When will you start trying to encourage labor?

[Quagmire]

For those of us who don't have our babies yet... :: SIGH ::

When will you start doing stuff to encourage things along? Or will you at all?

I hit 41 weeks tomorrow and I'm seriously considering spending the day hooked up to my breast pump since it's a work at home day for me. I'm getting really worried about what will happen if I go over 42 weeks since when I asked that my midwife apprentice said "oh we'd have to transfer your care to an OB!" and then the midwife said well no, I don't THINK we'd have to but we want you to start encouraging things by 41 weeks....

Tangent over. Anyone else?

[violetbutterfly]

I guess as far as I'm going to go with all that is the Primrose Oil (which I"m already taking orally) and sex. I have no time constraints on me though since I'm having a homebirth. I was 42+2 with my last babe. I know from experience that my body will not be encouraged into doing anything it's not ready to.

[momsmyjob]

I'm going a HB too and my MW said it was up to me, she would follow my lead. She left me with some suggestions if I was interested, one being nipple stimulation, but since Matthew is still nursing, that's not working. Also she left me with blue cohosh and said if I wanted to use it I'd have it.

[jinkel]

I've been using EPO for the last 10 days (orally & vaginally) and have been using accupressure on the webbing between thumb and forefinger. I would consider the breastpump, but my nipples have been wicked tender the last 5 days - maybe I'll wait on that one until I'm feeling a bit more desperate.

[beautyful]

I've been using EPO for months now, and it doesn't really seem to be doing much. We've been having sex fairly regularly over the last week or so, and it's also doing nothing. I'm also still nursing, so nipple stimulation has done nothing as well.

We're supposed to talk about more "serious" things tomorrow, when I'll be 40w6d. Depending on what she suggests, I may start working on things as early as Wednesday. I was a little disheartened by a study I read today that stated that VBAC success rates drop after 40w and seriously after 41w. (Of course, I have to remind myself that those were hospital births, so other things may have come into play.)

I'm not sure of the legality of homebirth after 42w here. That's a question for tomorrow too.

[TanyaS]

The only way I'd consider it is if something was going on that would prevent having a homebirth. I think I'd try the breastpump, sex and walking - lots of it. Walking was what did the trick when my water broke before active labor. But it was like 10 hours of walking with breaks every 30 minutes!

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by beautyful

I'm not sure of the legality of homebirth after 42w here. That's a question for tomorrow too.

That's my concern also. Tomorrow is 41 weeks for me and we're scheduling the biophysical profile. Hopefully if there's enough fluid they'll just leave me alone. I really don't want to get dropped as a client... DH would not be comfortable with unassisted, and while I'm much more so than I would have been 9 months ago I still don't feel ready to do it alone, especially without DH's support.

Anyhoo... still just waiting

[Jish]

I'm thinking about having sex tonight which is something I haven't seriously thought of (neither has dh after the last time a few weeks ago) because it's just way more trouble than it's worth at this point. That's pretty sad isn't it? Something that is so much fun and that got us in this place in the beginning is about the last thing I want to do right now. It's pretty sad when dh agrees, but I'm going to try to talk him into a quicky tonight. I don't think it will get anything going, but I figure it's worth a shot since it's been a few weeks since the last time. Maybe a big dose of seman will be such a shock that those prostaglandins will really kick in. Of course, the only time sex has worked was when I was a week overdue, and I still have five official days till my due date. I keep thinking it could be any day, but then reality sets in and I realize it could still be nearly three weeks away. Ay ay ay!!!

[UnskulinMama]

Ugh, I have no idea what I'm going to do... I was due on the 6th, so I'm not seriously overdue yet... But I have a plane ticket to fly to Georgia for a family thing on the 27th and being two weeks late would put me birthing on the 20th, eek! (Do they even LET you fly 7 days after birth?) No real signs of labor yet... I've been doing nipple stim occasionally, which DOES start up a few good painful contractions (way different than the months of BHs I've had this pregnancy), but they stop as soon as as I stop. I have *no* interest in sex, so that's not helping either...

Bleh, I dunno... I'm *totally* for letting my body go into labor when it's ready, be it tonight or at 43 weeks. But I'm so nervous about missing this family get together. I know it shouldn't be more important than this birth, but I only see that side of the family every year or two, plus I spent $400 on the plane ticket... I just keep telling myself that *most* women don't go to 42-43 weeks and that I'll probably have this kid any day now...

I'm mostly a lurker here now, but I'm loving reading everyone birth stories, btw, keeps my hopes up! Congrats to all the new mamas!

[ice_chick]

Well, my MW's are only giving me until 41 weeks for my VBAC & then I get turned over to the OB. I am only 37 weeks & already last week they wanted to strip my membranes so I skipped that appointment. I am not worried, I have never gone past 40 weeks, but if I do get to 40 weeks then I will probably let them strip my membranes rather than head straight for a c/s.

[Quagmire]

So tomorrow is cohosh day. I will be 41 weeks 3 days. I was going to use my breast pump too per recommendations from a question I posted in midwives and doulas.

My midwives told me at Monday's appointment that I looked "ready" They said they get a sense of when a woman is close because there is something different about her. She goes inside herself or gets more focused, something like that.

Anyway they are not pushing the herbs. They offered them. If I make it to Monday's appointment we will schedule the U/S. I almost wish it were this week - I'd like to get a peek in there and make sure fluid and placenta are good. But that's next week. If everything is ok they will not try to pressure me to do a hospital induction.

It feels like things are happening. I'm crampy a lot and losing bits of mucous (nothing bloody though).

I dunno. I have mixed feelings on this. I really want to have a baby - soon! My legs are in bad shape right now with all this nerve pain and I'm sleeping like crap. I am afraid of going over 42 weeks. It's a silly fear I guess. I was really glad to read this thread as it provided a lot of useful information: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=483690

I don't want to mess with nature though. I feel lucky that my first induction didn't end in a c-section. It almost did.

I guess if my body isn't ready nothing will happen, right? :

What's happening with all you waiting/ overdue mamas?

[beautyful]

I started a remedy yesterday to help me relax any anxieties about this birth. I contracted all last night, but it had stopped when I got up this morning. (I was also effacing, based on what I felt when I applied EPO to my cervix last night.) I've had bloody show all day, but not many contractions despite spending a lot of time walking around 2 different grocery stores.

I'll be 41w2d in about a half hour. I did find out that my mw can see me until 43w, so that put me at ease a bit more.

[lotus.blossom]

I'm 40w5d and this morning woke up to bloody show and a contraction. One single solitary contraction that got my hopes up after I had calmed myself down last night, and told myself that I can keep waiting.

On Monday at 41w1d I will be having my membranes swept. Although I have so much hope that I won't make it to that appointment.

[PancakeGoddess]

quagmire, how's cohosh day going?

I don't have a pump but manual stimulation doesn't seem to do a thing for me. I started with EPO about 3 days ago, and I've been walking a lot. I'm 9 days past edd today.

But I had a lot of really good signs of early labor today - starting at about 4:30 am - one big woke-me-up contraction, lots of smaller regular ones, shivers/shaking, major bowel-emptying etc. Things have slowed down since the sun came up, but I'm still feeling good about that progress.

[Miss Juice]

beautyful - bloody show is a very good sign!! Hope your next post is an announcement!
PancakeGoddess and Quagmire, I am officially stalking you both. You're next, Lotus.Blossom. It sounds like things are getting moving for you all! Amy, I hope this is it, and Quagmire, I hope you aren't posting because you're busy birthing.

ELV for everyone

[broodymama]

Quagmire - just wanted to see how it is going with the cohosh today!

[Mama2ABCD]

sending labor vibes to all the overdue moms! hope you are laboring smoothly very soon!

[Quagmire]

Hey ladies, thanks for the thoughts!

I don't have the cohosh yet but I started with the pumping. At least I'm getting some colostrum out of it to save for the babe. I'm feeling achy and crampy around my belly and lower back and the bowel emptying started this morning for me (though I can't say it's diarrhea, more just frequent.

I left a message for my midwives but they haven't called me back yet. So we'll see if I get the cohosh today. I may try some stair walking too. I've been running around doing stuff today - laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, etc. Wondering if that's helping or hindering my process. My back is really killing me so that's gotta mean something I suppose. It might mean "sit down and rest" Not sure. Maybe I'll take a nap

[lotus.blossom]

: Goodluck Quagmire! :

Eeee! I'm being stalked! Thank you Jessica!

[violetbutterfly]

Sounds like some good things are happening around here! I am one day past my due date today. Had my MW appointment today and nothing to report except the baby's head is a little farther down. She didn't check anything internally. I started my EPO vaginally last night. Can't tell that it did anything. I did wake up in the middle of the night nauseous and cold (I"m usually hot) but who knows??? Does any of this really mean anything? I'm just focusing on trying to stay positive every day. It's tough, but I'm trying.