Feelin' Birthy--come share your journey to Birth with the symptoms/changes you are experiencing! « Back to Group Discussions

[mamaharrison]

Mamas we are all getting so close now! I thought I would start a thread for our Birthy symptoms/changes. So, we can all have a place to come when we are wondering--is THIS a birthy change or what? Welcome to share previous birthing changes, too!

So, something that I am experiencing now, at 35 weeks, 5 days, and I did NOT experience with DD is a VERY swollen genital region. I am carrying very far out front this time and this is has been part of the pregnancy to experience lots more sensation/discomfort in my pubic region, but in the last week I have noticed a HUGE difference in my labia, mons pubis, and vagina--the only thing I can really compare it to is like a ripe piece of fruit--like a mango! I even feel like my vagina is so nice and swollen that it is protruding out a bit--not painful at all, just very RIPE. I can't see the area, of course ; ) but I looked with a mirror and don't seem to have any varicosity or anything unusual. This has corresponded with lots of cervical twinges and nice sharp pains of head grinding my pubic bone--so I think babe is really trying to make his/her way down low now--although no official 'dropping' yet, but a very low babe.

Babe has slowed down a bit now, too. Strong movements, but shorter periods of time and less frequently--lots more sleeping happening in there! For me, too--lots more sleeping needing to happen recently and less energetic days than prior. Coming in to a deep sense of calm and inwardness, too. Not feeling like anything NEEDS to be done {even though I do have stuff on my list still to do}. Feeling very open and ready to birth again......

EDD is 12/12 {dates are right on} and DDs labor started spontaneously on EDD {birth happened days later}, but I havebeen receiving LOTS of '27' premonitions and the full more is the 28th of November and I am full term that day {38 weeks}...so...I am intuiting something birthy then......we'll see......


So....any one else starting to feel really BIRTHY??!!! Share your changes so we can all follow along ; ) 

[tropicana74]

Glad you are feeling so birthy mama! Very exciting!

I, on the other hand am SO not!  I was just telling DH today that with my other pregnancies I was feeling so many more symptoms at this point (36 weeks). Especially with DS I had so many labor signs for weeks leading up to his birth. This time, not so much.  Who knows!? I am actually kind of glad because it wore me out a little last time to have so many signs and symptoms and then be 2 weeks late. 

I will be so anxious to see how the next couple weeks go for you and that full moon too!! 

[mamaharrison]

Thanks ; )
I am not at all attached to any date or time frame for birth. I could just as easily go to 42 weeks and feel fine about it emotionally/spiritually {physically may be a different story though!}. In fact, DH doesn't take exams until 12/10 and 12/12 so it would really be best if this babe could wait until a few days after that, but you know how that goes...those who don't mind or want a longer/later birth usually are the ones who end up with a 38 week birth--haha--a lesson from the Divine that we don't get to control things ; )
Either way--excited to feel birthy since with DD I literally went into labor without any kind of warm up. Hoping that it will get me nice and ready for babe to 'slide' right outta me when the time comes ; )

 

[smerkin]

Very interesting! My due date is close to yours (12/10) and all along I've thought 11/30. My bday is 8/30 and DD1 is 12/30 so another 30th would be fun. Plus I would like to be done a little sooner. But we all know how that goes! My first was 10 days late so I'm fully aware that could happen again and have no plans on encouraging an early birth.

I have felt a lot more "action" down there as well. Not the swelling as much but just a lot more painful BH contrax and twinges. Not sure how else to describe it. This is baby #3 for me so I have heard they can come a little sooner/faster 3rd time around. Would be nice as my first two were sort of marathon labors!

Fun to think about but of course this baby will come whenever is right for him. :)
 

[sweetestday]

I noticed my first real, nice and tight contraction today. I'm not due until Dec 28th, but it was exciting to feel that familiar tightening happening in preparation. 

Speaking of full moons, 3 of my 4 boys were born right around the full moon. It seems I either go into labor on the full moon or have the baby then. I was excited to see my new due date was set for Dec 28th, being that that is the full moon next month! I'm thinking I may just have a due date baby for a change. :)

[mamaharrison]

Originally Posted by smerkin 

Very interesting! My due date is close to yours (12/10) and all along I've thought 11/30. My bday is 8/30 and DD1 is 12/30 so another 30th would be fun. Plus I would like to be done a little sooner. But we all know how that goes! My first was 10 days late so I'm fully aware that could happen again and have no plans on encouraging an early birth.

I have felt a lot more "action" down there as well. Not the swelling as much but just a lot more painful BH contrax and twinges. Not sure how else to describe it. This is baby #3 for me so I have heard they can come a little sooner/faster 3rd time around. Would be nice as my first two were sort of marathon labors!

Fun to think about but of course this baby will come whenever is right for him. :)
 

my birthday is 8/29 ; )

[tropicana74]

On a side note I just want to say that I can not believe that we have no babies on this board yet! We are 3 weeks away from December and no one has delivered. Statistically that has got to be rare.  Or there are just a whole lot of us on this board that are anti-intervention and therefor these little ones get to stay in longer? Or maybe most of us are due later in the month not at the beginning? Not sure but I imagine someone has to go SOON!! 

(With my last pregnancy I was due in August and I swear 1/2 the babies in our DDC were born in July.)

[Lilac11]

More BH, which would have worried me a few weeks ago, and I would have taken it as a sign to take it easy, but now I don't care ! No pain though, and otherwise nothin's going on... Last time nothing until active labor!

[mamadiamond]

i've got a lot of genital swelling going on, as well, though i had that with my first pregnancy. last time dh was in the same state, and it made for some pretty fun sensations during sex. this time it's pretty useless but not uncomfortable. i'm also feeling like i'm carrying much lower and further out this time...guess that's the abdominal muscles knowing the ropes this time around. baby hasn't "dropped" officially, but i have a lot more room to breathe and eat than i did a few weeks ago. i had tons of pretty strong BH with my first, so that's the same, but the past week i've started getting twinges in my cervix not just tightening in the uterus. especially when dd is nursing. i'm feeling a LOT more nesting urges this time, and just feeling more birthy (i like that term) than i was at this point with dd. my rational mind knows i am nowhere near ready (either logistically, or gestationally), but my body feels much more ready....more confident in itself. i'm 34ish weeks, which is still really early, and the cervical twinges and nesting actually have me a bit worried happening this far ahead of my edd. i definitely want to go to term, especially since i will not have any help (or even anyone in the same state who i know well enough to call to come watch dd if i went into labor!) till 39 weeks when my parents arrive. i had a dream the other night that i went to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug, and i woke up terrified and ran to the bathroom just to make sure i hadn't. i've also noticed the past week or so that my nipples have gotten really sore again. it hurt to nurse till about 20 weeks, and then they have been fine since, but now it hurts again when dd latches on. and i'm starting to get a pretty strong nursing aversion, but only on one side. when i nurse on the right it's painful to latch but otherwise fine, but when i nurse on the left it is like nails on a chalkboard. i really wasn't expecting the breast issues after being fine since 20 weeks. i don't know how much of the birthy feelings are just because my body knows what it's doing this time, and how much are because i'm worried about going early and psyching myself out. i'm trying to remain calm, and keep chipping away at the things i need to do to get ready rather than rushing frantically to fold all the diapers and clean the bathrooms RIGHT NOW. it's a bit hard to tell how birthy i am, since i was induced last time. i don't know what the lead up to labor actually feels like, so every new thing with this pregnancy freaks me out for a bit till i talk myself down and remind myself that second pregnancies are different. the universe having a sense of humor, when i actually do start labor i will probably ignore it and talk myself out of calling the MW because i'll be so used at that point to freaking out over nothing :P

[segolilymama]

I too am experiencing swollen genitals. I knew baby was pretty low, but last night I was at my computer & needed to pee - I could hardly walk up the stairs because baby was pushing SO HARD on my bladder! It was like the sensation of contractions, almost, but not as painful. DP was walking behind me and asked if I was OK - he actually held my arm to help me up the last few stairs. Of course the main reason it was difficult was trying not to pee while climbing the stairs, lol. Baby seems to have slowed down some, and the cervical pinching has stopped which I am hoping means her/his hands are out from above the head. Crossing my fingers on that one.

Realized this morning I have TEN DAYS until my 'clear to give birth at home' date. Holy Crap.

[madis81]

Oh my! Swollen genitals is a new experiance for me! Wowsers! Very interesting... Aside from that, baby has dropped so low I'm scared to dtd. I checked myself just to see how low and there is maybe 3-4 cm between the head and the exit. I have prodromal labor that wakes me up multiple times at night. When I have contractions I feel pressure on my bottom, so sometimes I run to the bathroom thinking I have to use the restroom, and halfway expect to find a head crowning. My nesting urges wax and wane according to how I feel, which varies... I've been very hormonal, moody, and emotional. I am either near panic, because I think my home is a mess and needs a deep clean, or I'm calm and just ready to have a baby and feel that everything else that needs done can wait. Though I am better now that we have most things ready for Baby. And honestly, I think that part of it is me not wanting to birth anywhere but home. I'm so glad my dh is understanding.

[mamaharrison]

Oh YAY to not be the only mama with these tender, swollen lady parts ; ) haha
I do NOT DTD during pregnancy usually because I don't want to and it doesn't feel good for me, but I had told DH that I wanted all the prosteglandins I could get since last time my cervix didn't dilate well. SO, I said that December 1 onward we could ahve sex daily, but....I think I will have a baby before that {intuition speaking}...and if I don't well....I recant that statement completely with this going on! haha

Mamadiamond--I have a similar nursing story as yours. Just became very painful again in the last week and aversion is def. coming back :( luckily DD doesn't nurse nearly as much now as she did in the beginning of this pregnancy! 

sego--I am ALWAYS this way when my bladder fills! Very different from last time around, but this kid has had a head directly on or against bladder for months now! It is very painful when I have to pee and I have one long contrax the whole waddle to the bathroom for sure! 

madis--I can relate to the calm feeling of everything that needs to be done is done or can wait and I am just ready to have a baby. Although to be honest the house does need a good deep clean, but I just am not capable of doing it this time around.Last night I was having dreams I was in early labor and kept waking up wondering if they were dreams or if I really WAS having prodromal, but I think they were just dreams--I told myself to stop it and go back to bed and it worked ; ) I also have been having lots of pressure downwards into my bottom which is a new sensation from first birth where babe was so high I never felt that. I kinda wish I could check myself just to see how low the babe is, but I am very sensitive and don't think I would be able to reach anyways.

Another thing thaat has me feeling birthy {or at least has me wanting to birth and be done with this!} is nausea--BIG TIME! Different from first trimester nausea completely. This is like everything I put in me runs right through me into loose stools and while digesting turns my stomach and makes me want to vomit. I feel as if my body is like--no food thanks--we are gonna have a baby so let's get this system emptied out for a while--and I'm like--uhh...but I NEED food to survive still body! I really am very homeward bound and do not want to leave home much at all for any reason. I am ready to have a baby and want to stay in my sanctuary. Also, am called to just lay and rest and sleep as much as possible right now--and with DD I worked until the day I went into labor at 40 weeks.....SO DIFFERENT!

[Mamabeakley]

Tropicana, were we in the same DDC last time?  Cause I was due in August 2009 (but DD was born in July!)  I can't believe no babies yet, either, but . . . I am bound and determined this baby is NOT coming out before Thanksgiving (36 weeks +1) - and a week later would be better.  That said, my uterus worries me sometimes and I have a STRONG urge to get everything done.  Not happening, what with having somebody sick for the past 3 days, but the urge is there.  (I'm better, DD is better, DH woke up vomiting this morning and has been in bed all day.)  

Lots of contractions, some of them achy or pinchy or somewhere inbetween.  Thought I saw some brownish discharge on undies a few days ago (but nothing since.)  Really ungainly on my feet and moving around, which worries me a little, but I don't think will be a big problem as long as I don't suddenly throw a marathon labor (last 2 were 6.5 and 4 hours, though, so it seems unlikely).  I wouldn't say baby has slowed down, but I don't know that I've experienced that with any of my other babies before going into labor.

[purposefuldoula]

Originally Posted by tropicana74 

On a side note I just want to say that I can not believe that we have no babies on this board yet! We are 3 weeks away from December and no one has delivered. Statistically that has got to be rare.  Or there are just a whole lot of us on this board that are anti-intervention and therefor these little ones get to stay in longer? Or maybe most of us are due later in the month not at the beginning? Not sure but I imagine someone has to go SOON!! 

(With my last pregnancy I was due in August and I swear 1/2 the babies in our DDC were born in July.)

YES!! I can't believe it either! It seems like on any other ddc I've been on, at least a few babies were born 3-4 weeks early. 

My cousin's daughter, (who was due exactly two weeks before me,) just had her baby at 38 weeks. Our babies are going to be at least a month apart, if not farther! 

AFM- I'm not feeling too birthy this week, though last week I was really starting to wonder. I had a ton of BH that were definitely doing some work. They were completely different from the ones I had for weeks with dd2. This week, they aren't bothering me too much. I'm still in a ton a pain, but my mw and I figured out last night that some of it is because ds's head is resting right on TOP of my pelvis, not inside. I'm wondering a bit as to why he's not wanting to go lower. 

Over the last week though, I've been nesting up a storm. I've got my birth space going and have been hanging up art in there. I really should share a picture for you ladies. The room I'm working on is technically the den, as it's a room off to the right of the living room. I hung up some lace table clothes as curtains and christmas lights with them and it's just a nice calm space.   Yesterday, I was doodling, making birth art, and I wasn't sure just what is was going to be until about half way through. Now I have a rainbow cervix hanging up on the wall.  

I've been purchasing everything else we need and doing happy dances when things come in the mail. Today it was a bottle of liquid lanolin, (so I can lanolize all of his longies,) and two rolls of plaster strips so I can do a belly cast. 

[tropicana74]

Originally Posted by Mamabeakley 

Tropicana, were we in the same DDC last time?  Cause I was due in August 2009 (but DD was born in July!)  I can't believe no babies yet, either, but . . . 

Probably not. It wasn't a Mothering DDC. A bunch of ladies on that forum had their babies in July and I on the other hand made it almost half way into September before DS arrived.  Hoping to not have a repeat of that this time. I would REALLY rather not have a Christmas baby.....

[esp831]

Holy cow ladies, this thread is especially pertinent today...although I'm sure tomorrow will be a totally different story.  So I hit 36 weeks today, and both my girlies were 40+5, so I have not had any expectations of delivering early.  With both girls I had a bout of prodromal labor about a week before they were born, so I've been prepared for that.  Today, this baby dropped.  Good news:  heartburn is gone, thank goodness because I was crying with heartburn pain every night this week.  Bad news:  hello back pain and braxton hicks, big time.  Not just like achy back, back pain as in feels like early back labor.  Yowza.  I've basically been having back pain and one long BH contrax for the last 8 hours.  I'm about to get in the tub.  I was just telling DH that my body definitely kicked into gear today, and I'm all of a sudden feeling desperate to get everything ready for this baby, as in right NOW.  I would definitely take 4 more weeks of this over 4 more weeks of heart burn though.  Rae--I hope your baby drops ASAP so you can experience some relief.  I've been commiserating with you from 1500 miles away.

[zebrachick83]

Originally Posted by mamaharrison 

So, something that I am experiencing now, at 35 weeks, 5 days, and I did NOT experience with DD is a VERY swollen genital region. I am carrying very far out front this time and this is has been part of the pregnancy to experience lots more sensation/discomfort in my pubic region, but in the last week I have noticed a HUGE difference in my labia, mons pubis, and vagina--the only thing I can really compare it to is like a ripe piece of fruit--like a mango! I even feel like my vagina is so nice and swollen that it is protruding out a bit--not painful at all, just very RIPE. I can't see the area, of course ; ) but I looked with a mirror and don't seem to have any varicosity or anything unusual. This has corresponded with lots of cervical twinges and nice sharp pains of head grinding my pubic bone--so I think babe is really trying to make his/her way down low now--although no official 'dropping' yet, but a very low babe.

Babe has slowed down a bit now, too. Strong movements, but shorter periods of time and less frequently--lots more sleeping happening in there! For me, too--lots more sleeping needing to happen recently and less energetic days than prior. Coming in to a deep sense of calm and inwardness, too. Not feeling like anything NEEDS to be done {even though I do have stuff on my list still to do}. Feeling very open and ready to birth again......
 

I could have written most of this exactly. I am super swollen down there and carrying out in front this time as well. My low back has just started aching if I stand for more than half an hour or so, so I know little lady is moving down. She hasn't dropped yet either, though. The movements here are exactly what you described and our due date is about a week ahead of yours, so now I feel a little less crazy.

However, I do not have the "open and ready to birth again" feeling at all. I'm actually more apprehensive about this labor than I have been about any of the others. I just told DH this morning that I'm nervous about it. Not exactly frightened, but not looking forward to either. I think it's because I've been so distracted with work and other responsibilities - I haven't really had the time to prepare myself emotionally for this one like I would have preferred. So now I have to really take the next couple of weeks to meditate and practice my visualization so I can really wrap my head around the process of another labor and delivery.

[smerkin]

Originally Posted by mamaharrison 

my birthday is 8/29 ; )

How fun! Maybe yours will come on the 29th and mine the 30.

[phatchristy]

Great...now with the 12/28 full moon stuff we'll see what happens here as that's right before my due date (or right after depending on which one I go by).

I too have the poofy crotch thing going on, have had that for a few weeks though.  Happens to me every pregnancy, so I take it more as a sign of the third trimester rather than of ripeness necessarily for labor!  

I'm just amazed at how close things are getting and how short of time I have to go considering how much I have left to do!

[jakesmama]

Not feeling especially 'birthy' yet ... a good thing since I'm 33 weeks! I AM starting to feel 'big' though. I've just been feeling pregnant but pretty small and all of a sudden I feel the waddle coming on!

I felt pretty birthy 5 weeks ago when I went into preterm labor that we were able to stop...the ctx wouldn't have been so concerning except that I felt really off - pain down low, low back pain, crampy, tummy ache. Since then, this little one has really settled down.

It's so neat to hear about how everyone's doing (I can relate to the swelling...and I've never had that before!)

I guess it's any day for some and maybe 6+ weeks for the rest!