Still here club

[guestmama9906]

almost 41 weeks (tomorrow).

I've been doing nipple stimulation and having MAJOR contractions, but they usually die down after an hour or two. I'm going to keep at it and see what happens....

How's everyone else doing??

[NurseLaurie]

41w1d. Clockwork contractions... No progress. Blah. Too disappointed to even comment. Best of luck to us all, mamas!

[ThatLinGirl]

40w3d. Contractions start and then go away again. Last night I had painful ones from about 8pm until 5am, then they slowed and stopped.

[truelife]

41 wks 2 dys

Having contractions every 6-7 minutes but they're not strong or long enough to really be doing anything. Had appt w/MW today and I'm dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced. Would be exciting to most but I've been having contractions every day for exactly one week now. Trying to stay encouraged. Thought #2 would come sooner!

[JuicyPakwan]

40.6

Think I am in early labor but I have thought that before.

[KatSG]

Still here at 40.4. Seems like it could be a little while more. I'm doing some deep emotional searching to see what could be holding things up. Coming up with some interesting things to journal about.

Baby is healthy, I feel fine, so I'm trying to keep it all cool. At least half of the moms on my dd's DDC on another site were late, too, and they're all sending me really nice messages and leaving me VMs. It helps to have support. I'm just not going out in public anymore. People just irritate me with all the crap they say.

[NurseLaurie]

Early labor for two days now. Stuck at 3cm 80%. I'm with you guys, I'm officially homestuck and not answering the phone. Trying to enjoy a few hours (or days) of R&R before labor and baby. She is moving like crazy now for some reason. I think her descent into my pelvis has freed up some room that she is enjoying.

[truelife]

I read on another thread (birth story???) that someone was having prodromal/early labor for days and their MW told them to hula through contractions. You can hula standing up or on a birth/exercise ball. Instead of her contractions dying down they picked up and got stronger. I'm going to try it tonight and thought I would share with everyone else...

[NurseLaurie]

The hula trick worked for me earlier today. Contractions got really intense. But as soon as I stopped (after two hours) they let right up again. Maybe if I had kept at it... but my MW said to take it easy because I was making myself crazy. A hula motion or a figure 8 motion seemed to be the most effective on the ball if anyone is trying this trick.

[2bpeaceful]

I'm still here, too.
41 weeks today. Three days ago I was ready to go in to be induced but I had a very intense prenatal massage session with my doula that basically turned into a shamanic journey where the message I kept hearing was "let go", like let go of trying to control this.
I felt great for about 12 hours and now...now I'm back to feeling frustrated, anxious, sad, irritable, mood-swingy, disappointed..did I mention sad?

I am getting increasingly swollen/puffy, too. I was worried about pre-eclampsia last night but woke up this am (insomnia) not as swollen as last night. Anyone else feel like balloon girl?

I am having no contractions, no discharge, nothing. Anyone else as overdue as I am w/no signs?

So what are you guys going to do about this? How long are you going to let it go?

this..is...so...hard. hard in a way that someone who has not been overdue cannot understand...so DONT COMMENT.

[JuicyPakwan]

2bpeaceful I am in your shoes exactly 41wks. Swinging between calm acceptance and sheer desperation. I took some homeopathic caulophyllum a few hours ago though and am having regular contx. I am praying this is the real thing. I have never gone this past dates before and it is amazingly frustrating. It is eating me alive to see new babies. I feel like a comfort zone (my due date) is gone and I am just swimming out somewhere with no barriers.

If this stops I will be talking to my back up ob on friday (i would be 41.5 about possible induction however he is very anti induction crazy I would find an ob like that without even trying).

Take care and hoping for labor signs for you very soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2bpeaceful]

caulophyllum/blue cohosh question

Anakna4--
Your comment about being out there now without barriers hit home, hit my heart directly. That is exactly how I feel now, one week past my due date. When do I call the game? DO I call the game? What do I do? I'm torn between the world of NCB and my OB...my heart is somewhere in between. I only want what is best for my baby and both worlds are telling me things that are diametrically opposed.

I tried to find caulophyllum yesterday but whole foods didn't have it. did you consider blue cohosh, straight up? I know caul is a homeopathic version of it. Any info on taking blue cohosh in low doses, straight?

Really looking forward to hearing about your experience w/the caulophyllum. Good luck.

[KindRedSpirit]

2bepeaceful-I hear ya,and I've been here before too.I doesn't make it easier!I'm 41w 2 or 3 days.My first was 10 days over and I was SO freaking out-we had a planned homebirth,and I was ready to just go to the hospital.My mw came and did evening primrose oil on my cervix,and NOTHING happened!A first in her over 1,000 births!!!!HELLO!!!!After waiting all day for nothing,she went home and I went to bed.Around 12 or 12:30 my water broke on my trillionth trip to pee,and I was puking.I started in transition,and ds was born 2 hrs later,20 min after mw arrived.
This IS labor.We ARE having our babies.We are just in an unappreciated not often unmentioned phase of labor,that many women do not have or repress! I am expecting a very short transition and 2nd stage labor,but who knows...I suspect this is a boy,as was my first(I've had a mc and 2 dd's in between)and I guess I just make boys slower...I do have pretty good fat babies,all between 7lb 4 oz and 8lb.I'm thinking this one will be closer to 9lb,aspecially if it takes another week!
My mw says she doesn't even want to try any inductions for another week,as I tend to go later.Yes,I am a proud 4th trimester mama!I'm remembering to be as calm and accepting and positive as I can.I'm wishing our society was more supportive of this time.I'm thinking due dates should be celebrated regardless of when baby comes,early or late,mamma should get a special pampering day if we are expected to take such a rediculous idea so seriously,as to the day our baby might come.
I really belive we will both have our babies this week.I hope all is well,and you can find some great peace in what is REALLY happening-the birth of a baby,and a mother!

[nova22]

I'm in a 3-day cycle here...

Day 1: Nest like crazy. Vacuum everything in sight. Alphabetize videos and books, organize kids' books and puzzles, wash, fold and put away five loads of laundry, scrub the bathroom until the tiles are in danger of being scrubbed into nonexistance, vacuum everything in sight again just for good measure.

Day 2: Mope. I just spent an entire day cleaning and the kids have managed to mess it up again. I want to have the baby NOW and I'm so tired of the on/off prodromal labor. I feel like I am going to be pregnant forever.

Day 3: Rest. I feel more accepting that I don't get to choose Baby's due date; s/he will come when s/he is ready and I won't be pregnant forever.

I'm wishing our society was more supportive of this time

Me too!!!

[KatSG]

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I will again anyway: The 40w EDD is an invention of US obstetrics, from the 19th century. In France, we wouldn't even be due yet--they go by 42 weeks (I have a friend from my last DDC who lives there). If you look at the statistics for healthy, Caucasian women the average is 41w3d (sorry--don't know that stats for other ethnicities though I know Asian and African American women tend to gestate a little shorter). I keep reminding myself of this--even changed my EDD in my sig! It does help to remember that going over 40w is normal, in fact to be expected.

Also, women tend to have similar gestation periods with their babies. This is what's making me a little crazy--my dd was born at 39w5d. I'm sure of my dates with her and sure enough with this baby. But I'm also MUCH healthier this time, I'm not physically uncomfortable, so maybe that's why my body and this baby are happy to hang out together a little longer? In the end, as long as I keep taking care of myself, it's really better for the baby.

That said, we thought last night was it. I had super intense lower back pain, with peaks in the pain every 3 minutes, for an hour. It was almost like transition but not quite that intense. I made dh get dd to bed as soon as he could, ate some yogurt, and even told dd that the baby was coming. "That's a good idea!" she said. Then, as soon as she was in bed, they stopped. So. Frustrating. I woke up a little before 2 AM to pretty good contractions every 5-6 minutes for a half hour. Got up to move around and they got stronger. Ate some cereal, read a magazine for an hour, they peetered out. At least I got a good night's sleep, the second night in a row.

Baby's still moving great, I still feel fine. So, today is just another day to clean something before the baby comes. *sigh*

Our babies will come! Don't give up hope!

[KatSG]

So the heavy, almost consitpated feeling has returned as has all the pressure on my cervix, but no patter of ctxs. So I called the lead MW and she said she hasn't seen a lot of luck with the cohashes but for me recommends nipple stimulation. She said to use my PIS for 70 minutes and that should get a good pattern going. She also said that when a ctx started to shut it off and then resume when the ctx is over.

You'd think that I would be all over this idea right this second, but I think I'm going to do some more laundry, pick up the house, hang some more curtains, have some lunch, maybe go for a walk. I may even wait until tomorrow. I'm really trying to just let go. If we get an hour to watch a movie (dd is with my mom this afternoon) I may turn on the pump.

[nova22]

What is PIS?

Based on a 41w3d EDD, I am due on June 6. Maybe I'll start telling people my OB changed my due date, since most of them would never buy the 41w3d thing. If doctors say pregnancy is 40 weeks long, it's 40 weeks long. (sigh)

[Smithie]

WRT homeopathic caulophyllum vs. blue cohosh tincture, IME the caulophyllum in conjuction with black cohosh tincture worked, and the blue/black tincture combo did NOT work. But it seems like you can never be sure what works when trying natural induction methods, because maybe the day you try it is just the day the baby is destined to come... anyhow, I preceived that my body responded really strongly and positively to the caulophyllum. Don't know why I didn't go out and buy some this time around...

[NurseLaurie]

41 weeks, 2 days

My husband, my mom and dad and my sister are hanging around quite a bit. I seriously feel like I'm the star of a play and I don't know my lines. Everyone is waiting on my to do my thing and I have no idea how... Hell, I don't even know which play it is

I'm still with the mucus, still with the heavy feeling, still with the irregular contractions...

Anakna4: I love this. It describes me perfectly: "Swinging between calm acceptance and sheer desperation" That's me. Last night I was like "I'm going to rest while I can"... Today I feel like I'm not doing my job... as if something I did could make a difference.

[KatSG]

Caulophyllum, I believe, is one of the active chemicals in blue cohosh. I did a little Googling this AM and it came up in the descriptions of blue cohosh. Perhaps it's just more potent because it's been separated out? Not sure.

PIS= Pump In Style breast pump. I pumped for 14 mos with dd so I'm well acquainted with the thing.