Sharyn (SASM) are you here or having a baby now??

[Momof3Labs]

Just wondering!!

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[mama2be]

Keep us posted!!!!!

[SASM]

No...I am still here!!! :-( Thanks for thinking of me :-)

As of yesterday, during the exam, the baby had no plans of making an appearance anytime soon. The baby has not dropped, the cervix is long and thick :-( I am going crazy!! Throughout this entire pregnancy I thought that I would certainly deliver early - due to my history (being 3 months premature), little "signs and feelings", and my previous miscarriage. I JUST WANT TO MEET HIM!!!!! Ugh! I never knew how imaptient I could be...

Thanks for listening...

Sharyn
5 days to go (supposedly) :-)

[Rachels]

Hang in there! You're so close! That going-crazy feeling is a harbinger of birth. It helps you feel revved up and ready for labor. You can do it! It won't be long.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Momof3Labs]

Those exams mean so little - I almost wish that the doctors would skip them!

A friend of mine was due right around the same time as me. She was 3cm dialated starting at about 36 weeks. At 37 weeks, I was *maybe* 1cm dialated. Guess who had her baby a week later (me!), and guess who had to wait until her due date??

It will happen soon!! (You can always jinx yourself by planning a busy couple of days, trying to get a lot done. Surely baby won't let you get anything else done!)

Lori

[SASM]

Thanks, girls!

Thank you for the encouragement and the smiles :-) I soooo hope that you are right! I have run out of things to do in preparation for this little baby. I am stuck inside due to frigid weather. I am trying to find things to do without much luck :-( We have put everything together, washed tiny clothes and linens, packed diaper bags...you name it. I really am not an impatient person - this is new for me :-(

Thank you again!!

Sharyn
EDD #1 01.21.03

[bnme]

I totally sympathize. I too thought I was going to be early and ended up delivering 10 days late! I never showed any signs of delivery either (no dialating, thinning, significant dropping, or significant braxton hicks), so it really can be any minute now for you. One night my contractions started at 5 minutes apart and when we got to the hospital I was 3cm and soon after 5!

Hang in there and try not to think about it --yeah right!!!:)

[Rachels]

If you need a project, stock your freezer with good post-baby meals! Also, rest rest rest. Rent a pile of movies and lie still. You're going to need that energy soon!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[SASM]

Rachel, that was my project yesterday!! I have so many containers of "Shrimp with Picante Sauce" in the freezer that I have no more room for anything else (we went grocery shopping the day before :-)) As I was telling Neve, my husband actually enjoys cooking but his "entrees" can be quite scary, i.e., Salmon-stuffed or Sauerkraut-stuffed green peppers!! I wanted to be prepared :-)

I am trying sooo hard to NOT think about the baby but that is soooo IMPOSSIBLE!!!! UGH!! The sofa and VCR are not as comforting as I was hoping :-)

Thanks!!

Sharyn
EDD #1 01.21.03

[MartiesMom2B]

Sharyn:

My sister in law told me that she read a story that said that University of Florida did a study on Macaroni and Cheese, and apparently eating that induced labor. It's probably some hokey story, but you know what she did eat the Mac and Cheese and went into labor that night!

Good luck and I'm thinking about you!

Sonia
EDD 4/14/03

[SASM]

OMG...I can't stop laughing!!

That is PERFECT because I cannot get enough cheese (my husband thinks I am insane) :-) What kind did your SIL eat: Kraft, homemade, with ham, with pepper jack???? Oh, I want to know!!!!! :-)

Thank you...Thank you!!!

Sharyn
EDD #1 01.21.03

[jojo2324]

I bet if you unpack your bags and disassemble the nursery, the baby will come the second you finish. That's interesting about the mac and cheese...I've never heard that! I would say go for the easy stuff: Kraft!

Hang in there, you're almost done.

[newbelly2002]

Okay I tried to post this a few hours back, but got delayed. Hope the advice is still helpful. . .

Don't let the Dr. visit get you down. I had an appt. on a Tuesday, 9 days before my due date. The dr. checked and told me everything was "closed up tight." No dialtion, "ripening," leakage. 24 hours later, you guessed it, hard contractions at steady 4 minute intervals. By the time we got to the hospital, the contractions were 3 minutes apart and coming faster. Of course, then a whole NEW round of waiting started since I was only one centimeter dilated. . . It was a long 18 hours and the baby didn't drop until halfway through the pushing! The indicators of labor are completly individual.

Your body will go when your body is ready, and there's very little you can do (except maybe eat mac and cheese). This last mile is the ultimate test of patience, and a good precursor to motherhood (and marriage, considering I am ALWAYS waiting for my DH who is always late. hmm....).

Rent a movie (or 6), drink some hot cocoa, and look in peace at the snow. Listen to some quiet music and listen to the uninterrupted silence. Some enough it'll be a long time until you can do that again! Because from now on if you're lucky enough to have it get that quiet again, you will forever wonder, "when will the baby wake up. . ."

Keep us posted!

Paula

[MartiesMom2B]

I believe it was good ol fashioned Kraft Mac & Cheese. Let us know if works, because if it does I'll be chowing down on Mac & Cheese in 3 months!

Sonia
EDD 4/14/03

[Rachels]

There are rumors about Chinese food, too. It worked for me and for two of my friends!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[SASM]

Okay...I swore I would NOT go online today but here I am!! Hoping to find more suggestions :-) I tried the Macaroni and Cheese thing last night (made it with a TON of Pepper Jack) - no such luck. Had some more for lunch today so we'll see. :-) The Chinese food sound interesting...hmmm...

Paula, your story is encouraging!! How many of you started labor without losing your plug, dropping, or your water breaking??

Thank you...thank you! Gosh...I really never knew how impatient I could be - 1.5 weeks before the EDD! I have been, for the most part, quite patient and calm throughout the pregnancy. Wow.

Thank you again! Please keep the suggestions coming :-)

Sharyn
EDD #1 01.21.03

[mama2be]

Mommies...I read last night somewhere that if your periods are typically "on time" and a normal 28 day cycle that you usually give birth near your EDD...that if they are longer cycles you are late...and if they are shorter cycles that you are early. I'd never heard that before...looking back on it does that sound like it makes sense in your case....

Though mine are "clock work" 28 days...knew 100% that I was pregnant on day 29...I just feel like I'll be late...but that gave me reason to hope I might be "on time"...

[Momof3Labs]

Sorry, Neve, my cycles are longer (35 days) but Colin was two weeks early.

Oh, Sharyn, I dropped on a Monday, lost my plug over that week (it was hard to notice) and my water broke in the wee hours on Friday. Colin arrived on Saturday.

There was a full moon last night - I had hoped that would do it for you! Going to my second bf'ing class is what inspired Colin to arrive early (we think!).

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[Rachels]

I went 2 weeks early, having spent the morning cuddling a friend's baby and then eating Chinese food that night. I had a little bloody show and then contractions started shortly. Just remember that your body knows how to do this! It has its own perfect clock. Just as you grew this baby without it being a cognitive process, you don't have to think to start labor-- it will happen!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

Well, I was a clockwork 28 day kinda gal, and I was 3 1/2 weeks early!

For all you gals, please take it from me, BE PREPARED EARLY!!!