Overdue mamas! Lets wait together!

well, going on 4 days over here and just took my second dose of castor oil. I wasn't going to do this, but my DH is even getting impatient. heheh I was having some poop issues anyway so I am hoping this is just helping to clean me out before labor as well as strengthen the mild contractions I've been having for like a few days. Hopefully I will have a baby in my arms tomorrow. Labor dust to me! And to all of you. How is everyone doing?

DH and I are going to visit with some good friends tonight to eat dinner and have GOOOOOOD coffee. And it's a nice drive... about 30-40 minutes from our house. And if I go into labor there, it's another 30 from my house to where I will give birth. So, total one way trip back, if we have to go have the baby, would be about an hour in the car. BOY, contractions are gonna be fun in the car, huh? At least we'll be in a van and I can stretch out and have more room to try and get comfy.

I have had tons of pressure today that feels like poop is gonna shoot out my bum, but every time I go to the bathroom it's just like mucusy-poop, and barely anything there to speak of. So...

OKAY, enough about my POOP! How are you all doin'?

I now finally know what it feels like to be a miserable pregnant mama. Seriously, pregnancy is pretty "easy" for my physically, I have a very roomy pelvis and it's just not that uncomfortable. But I have been in major discomfort today, which has been building for a few days... basically my lower back has been aching like crazy, and I just have so much achiness in my pelvis... dh was asking me what I thought it was, I'm guessing just the baby's position, getting ready for labor, etc.?

The baby was in a good position as of Monday, but given my very bad lower back pain I starting wondering if she had gone posterior today. So I basically spent 2 hours on hands/knees (well, knees leaning on couch!) reading magazines today. My 2 yo thought this was great, of course, and at one point stood on my legs and rubbed her back and put her head of my lower back, all of which actually felt good! She also climbed on my back and stood up and jumped on the couch, which was a bit disconcerting for her safety, but also felt good! So I realized that I am going to really appreciate heat and pressure on my lower back if I do end up with back labor.

The good news is that my back pain is now considerably better and has gone back down to low achiness level- I felt the baby moving around so I'm pretty sure she's gotten back into a good position.

It still really really hurts to walk and is really hard to turn over while laying down though.

I am really getting ready to get this happening! I've been thinking this weekend/early next week, but I'm praying for this weekend!

Oh, I'm kinda scared of castor oil- I struggled with hemorroids with dd, but haven't with this pregnancy- would castor oil aggravate them or actually help with them? I haven't had other poop issues. (Bilberry!!! It really helped me. )

I've had 6 BPPs/NSTs between my 2 boys (my babies always go very late), and here are some things to consider:

(1) Make sure you drink plenty of fluids before your test (you should be doing this anyway, but you especially want to be well-hydrated for the test to help ensure plenty of amniotic fluid).

(2) Think about drinking OJ or consuming something else which will give you a quick boost in blood sugar ~20 minutes before your test (so the baby is awake and active during the test). The sooner they get the necessary # of movements, the sooner you get to leave.

(3) If the baby is asleep, drinking ice water will often help wake him/her up.

As far as giving the baby a nudge... there are a lot of things I'd try before castor oil (which never did anything for me but make me terribly uncomfortable). Acupuncture, acupressure, EPO, sex, nipple stim, spicy eggplant dishes (eggplant is supposedly full of oxytocin), lots of walking, etc. No one has ever been pregnant forever. Hang in there.

copy and pasted this from the other thread....

had my BPP today - good news.....baby looked great (lots of movement, practice breathing), placenta looked good and i still had plenty of fluid. bad news.....the estimated fetal weight was even bigger than i feared it would be. i thought right around 9 lbs and they thought 9 lbs 11 oz. now, first off i know that u/s can be hugely inaccurate in determining size at this stage of the game and secondly, plenty of women deliver big babies all the time. BUT, the issue is that the mw is slightly concerned about shoulder dystocia (again, not that she hasnt delivered plenty of babies that are 10lbs+ but she says she can't 'know this info ahead of time' and not explain the risks, etc.

after much discussion and thought today with my mw, doula and the covering OB (ob is very cool, very into homebirth) we've decided to deliver at the birth center instead of home. its essentially the same as delivering at home but we'd be a minute from the hospital as opposed to about 20 minutes. this birth center is not associated with the hospital so no cont fetal monitoring, iv's, etc. feeling a bit sad that we won't be doing it at home, but still feeling grateful that we don't have to go to the hospital.

of course all this is assuming i deliver within the next 5 days or so. i'll be 41 weeks tom. having my membranes stripped tom in an effort to get things moving. didn't really want to do that but at this point i'm feeling its the lesser of all evils (compared to hosp. induction, etc)

praying for a healthy safe delivery with no complications. i'll take any prayers you want to send my way.

I posted about my appt in another thread. But I will put the high points here.

40 weeks and 6 days now.

gained 2 lbs since oh about a month and a half ago which puts my total around8 or 9 lbs. BP good...baby's HR good. She moved her around and monitored her HR while doing that to see how she was reacting and said all looked good. I'm an easy 3 cm dilated and another easy 70 % effaced, which she said she WISHED she could say really meant something. But we both know it doesn't. *sigh* Then she stripped my membranes and though it hurt like the dickens, if it doesn't produce a baby today or tomorrow, then when I see her next week, if I make it to Thursday, I will probably get her to do it again.

I've never beenPG this long. This is absolutely crazy! My last 2 were induced at 38 and 38.5 weeks and had to go to the NICU so this is probably why. THey prob wouldn't have been born on their own until like 41 weeks! Scary thought there. My oldest though, was born, naturally, at 38.5 weeks so I had some hopes she would come that early. Guess not.

I think that the bottom line is this: She's my first girl. I have waited for her for years. I finally am getting her and she is letting me know before she ever is even born that she is going to be just as stubborn as her mommy. LOL

I have just gotten to the point where I cannot decide if I want to relax the remainder of my PG and just let this birth HAPPEN or if I want to get out and walk walk walk and stuff like everyone is telling me to do. DH and my mom say to relax. Sounds good to me. hehehe I have a nice book I'm reading...

Jeni- Sorry that you haven't gone into labor from having your membranes stripped. It does sound like your baby might not be quite done yet if your others had problems from being born earlier. Its so hard to wait though! Believe me I know! I think I may naturally be someone who goes late also, since both my mom and my MIL did too.

SugarMagnolia- Enjoy your spa treatments today! I wanted to make an appt to do that this weekend but I figured there was no way I'd still be pregnant then. HAHAHA Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't do it so I could have a little pampering

I got woken up this morning by the phone ringing. That is NOT the way to wake up someone who is exhausted by being 40w3d pregnant Of course it was my mom calling just to 'see how you are feeling today'. Umm, I feel like a beached whale, thanks for calling, buhbye. I didn't really say that obviously, told her I'm fine and had just woken up. I suppose if no one called me at all, I'd probably be all sad that no one cared though I'm just annoyed that absolutely NOTHING is happening here I wish I just loved this part of pregnancy, like some people do. I actually did love this part when I was pregnant with my dd. I'm sick of STILL having m/s and now hardly being able to walk. I am just so done...I want to see my baby!