This is a thread for all of us who are at the "magic" EDD (joke) and are still pregnant. Given that the average length of pregnancy is 41+1 weeks, I personally don't see much significance in the EDD. It seems 4% of all preggies give birth on their EDD. So 96% of us will have already done so, or go beyond. From what it looks like on this board, we will be mostly going beyond.
That said, this is the longest I have ever been pregnant. I went into spontaneous labor with DD1 at 39 weeks, had her at 39+3. I am not officially at my EDD today, but I am 39+4 of what feels like an eternal pregnancy. I don't feel like this baby is coming anytime soon.
So I wanted to give a thread where we can discuss the external pressure of being at our EDD or past, as well as internal pressure (it sure is uncomfortable@!)
For external pressure I have my mother staying with us. She flew across the country at 38 weeks, since I went into labor the first time at 39, we thought this baby might come earlier, especially because of all the severe cramping and BH ctx I was having. She is here to be childcare for DD during the birth. Now she's been here for almost 2 weeks and no sign of baby. I feel really bad for her. Her ticket to go home is next Monday but she says she will change it if I haven't had the baby. But If I go to 42 weeks that is a whole month of her being here...Obviously that can be stressful for everyone. I'm super grouchy and I am sure I am not treating her as well as she would like, but it pisses me off when she goes against me when it comes to taking care of DD (like letting her have snacks before lunch, not making her start cleaning up her toys at night, little things like that.) I don't have much pressure from health care providers as we can have homebirth here up to 42 weeks, and even a few days beyond with an MD consult and NST/AFT every few days...
...But physically I don't think my body can handle going much longer. I have probably the worst pain I have ever had. Is it sciatica? Pelvic Girdle Pain? Who knows. But I can barely walk, even with a cane. Every step is excruciating. I am normally very active, and I can barely walk up the stairs. I am basically housebound. I am doing chiro, massage, acupuncture, and homeopathy. Nothing helps. I also have residual nausea from my hyperemesis which took over my life for the first 5-6 months of pregnancy. I don't think either will start getting better until I have this baby. I feel like a huge lump, I waddle and can't turn over in bed without wanting to scream in pain. I'm hungry but can't eat much. Plus, baby has basically slowed down movement so that I worry frequently about horrible things like cord entrapment and stillbirth. I know it's irrational because it is normal to have slowed movement at the end of pregnancy but this is where my mind goes...
And basically almost most of all, I just want to meet this baby! I want to see her and hold her and start getting to know her.
However, One good thing about not having labor yet is that DD starts preschool in 3 days (my actual EDD) and most likely I will be able to be there with her. Parents can stay the first day, and I am excited for her to start, she has been really looking forward to it for months.
Anyone else want to check in?
However, I should point out I haven't had a baby in over 7 years so it's not like it was yesterday. My body most likely does need a little more prep than a "fresh" mama. LOL
. jude was born just over 2 weeks ago when i was 37 +3. My EDD is tomorrow and it is so weird to think that he could have been still inside! Hang in there.. You wont be pregnant forever!
I don't want to feel this way. I *know* my babies just need that extra time to grow. I know that after having four babies and none of them arriving earthside before 41 weeks (even with three hospital inductions), I should know better by now than to anticipate or even hope for some baby action sooner than that... but... I still always do. And I'm still always left hanging around for a long time feeling lost and unfocused.
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