said anything to your realtor?

AFM, we're doing well.  My mom is going to be here any minute.  My milk came in last night.  We're still working on latch issues.  :(  My nipples (the actual nipple, not even counting the areola) are huge and it's really difficult to get nipple and areola in her mouth.  :(  She's eating well, it's just painful.  I'm not really sure what to do about that.  I'm going to go see what I can find out in the Breastfeeding forum though.

[rozziemama]

Haha! I'm trusting my instincts here that you all would be much more enjoyable to be around, contagious rashes, hives (yuck, sorry Cristeen!), puffiness, gas, grouchiness and of course, my own congested sick self aside
I am literally HIDING upstairs from my FIL who just showed up at our house (he comes over Monday's to play with DS and drive me insane). DS won't even be home from school for 45 minutes and I cannot deal. So I am hiding in my bedroom and haven't even said hello. I am a terrible DIL.

Originally Posted by Just1More 


Sounds like everyone is kind of having a rough time...hives (awful!), puffiness, tired, and grumpy.  Are you sure you want us all in the same room, rozzie?

[MeredithA]

Haha Rozzie you aren't a bad DIL ~ I always try to busy myself in the kitchen or something when MIL comes over :-)

Sarah, I know when my milk 1st came in with DS2, my areolas got huge & stuffing the whole thing into DS's mouth would have been completely impossible lol! Anyway, midwife didn't seem to think it was an issue to just have him latch on to what he could and go with it as long as it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. Once I wasn't so engorged it got easier as well. I'm sure you and sweet Layla will get the hang of it soon <3

The doctors appointment did not go as well as I had hoped. Baby is diagonal. Again. Not totally transverse or anything - still generally head down but his head is off to the side and not putting any pressure on my cervix, which hasn't dilated any more since last week. >:-( So it looks like he certainly won't be coming for his due date tomorrow. So, we decided to wait a week and then the doctor wants to see us back to do an ultrasound when he is a week overdue to check fluid levels and position. I am bummed because he WAS (finally) in a perfect position and he didn't stay. She stripped my membranes but she even said it doesn't seem like I'll be going into labor anytime soon.

[mlovesj]

Originally Posted by MeredithA 

Haha Rozzie you aren't a bad DIL ~ I always try to busy myself in the kitchen or something when MIL comes over :-)
Sarah, I know when my milk 1st came in with DS2, my areolas got huge & stuffing the whole thing into DS's mouth would have been completely impossible lol! Anyway, midwife didn't seem to think it was an issue to just have him latch on to what he could and go with it as long as it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. Once I wasn't so engorged it got easier as well. I'm sure you and sweet Layla will get the hang of it soon <3
The doctors appointment did not go as well as I had hoped. Baby is diagonal. Again. Not totally transverse or anything - still generally head down but his head is off to the side and not putting any pressure on my cervix, which hasn't dilated any more since last week. >:-( So it looks like he certainly won't be coming for his due date tomorrow. So, we decided to wait a week and then the doctor wants to see us back to do an ultrasound when he is a week overdue to check fluid levels and position. I am bummed because he WAS (finally) in a perfect position and he didn't stay. She stripped my membranes but she even said it doesn't seem like I'll be going into labor anytime soon.

Oh no, Meredith!  What a bummer that baby is back to being "askew" or "oblique" or nearly transverse.  :(  That wasn't a happy surprise...I'm hoping he scootches back over, especially since he's not far from where he should be.  Since my baby has been similarly slightly sideways for weeks and then finally went into place, I'm wondering if the same thing could happen to me?  My EDD is Wednesday and my next appt is that very day, so I'll find out whether she's also drifted.  She is still high, so there is a chance.  My fingers are crossed that he follows his instincts and gets all the way vertex for you!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by BubbleMa 

AFM, we're doing well.  My mom is going to be here any minute.  My milk came in last night.  We're still working on latch issues.  :(  My nipples (the actual nipple, not even counting the areola) are huge and it's really difficult to get nipple and areola in her mouth.  :(  She's eating well, it's just painful.  I'm not really sure what to do about that.  I'm going to go see what I can find out in the Breastfeeding forum though.

You can try pumping/hand expressing a little bit off the top if that helps any with getting a better latch.  Or you can EP for a few weeks.  Or you can deal with the pain and the damage that is liable to come with a bad latch.  Not sure there's a whole lot else you can do until she gets a little bigger and can take more into her mouth.  It's not an unheard of problem, and the usual solution I've heard of is pumping and keep trying until she grows enough to manage.

AFM - MW just left.  Baby is still head-down and just chilling.  Not engaged yet.  She made some suggestions for the hives, but thought the toe thing was really weird.  For a standard rash (like what you have, LHM), she suggested a combination of witch hazel and peppermint oil.  She said she often puts it in a spray bottle and it helps to calm it down.  A compress of the herbs from a sitz bath can also help.  She had me use the balm I use for the toddler's diaper rash on my hives, and by the time our appt was over, that area was much calmer - they didn't go away, but they did calm down a bit.  So now I need to go get in front of a mirror to do the rest of my face, since they're spreading. 

[sosurreal09]

I check my own cervix but I did have the MW check after my last bout of pre-labor.

YES it's a homebirth! MW already has it all set up since thinks I will go so fast. Loosing a bunch of mucous all day let's hope tonight is the night!

[MeredithA]

keeping fingers crossed for you sosu! Hope tonight is the night!

[Just1More]

Originally Posted by BubbleMa 

I can't believe they keep coming into your house for things like that.  I've never heard of people doing that before, have you said anything to your realtor?

AFM, we're doing well.  My mom is going to be here any minute.  My milk came in last night.  We're still working on latch issues.  :(  My nipples (the actual nipple, not even counting the areola) are huge and it's really difficult to get nipple and areola in her mouth.  :(  She's eating well, it's just painful.  I'm not really sure what to do about that.  I'm going to go see what I can find out in the Breastfeeding forum though.

I know, right?  So annoying.  Hopefully, until the first week of June, the parade through the house is over.  I have tried talking to the realtors, but no one is really listening.  I very forcefully interrupted one realtor over the phone the other day.  I said, "No!  You LISTEN. TO. ME."  She at least shut up for a minute, but didn't offer anything useful.

I had a lot of trouble with my last baby.  You can try sandwiching everything and just shoving it in her mouth.  I did find, that at around 6 weeks, her mouth had gotten big enough to mostly solve that part of the problem.  You might want to consider some immune support, and anti-fungals (like topical gse) to ward off mastitis and thrush.  She tore me up, quickly, and we suffered for a long time from it. 

Originally Posted by MeredithA 

The doctors appointment did not go as well as I had hoped. Baby is diagonal. Again. Not totally transverse or anything - still generally head down...

My baby keeps doing this, too.  I keep having horrible heartburn at night, and when I sleep propped up on pillows, it always has its head in my hip by morning.  If I am careful of my posture at night, it seems to stay head down.  And, during the day, it wiggles back into place.  But, it sure does make me nervous.  Did your ob give you any idea why your baby keeps doing that?  I have been wondering why this baby has preferred to be transverse or oblique the majority of the pg.  My other 4 didn't!

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

YES it's a homebirth! MW already has it all set up since thinks I will go so fast.

Go you!

[KM84]

What's with these babies moving out of position? I swear this baby, who has been head down for the past 10 weeks or so, is now lying horizontally. I can't feel the head low, and I have this new hard spot over on the right side. Grumble.

On Thursday the midwife said the baby is sunny side up, but not to worry about it because it will probably turn in labor. Fingers crossed.

I thought that the hardest part of the end of pregnancy would be the discomfort, but it's really the not-knowing when the baby will be here! It's killing me! I could go for 2 more weeks if I just knew the exact day/time, but I feel like I can't schedule *anything* because I could explode at any moment. Most people are understanding, of course. But I hate having to couch all my plans with "unless I go into labor." And I *finally* got this one lady on Craigslist to set up a date/time to sell me a knitting machine I've been after, so of course I'll probably go into labor then.  I'm anticipating a phone call that goes something like "Hi [father-in-law], just thought we'd let you know that your first grandchild is on the way. Also would you mind stopping downtown to pick up a knitting machine for me?"

By the way, for those of you who are still a few weeks away from your EDD, my doula lent me a book on pain management that I REALLY like and highly recommend. It's called Birth Skills, and is a really nice, modern book on breathing, movement, and visualization. You can get it online: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/juju-sundins-birth-skills-juju-sundin/1102807891?ean=9781741750973

[lightheartedmom]

I am laying in bed right now with a cloud of bad swears running through my head - this baby is trying to move down or claw it's way out or something. I'm having serious ctx too but I'm hoping that's just romantic time with dh earlier. True, these ctx are worse than the ones I usually get after sex but...it's the heaving and pushing downward....#!@!# it hurts!!! Totally feels the way I remember feeling in labor with dd2 when she dropped really at the last minute before I starting pushing. Like that holy crap theres a tiny human tunneling out my lady parts feeling...
Geez.
I was on my hands and knees mopping the kitchen floor today...and then helping dh while he repaired the sink (ladies, not to brag but there was literally a sexy shirtless man in my house today fixing stuff). Maybe that nudged the baby around or something...after months of being very set on my right side, he or she also sort of rolled to the left earlier today and has been going back and forth ever since. Trying to just lay of my left side and drink water.

Ack. Hopefully this dies down. Mama needs sleep. Can't have this baby just yet. The house is still a mess.

[rozziemama]

Hmmm... Hope you managed to sleep a bit mama, but... Not sure if it sounds like baby was listening to your requests -- wondering how you're doing!

Originally Posted by lightheartedmom 

I am laying in bed right now with a cloud of bad swears running through my head - this baby is trying to move down or claw it's way out or something. I'm having serious ctx too but I'm hoping that's just romantic time with dh earlier. True, these ctx are worse than the ones I usually get after sex but...it's the heaving and pushing downward....#!@!# it hurts!!! Totally feels the way I remember feeling in labor with dd2 when she dropped really at the last minute before I starting pushing. Like that holy crap theres a tiny human tunneling out my lady parts feeling...
Geez.
I was on my hands and knees mopping the kitchen floor today...and then helping dh while he repaired the sink (ladies, not to brag but there was literally a sexy shirtless man in my house today fixing stuff). Maybe that nudged the baby around or something...after months of being very set on my right side, he or she also sort of rolled to the left earlier today and has been going back and forth ever since. Trying to just lay of my left side and drink water.
Ack. Hopefully this dies down. Mama needs sleep. Can't have this baby just yet. The house is still a mess.

[Kamiro]

Hey ladies,

Sounds like lots of stuff going on with every one. Things are going alright here. Getting a stretch and sweep today. Hoping my family goes home. I love them, but seriously....

Having very huge  bouts of super uncomfy contrax. Baby is really big. So hard to get comfortable.

Doing personals from memory, sorry if I forget anyone

Km - I would love a knitting machine soooo much. Thats so neat you are getting one!

LHM - I think DH and I may be at the point we would laugh harder than anything if we attempted romantic time. lol

Good for you two!

MlovesJ - how is your baby positioned now (or did you mention and I not read?)

Meredith - prayers for your babe to turn.

Sosu- I hope you're holding your little one.

Cristeen - sorry to hear about the rash and toe thing. Sounds odd and I can't think of anything that could help either. Hope it goes away soon.

Rozzie - I got asked for the first time if I was having twins cause I was so HUGE. Neighbors yell "You gonna have that baby?" and yes, the hippo on hind legs feelings have crossed my mind.

So I know what you're going thru with feeling huge. This too shall pass.

Just1- Congrats on the house selling. You are a very productive mother to be able to get everything you do done. I am really in awe of you.

Today I am going to go into town with dh before the mw apt and get some special cupcakes and general groceries. Yesterday my youngest turned FIVE. Wow. In my mind shes still more like 3.

Just trying to stay positive. Not getting hung up on a date has really helped this time around. If I am pregnant another week, I am pregnant another week - you know?

I hope that is somewhat normal and not a sign of some kind of subconcious 'don't wanna give birth' feelings?

[cookie_]

Meredith - I hope he moves over for you in the next few days. I've been having a similar problem...he's definitely head down, but just can't seem to make up his mind to fully center himself and engage. It's frustrating, isn't it? My first son son had dropped and was fully engaged by 37 weeks. I suppose I had just assumed the same thing would happen this time, but looks like it might be a little more difficult. New Guy must have dropped somewhat though, since my heartburn has really dissipated and I can breathe much better the last few days.

I have 20 more days until my EDD, although I'm doing all of my best crunchy-mama visualizing of flowers opening etc to  encourage baby to come toward the end of next week. Someone had the nerve the other day to point out that since I'm not "due" until the 28th, I could actually be pregnant 4 more weeks or so. I just stared at them for a moment, trying to control my impulse to give them a sock in the nose. DS1 came at 38w4d, but I don't know if New Guy will come a little early.

I had a glorious burst of energy and pure euphoria that lasted all of last week. We got so much done around our apartment, I slept pretty well, my son and I had a wonderful, energetic week, it was just fantastic. Then I woke up at 4am on Sat with moderately unpleasant contractions that lasted a few hours on and off, and that was the end of my euphoria and nesting desires. Since then, contractions on and off, mostly in the middle of the night, so back to not sleeping great.

Like KM said, the hardest thing right now is just not having any idea when it could all happen. People keep asking me to plan things or if they should plan things, and it's like...I have no idea what to tell you all. We're not doing a birthday party for DS this year because I don't want to plan anything with other people, no matter how low key, since I could go into labor at any point. We're just going to do a special family day for him by ourselves. He'll only be two, not like he cares about birthdays at this point anyway!

Bubble - I'm sorry to hear about the nursing issues. We had latch issues too for several weeks, it's so frustrating and painful. Hope it all clears up soon for you!

[lightheartedmom]

Cookie_ I think we had the same week last week. I felt amazing. Until Thursday night and then the weekend was awful. Hope you feel better. I had that "you could be pregnant for another 3 weeks" conversation with DH the other day. It wasn't a nice thought. I'm due in 10 days () and I am trying to both settle in to the idea of going past that, and be prepared for not going that far. But DD2 took her sweet time so...

I think it's normal for second-third-etc babies to not drop. My second didn't until I was like 8cm and this baby feels like he/she is trying to but it doesn't feel like much changed from last night. I'm concerned that this baby might be broad-shouldered and big headed and having trouble moving down. I'm trying to visualize my pelvis stretching and opening, but I also feel some hesitation since I don't feel ready for the baby to be born...maybe that's holding this back.

The waiting is hard...it's like if we weren't totally surrendered to the process of pregnancy by this point, the last weeks of excruciating waiting (plus all the lovely late pg physical symptoms) demand it from us...I'm trying to view it as a metaphor for surrendering to the process of labor and to practice not resisting the waiting and not-knowing...but it's certainly much more difficult when everyone around you (ahem - even people who have had babies and should KNOW this stuff) is looking at you like you should know what's going to happen. Seriously. The next person who asks me when I think I'll have the baby, I'm going to let them know in graphic detail that while my cervical mucus has increased in recent days, I have not lost my mucus plug or had any bloody show and that I will be sure to call them first thing when one of those things happens or if there are any other juicy physical indicators that labor is imminent.

Ctx died down last night finally and the baby settled back into it's normal position (I think)...but those ctx were painful. I forgot about this part. It rattled me a bit that I forgot...and now I'm almost regretting not spending more time doing something to prepare - like hypnobabies or something. I feel like I should be listening to some kind of meditation-for-labor track at night but don't want to buy a whole system at this point. :-/

ETA: Have we heard from Rowdie since her post the other day?

[Astraia]

Hey ladies. Is it bad that I'm happy other people are miserable too? Because I am.

Getting a lot of contractions as long as I'm up and moving around a lot, bending over to pick stuff up, walking, etc. As soon as I sit down it stops instantly. Had a super frustrating midwife appointment- they were lovely, but told me about all the appointments they're already booking for me for non-stress tests and biophysical profiles for next week if baby is still in there then. They were relaxed about it, but that's still THREE unnecessary appointments, starting at 41 weeks, and for some reason it's freaking me out a bit. Suddenly desperate for this baby to come out ASAP, and looking at gentle induction techniques (sex, nipple stim, accupressure) to make it happen before I hit 41 weeks.

MIL calls me every morning and evening to ask how I'm feeling. I'm tired of this. Can I just have a baby already?!?!

[lightheartedmom]

Originally Posted by Astraia 

Hey ladies. Is it bad that I'm happy other people are miserable too? Because I am.

Getting a lot of contractions as long as I'm up and moving around a lot, bending over to pick stuff up, walking, etc. As soon as I sit down it stops instantly. Had a super frustrating midwife appointment- they were lovely, but told me about all the appointments they're already booking for me for non-stress tests and biophysical profiles for next week if baby is still in there then. They were relaxed about it, but that's still THREE unnecessary appointments, starting at 41 weeks, and for some reason it's freaking me out a bit. Suddenly desperate for this baby to come out ASAP, and looking at gentle induction techniques (sex, nipple stim, accupressure) to make it happen before I hit 41 weeks.

MIL calls me every morning and evening to ask how I'm feeling. I'm tired of this. Can I just have a baby already?!?!

I went through the gambit of post-dates testing with DD2 - twice-weekly NSTs with ultrasounds and 30-40 minutes of monitoring. It's a pain in the youknowwhat. Is there some reason why you can't tell your midwives no to one or all of those appointments? Maybe do one NST and then refuse the rest? Three appointments a week plus driving time (plus you have other kids to worry about!) seems outrageous, especially in the absence of real reason to worry about things like fluid levels or placenta deterioration.

[Astraia]

I've been thinking that if I get that far, I'll go to the non-stress and midwife appointment (since they're both in the same building anyway) and if that looks good then do just the later BPP and skip the mid-week one, and do nothing else until next week. Going to that many appointments and arranging childcare is just stress inducing and not worth my time.

[Just1More]

Humph.

So, the second septic guy found something wrong.  So, they will be back at 8:30a tomorrow to inspect it all again.  They might try to do some work, in which case, we'll be out of water for 2 hours or so.  The thing is, I don't really trust that a.) anybody will actually be on time, or b.) that it really will only take as long as they say it will.  I'm concerned will be out of water for much longer than that.  Oh, and even if I put back water, we can't flush or use the drains while they are working.  So, I guess that means I have to figure out something to do with the kids tomorrow morning away from the house. 

I JUST WANT TO SLEEP IN AND WEAR MY PAJAMAS ALL DAY.  Just once.

[Astraia]

Just1- seriously! I've been sleeping in a lot recently.... Sort of.

[sosurreal09]

No baby yet