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1,612 Posts
. . . of insanity.
:
I am now at 40 +3 and in a quandry. Things are not moving in a way that I am entirely comfortable with and I'm not sure if I should take matters into my own hands or not. I will freely admit that I'm not the most patient person in the world and that I am so done being pregnant that my mind could just be leaping in an interventive direction just because of that.
Here's the scoop: I have some serious swelling going on. Not just the ankles and lower calves, but my hands also. I had some upper extremity swelling with DD (13 years ago), but I don't remember it being this bad. The skin on my left wrist has cracked and oozed due to the edema. I can't wear my regular rings, size 4 1/2, and am up to about a 5 1/2 or 6 ring size. To make matters worse, I woke up *in the night* with a headache. I do have a herniated cervical disk and that could easily be the cause, but it hasn't bothered me throughout this whole pregnancy. My BP is up only slightly and nowhere near danger zone, but still just a bit higher than it has been. The worst part is that baby isn't moving as much the last few days. He's still wiggling a bit, but he's been much less active today and just one short bout of hiccups.
I've been having nightly prodromal labor for a couple of weeks now and it's getting steadily stronger. I thought this morning might be it, but as usual it went away as soon as I got up to make breakfast. I've been taking EPO twice daily for two or three weeks to help my cervix ripen (LEEP procedure 2 years ago), but I can't feel my cervix well enough to tell anything other than general position (high and midline). Baby palpates as LOA and FHTs seem to confirm this. He's a bouncy dropper--drops down into the pelvis for a few minutes or more, then comes back up and settles a little to the left. I think he probably won't engage until labor gets going for good.
So bearing all these things in mind, I am considering starting a very gentle herbal induction with Black & Blue Cohosh and Goldenseal. I have been telling DH "Baby will come when he wants" and have been firmly on the patient path, until today.
Suggestions? Comments? Advice?

I am now at 40 +3 and in a quandry. Things are not moving in a way that I am entirely comfortable with and I'm not sure if I should take matters into my own hands or not. I will freely admit that I'm not the most patient person in the world and that I am so done being pregnant that my mind could just be leaping in an interventive direction just because of that.
Here's the scoop: I have some serious swelling going on. Not just the ankles and lower calves, but my hands also. I had some upper extremity swelling with DD (13 years ago), but I don't remember it being this bad. The skin on my left wrist has cracked and oozed due to the edema. I can't wear my regular rings, size 4 1/2, and am up to about a 5 1/2 or 6 ring size. To make matters worse, I woke up *in the night* with a headache. I do have a herniated cervical disk and that could easily be the cause, but it hasn't bothered me throughout this whole pregnancy. My BP is up only slightly and nowhere near danger zone, but still just a bit higher than it has been. The worst part is that baby isn't moving as much the last few days. He's still wiggling a bit, but he's been much less active today and just one short bout of hiccups.
I've been having nightly prodromal labor for a couple of weeks now and it's getting steadily stronger. I thought this morning might be it, but as usual it went away as soon as I got up to make breakfast. I've been taking EPO twice daily for two or three weeks to help my cervix ripen (LEEP procedure 2 years ago), but I can't feel my cervix well enough to tell anything other than general position (high and midline). Baby palpates as LOA and FHTs seem to confirm this. He's a bouncy dropper--drops down into the pelvis for a few minutes or more, then comes back up and settles a little to the left. I think he probably won't engage until labor gets going for good.
So bearing all these things in mind, I am considering starting a very gentle herbal induction with Black & Blue Cohosh and Goldenseal. I have been telling DH "Baby will come when he wants" and have been firmly on the patient path, until today.
Suggestions? Comments? Advice?