Encouragement thread for overdue mamas

[odenata]

I've posted here a little, but have mostly lurked. : However, I thought some of you might be feeling like me and thought we could give each other some encouragment.

My due date was 5/5/05, and my little baby is still hanging in there. I know the average 1st pregnancy is 41 weeks and a day, and I'm not worried about my baby, but I'm more than a little impatient and getting a bit discouraged. I so wanted her to be here by now! I'll have contractions at night and get excited, but they always go away by morning.

My poor DH is so tired of going into work to a bunch of people saying, "are you still here?" and giving him advice on how to make the baby come faster.

How is everyone else hanging in there?

[annakiss]

I meant to start this very same thread!!! I'm still a ways from due, but with my first I went 15 days past my edd, so I know exactly how you're feeling! I remember thinking that I must be some kind of freak because I was soooo stressed out about being "overdue". I wasn't worried at all, and neither was anyone else, but for some reason all of my midwives had let me live under the delusion that I would go early like my mother always did. I think they were trusting that I had some intuition about the matter, but boy was I wrong!

In retrospect, I now know that my cycles are long and that DS could not have possibly been conceived when we thought he was because I just don't ovulate that early ever (now that I've learned NFP)! I think that he may have been one of those sperm that lives for five days or maybe seven... So all told, I think he was only about 8 days "overdue" as opposed to 15. Have you seen the Wood's method of calculating due dates? It seems to be much more accurate. http://www.theballards.net/DueDate/DueDate.html For a first baby, it puts my DS at Aug. 19th. He was born Aug. 16th and was "due" Aug. 1st. For this baby, I get a date of June 6th. We'll see! I really prefer that calculation. It makes me feel better to assume that I'll be going later, because that way, I can be pleasantly surprised if I don't as opposed to waiting in agony with all the phone calls (that I'm not getting this time anyway, I don't think) about whether I've had the baby or not or if I'm in labor, yadda yadda yadda. Okay, that's not encouraging, is it? :LOL

The best thing is to try not to worry about it. I remember not starting books for fear that I wouldn't get to finish them then reading two books after giving that up. I eventually went into labor when I wasn't expecting to. Right when I gave up all expectation, it happened. I've been trying all pregnancy to get to that place with this one. Not sure that it's happened as every night I go to bed thinking I'll be awakened with good strong contractions and every day I arrange tasks thinking that for some reason the bathroom needs to be sparkling in case the baby comes, or that the vaccuming has to happen NOW because I won't be doing it later. It's silly. So there's my advice - try not to be like me!

[udonandbroth]

Ya know, yesterday was my due date and for some reason I am a little dissapointed that I didnt' have the baby (even thought we still have Tons of stuff to do to get ready) and I'm actually getting a bit impatient.

As far as encouragement goes, well in China there is a saying that goes something like "Lao Tsu's mother had to wait a very long time for her baby to be born" (meaning that the longer the baby stays inside the stronger of mind, body and spirit it will be). I find it comforting...

My former midwife once told me that one of ladies (mother of 5) would consistently deliver a whole month past her due date. I also met a lady at our local health food store who said she was a month late with her son. Just be glad that we aren't those women!

[rainbowfairymomma]

Oh count me in :LOL :LOL
I thought FOR SURE this babe would be 'early' but obviously not
My DS was born around 39 weeks and my EDD with this babe was the 9th.... its now the 12th... hmmm.....
I have been having contractions on and off for a week now...
I see my midwife tomorrow and I know she will strip my membrains if I want but... I don't think I will do that... I just feel like its pushing things along..
I am trying to stay positive... :LOL

[rockergirrl]

I am now at 41 weeks and 7 days. I am trying so hard to keep my spirits up. My first birth came around this same time so I know I should not be worried or anything. I am just getting frustrated because every day I feel like today is the day and of course I wake up and start all over again. I am just so excited to meet this little bean and grow my family. I will keep truckin'. Good luck to everyone.

[APmama2three]

All I can say about "dates" is that they are not all that accurate if you don't "know" your cycles well. That being said, I used the traditional calculation for my first two pregnancies (LMP) and was 9 days late BOTH times. I did it again for my third pregnancy (and yet had only two possible conception dates, which we ignored WAY too long) and ended up being either unofficially 3 weeks late, or 2 hours early, depending on how you look at it.

Soooooooo, with THIS pregnancy, I immediately scrapped the LMP calculation and went with the conception date, which added about 10 days to my due date. But since that is 5/28/05, I have been telling EVERYBODY for months and months that my due date is "early in June". Works for me (though *I* know I might be having a baby in May).

Am getting very anxious, but no signs of anything yet...