Well, DD waited just until her daddy got home from his father's funeral, and then decided to make an appearance -
Saoirse Kateri was born at home, 10 days early, last night at 10:28 pm! We're all doing great, except why Daddy is napping with her while I'm wide awake on the computer and hungry, I have no idea...=) Need to wake him up and tell him to go get me breakfast!
Oh wow, congrats Thursday. What wonderful timing!
Penny, sounds like baby is prepping up! Forgot to mention that I was sorry the birth center got ruled out :-( However, glad you have a definitive plan now.
Oh, Lily, I only speak from experience with one, but I regret every minute she spent in a crib and I didn't cuddle her because that's what I thought I was supposed to do. Been there, it is hard to make choices based on our sole intuitions, but I do think it is important to listen.
Good dilating vibes at your appt today LeAnn 
Thanks for the update on the placenta encaps Sally. Really encouraging.
Sorry if I missed anyone, but thinking of you all. 
AFM, well I am just not doing good. Officially 41 weeks and never thought I would be here. I am emotionally losing it. UGH 
Things start getting really stressful from here at 41.5 because of our homebirth plans, having to get (and afford) a NST, etc. Not to mention the texts, and facebook messages, and general concern. Yesterday's text from a friend was "Baby??????!!!!!!!!" Compared to the week before's which was "Baby??!!"
I am just really feeling ick. Ok, complaints over.
My gosh, I cannot believe even our late bloomers are due soon! I am thinking of you all at 39 and 40+ weeks.
I can't believe August is almost over. I remember in late July I was on here ALL THE TIME and I saw every post and i was like, wow, things are slow. Then came a big rush of babies and Lyle decided to come early, so the month has flown by. He will be three weeks old tomorrow!
poppy, I'm so sorry things are stressful being this far along, come on baby! It especially sucks that you have to start worrying about medical bills, etc while waiting for your little one.
I thought I would be on here a lot more after Elodie arrived too--I seriously underestimated the emotional/physical haze that I would descend into after birth. Overall, things are going well, but we've really been struggling with breastfeeding. After a few days of bleeding, blistered nipples, we ended up going to a lactation consultant. She gave me a nipple shield, which I really didn't want to use, but by that point, I saw no other choice. Since then, things have improved a bit, but oh my, it still hurts.
I have slowly been recovering. Elodie was born with her hand up by her face, so I tore quite a bit, but I managed to avoid stitches. My bottom is gradually feeling better, but I'm pretty limited in my movement. Starting to feel really cooped up inside and in bed! I missed 3 nights of sleep before I actually gave birth (which was the 4th night of no sleep) because I was in labor for 4 days. So I went into the birth and post-partum period on a severe sleep deficit. Not ideal! Probably the biggest obstacle in the birth. But overall, the birth was amazing and I'm so happy that everything worked out so that we could have it safely and peacefully at home.
I know I'm biased but I think Elodie is the most beautiful baby ever! Of course, everyone else's in this DDC is a close second! 
Even though I don't have the time, arms, or energy to be super involved here these days, I still read all the posts. Thinking about all of you new mamas, and those waiting anxiously and eagerly to meet your babes! Peaceful, efficient labor vibes to all of you!
Well, DD waited just until her daddy got home from his father's funeral, and then decided to make an appearance -
Saoirse Kateri was born at home, 10 days early, last night at 10:28 pm! We're all doing great, except why Daddy is napping with her while I'm wide awake on the computer and hungry, I have no idea...=) Need to wake him up and tell him to go get me breakfast!
Congrats! Great timing, indeed! Today is my due date. Dh said I just had to wait for tonight or tomorrow because he starts his 7 day break...I only hope to have such timing. I go to bed thinking that every night might be the night and then wake up still pregnant. I'm so ready/ Im not holding my breath though. My earliest was 9 days late.
eta: love the name!
Penny, I'm sorry about the rent situation. Have you had any more contractions?
Sarah, Elodie is so beautiful. I know two of my sister's babies were also born with a nucchal hand. We call them her superman babies.
Thursday, I'm so glad Saoirse waited for daddy to get home! Congratulations and enjoy your little girl!
Midstream, I hope your LO works with your DH's timing! Sending labor vibes your way. LeAnn, I've got some for you too!
Andaluza, you're in my thoughts, I'm sure your probably in baby bliss right now.
AFM, last night I had a dream that I was going into labor and woke up in the middle of the night completely freaked out that B was going to miss it, because in my dream, he wasn't able to get to the airport and home on time. So I started texting him at 3:00 am about my dream and him being able to fly home and worrying that my dream might be an indication that he needed to come home, despite me having no outward signs that labor was imminent. He texted me back in the morning and said that if I said the words, he would fly home, that was around 5ish. I called him when I woke up at 8am and while I was still wavering, thinking I was over reacting, I was also looking up all the flights back. Finally he told me to just make a decision, did I think he needed to come home, or not, because I was just freaking myself out and freaking him out. I told him that I was probably overreacting, and that I had felt nothing except some very, very mild cramping, and only if I laid there and concentrated on it. I guess his senior heard our phono convo, or his side of it, because they decided to send him home, and he ended up waiting at the airport all day on standby, and finally caught the last flight of the day, he was home, and exhausted, by 9:30pm. Cue the rest of the day and after he sent the message he would be coming home, I started having contractions, mild and sporadic, and I've also been losing pieces of my mucus plug, no bloody show. I still don't know if things will progress from here, my sister said that I should just try to go to sleep, and sometimes people's contractions stop overnight, so I did and got a couple of hours of sleep, but I'm still having contractions, nothing major, I'm sleeping in between them and I don't know if they will continue. Everyone in the house is sleeping and the last little round woke me up, so I thought I would come on here. I still haven't packed my birth bag, and I want to take a shower, and I want to eat something, and you know, still sleep because this whole thing could go on for a while. But my contractions are definitely getting a bit stronger, and I've had about three or four of them since I came on to check Mothering, but they don't seem that long yet. So....not sure what to do with myself, but I did remember to plug in the camera battery before I went to sleep...I'll probably try to do all the things I mentioned in between sleeping. I'm really glad that B is home, though, and that my dream was at least more prophetic than me. And good for Q and her timing, she waited till Daddy got home to kick things in to gear, and she "seems" to be complying with his request to arrive this weekend so he can spend 3 weeks with her. We'll see if things continue of if this is just false labor and things stall out.
Sorry this post is so long...I have no one awake to talk these things through with.
Oh VV, very exciting! And how thoughtful of Q to wait until B got home :) I hope it's the real deal for you and that you have a smooth labour and birth!
I just wanted to share this article I read a little while back. It's so thoughtfully written and really gets to the heart of the 'cry it out' issue and those well-meaning advisors. Trust your intuition, mamas!
http://nurshable.com/2012/07/19/the-wio-wait-it-out-method-of-sleep-training/
Congratulations, Thursday! I'm glad your LO waited until DH was able to be home w you to make her appearance. :)
Penny - Sorry to hear about the rent stress. I completely understand! Money stress is the worst. I hope you can set it aside for the time being and enjoy the end of your pregnancy. :)
Rebecca - I'm glad you were able to come to solution you're comfortable with for the GBS. And, yay for 1cm! Me, too. Only 9 more to go. ;) Lots of healthy birth vibes to you!
Hugs to you, Poppy! I'm sorry you're having to deal w extra concerns because LO is taking her time in there. I know the ticking clock feeling and while its nice that so many friends/family are anxiously awaiting this LO, maybe you could go off-line for a couple of days. Let everyone know that all is well and they will be the first to know when LO makes an appearance. Then just unplug. There's nothing wrong with making some space for yourself right now. Just a thought. :) Here's hoping labor will kick in for you in the next couple days!
VV - That's awesome! Keep us posted.
My appt went well yesterday. LO looks good and I'm dialated to 1cm. We have a NST scheduled for Monday (41wk+1 and DH/my birthday!) if we make it that far. Then we'll look at scheduling induction depending on how LO is doing in there. Sooo we have the weekend to get this labor moving! Lu and I are having lots of talks about why its so much more fun out here than in there. I think she's almost convinced. ;)
Sarah- cute baby!
Even though I don't have the time, arms, or energy to be super involved here these days
This sums up exactly what has happened to me. I thought for awhile I might never ever have enough time to come back for like a year. Nursing moms need extra arms. That is something nature forgot to add to this experience.
http://nurshable.com/2012/07/19/the-wio-wait-it-out-method-of-sleep-training/
Loved this. Especially I will wait it out so you don't have to cry it out. LilyTiger, I am sorry people are trying to give you such advice with a brand new infant.
Leann, loved the link. I finally got my hormonal emotions in control enough to reassert the confidence I need in what we're doing. She's happy and healthy and loves being held. And I enjoy holding her. When I need to, I put her down or hand her to DH. It's that simple.
Breastfeeding is going a lot better, in other news. We've pretty much weaned off the shield during the day and at night she only has trouble latching on one side without it, so I'm feeling confident that by next week we'll probably be pretty safely shield-free. She doesn't get super upset when she can't latch immediately the way she used to either, which makes it easier for me to be patient and let her figure it out on her own.
I'm still getting used to the overwhelmed feeling when I think about leaving the house or doing anything involving going anywhere. My mom and I walked up to a shop today with Piper in the sling to get a few gifts for people and she slept the whole way, so I'm hoping with little jaunts like that I can start to build confidence in being able to handle a new baby out in public. The car is still a little overwhelming, since she hates the car seat (though is fine once the car is moving). DH has been a peach making sure he can come to doc appointments and such even though he's back at work. It's such a weird experience for me to not be able to simply hop into the car and go do stuff. I now have to think about diapers and nursing schedules and so on. Very odd.
Veritas, I'm hoping that since you haven't updated in a while that you're in labor or have had the baby!
Sol, you are totally right about the extra hands. I can really only post when DH has the babe because otherwise I'm pecking at the keyboard with one finger.
Congrats to all the new mamas and lots of positive labor vibes to those still waiting. August is almost over! I can't believe it.
Quick update before I head to bed. Still pretty regular contractions, and they're getting stronger, but I'm hoping that they will subside for a bit so I can get some sleep tonight and hopefully welcome Q tomorrow. I just had a hot bath and that seemed to help.
oooo, vv hope you get some rest! but also hope your baby is soon!!! blessings to you!
good to hear the update lily! sounds like you have awesome people surrounding you. what a great dh.
Hi Sol!!!!
LeAnn, thinking of you! Hope babykins (is her name Lucy? sooo cute) decides this is her weekend.
Hope mine does too, thanks for the kind thoughts y'all.
poppy and leann, thinking of you, mamas! Hope you're feeling good and babies are starting to think about joining us on the outside! Can't wait to see them.
Congrats VV and to the other new mamas!
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