May 2013 Due Dates
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Just thought I'd check in to let everyone know how my Dr appt went! I'm making progress!!!! Last week I was barely 1cm and hardly effaced. This week I am a good 2cm, over 50% effaced & midwife said baby's head is right there and fully engaged in the pelvis. So yeah that's exciting. Although I'm fully aware that I could be like this for another 3 weeks (if I go a week late), lol. (OMG I HOPE NOT!!!!!)
I did get a schedule of who's on call for the rest of the month. I mean not that I can stop labor if someone I don't care for is on call. I just like to be in the know with who will be there. Thankfully, there is only 1 Dr with that practice that I just really do not like, and she is only on call today and this upcoming Tuesday.
I had a really uncomfortable evening post appt. Those cervix checks really seem to stimulate things. But now that I'm home and kicked back all the twinges and Braxton Hicks contractions have stopped.
Also, let me commiserate with everyone else and say OMG! I am super uncomfortable most of the time. And worse than that I am so short tempered and moody right now!!! Also the peeing....so annoying....I get up on average 5 times a night to pee. URGH!!! Oh well at least I'm still sleeping pretty good most nights.
Good luck everyone! We're all so close!!! Maybe some birth stories after this weekend
You're making great progress! Great that the baby is fully engaged - I'll cross my fingers that you do not have to wait another 3 weeks!
And yeah - holy cervix checks. Those things are no joke! Sorry you were uncomfortable after, but at least you had some dilation progress to make it worth it.
What I wouldn't give to just sleep through the urge to pee like the good ole' non-pregnant days. Like you, I'm still having more good nights then bad with the sleep, but things are definitely getting dicier. I don't even want to think about a week from now.
Glad your non-preferred Doc is hardly on-call -- just have to make it past Tuesday. 0 -
@LadyJocc - I would be FURIOUS!!! LIVID!! Pissed even....and I'm pretty sure I would let her know just how peeved I was. I am so sorry she's done that to you. How unsettling right before an impending birth!
Thank you! I've been getting progressively more upset by it since she told us yesterday - and I told my husband that I think I have to say someone - if nothing else then as a courtesy for her (since she is younger) in her future dealings with patients.
Glad to hear I'm not crazy for being angry! 0 -
Well anyone?! Anything going on at all? I'm a big whopping nothing on that. Though I did take it way easier yesterday than I have in a long time...maybe if I forced myself to be active something would happen, but what a chore!!0
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Big ol' fat nothin' going on here... I talked to my mom yesterday and admitted that at this point I think I'm just playing the waiting game until my induction date. Funny because my OB swore the first time I'd go to term, and I delivered at 38+5; meanwhile this time she swore I'd go before term, and it sure isn't looking like it!
I am surprisingly not that excited to find out the sex... I guess I'm just more anxious to have the baby, so that is really occupying my thoughts more than anything else.
LadyJocc, I do have some thoughts about your situation but have yet to get somewhere where I can type comfortably! That's the problem with the weekends... However I would also be rather upset given that you stuck with her even as a now out-of-network provider!0 -
Okay - I have to rant:
We love our OB - she's relatively young and very laid back with her approach to pregnancy and the associated tests, and always makes us feel calm and empowered rather than nervous about the test results, or hung-up on things in a black and white sort of way. Basically she's just a good fit with us and we felt really glad to find her. We even decided to stay with her at the beginning of this year when she switched her practice and was now Out-of-Network for our insurance plan, and will cost us 20% more in co-insurance for her to deliver us at our hospital.
However, yesterday at my appointment, she did her cervix check and yada yada, then says 'well, next week I will be in town, so that would be good, but you can't have your baby the the week after because I won't be here. So either next week, or hold off for two weeks'. She said this with a joking tone, so I wasn't sure if she was being serious. I asked her where she was going: Italy. For a friend's wedding.
Once I hear 'Italy' I realize that she's not joking - and that she will most definitely not be available the last week of May.
Here's the thing - this is the first I'd heard from her, or anyone at the office, that my OB is scheduled to be out of the country the week of my due date. Does that strike anyone else as odd?? I mean, of course she has every right to plan vacation and go to her friend's wedding, but as a doctor, wouldn't she have had to put this on the calendar at least 3-4 months ago? And is it just me, or is it a bit unprofessional to not tell your patient that you are scheduled to be gone during the week she is most likely going to give birth? (She is gone from my 39+6 through my 40+5). I'm not sure that it would have changed anything, but had we known this we absolutely would have looked more seriously at switching doctors when she switched providers so that we could have saved ourselves some money and had time to bond with a new doctor before giving birth.
So, Now I'm 10 days from my due date and wondering if I'll 'hold on' until she gets back in town (she suggested I try to rest and not take walks to keep him in there if I don't go before she leaves :huh:) or if I'm okay with whomever is on call, even though we are paying for her. Of course I'm not going to do anything differently to try to start or stop labor, as I'm sure this kid will come when he wants regardless, but really - would anyone else be annoyed at this??
Ok, my take on this is that chances are she's known for a while and should have said something - the question is, how soon? My and my sister"s OB was having a tummy tuck when my sister approached the end of her pregnancy, which she only told her about a couple of weeks in advance. However in her practice when you go into labor, you end up with the on-call doctor, which could be any of the seven doctors in the practice. I guess they all trust each other implicitly, or they wouldn't be in practice together. When I went into labor with my son, my OB just happened to be on call. With my sister, she couldn't get too upset because she might not have been guaranteed to have our specific OB anyway. The only way you are guaranteed your OB is if you get induced and don't go into labor on your own first. And even though I happened to get my OB the first time, I had different OBs from the practice checking in on me when they were on call, and the one who discharged me was not my usual OB. (This time I will not get my OB unless I deliver on 5/26 or end up going in for the induction on 5/28, since she's not on-call in the interim.
Our son's pediatrician's office is different. They don't do "on call," per se, where if you call after hours you get called back by the on-call doctor (which is how my dad's and my BIL's practices work); they tell you to go to Peds Plus at the hospital (pediatric clinic) or the ER. However they open up mega early in the morning, and they each do rounds regularly. My son's specific pediatrician is awesome and saw him the day he was born, saw him early the next morning, and discharged him very early the next day. So if he told me this close to delivery that he'd be MIA, I'd be a bit miffed, especially if I were paying out-of-network co-insurance to see him. However I know a couple of the other doctors in the practice and know my baby would be ok. I appreciate that there's a big difference between that and having your baby delivered, though.
If your OB would have delivered you regardless, then that is pretty huge. If not, then maybe she assumed you're like everyone else who just has to be ok with whatever OB from the practice. She might not know about the whole insurance thing (or she might not remember, if you told her). I would say something but say it to her personally so that she can learn from it rather than get her in trouble by talking to, say, the senior doctor or practice manager. I definitely think that's worthwhile.
The other thought I had is that this may have been somewhat last-minute, and she jumped at the chance to go, which is a personal decision.
Either way, telling you earlier would have been the best policy!0 -
Congrats on the new babies for the ones who have had them :O). I'm 37 weeks and just went to a breastfeeding class, which has made me change my mind about discussing my birthing plan with doctor. We have rotating on-call docs at my hospital too, but the lactation consultant told us that babies are born with an instinct to breastfeed, but it's greatly reduced when separated from mom. They recommend having the baby laid skin-on-skin on mom's chest for the first hour so the baby can feed and then get all the tests after! Has anyone else done that?0
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Congrats on the new babies for the ones who have had them :O). I'm 37 weeks and just went to a breastfeeding class, which has made me change my mind about discussing my birthing plan with doctor. We have rotating on-call docs at my hospital too, but the lactation consultant told us that babies are born with an instinct to breastfeed, but it's greatly reduced when separated from mom. They recommend having the baby laid skin-on-skin on mom's chest for the first hour so the baby can feed and then get all the tests after! Has anyone else done that?
No, but I plan on it! Last time my son had a weird grunting cry, so they took him away rather quickly to do a pulse-ox. They were supposed to bring him right back but didn't, and I was too overwhelmed with everything to speak up. Most tests they can probably do right there, so if something like that happens again, I will speak up.
Also, if they take your baby away, they tend to just give him or her a bottle of formula and then bring him or her back all proud of the fact that they fed them to save you the trouble. That happened to me, too, so we literally didn't get to try nursing until my son was probably 5 hours old, which I think played into my production issues. They were all too happy to give him formula even though he was supposed to be exclusively breastfed. The LC gave me a hard time about it, too, but I told her to take it up with the nursery!0 -
Ok, my take on this is that chances are she's known for a while and should have said something - the question is, how soon? My and my sister"s OB was having a tummy tuck when my sister approached the end of her pregnancy, which she only told her about a couple of weeks in advance. However in her practice when you go into labor, you end up with the on-call doctor, which could be any of the seven doctors in the practice. I guess they all trust each other implicitly, or they wouldn't be in practice together. When I went into labor with my son, my OB just happened to be on call. With my sister, she couldn't get too upset because she might not have been guaranteed to have our specific OB anyway. The only way you are guaranteed your OB is if you get induced and don't go into labor on your own first. And even though I happened to get my OB the first time, I had different OBs from the practice checking in on me when they were on call, and the one who discharged me was not my usual OB. (This time I will not get my OB unless I deliver on 5/26 or end up going in for the induction on 5/28, since she's not on-call in the interim.
Our son's pediatrician's office is different. They don't do "on call," per se, where if you call after hours you get called back by the on-call doctor (which is how my dad's and my BIL's practices work); they tell you to go to Peds Plus at the hospital (pediatric clinic) or the ER. However they open up mega early in the morning, and they each do rounds regularly. My son's specific pediatrician is awesome and saw him the day he was born, saw him early the next morning, and discharged him very early the next day. So if he told me this close to delivery that he'd be MIA, I'd be a bit miffed, especially if I were paying out-of-network co-insurance to see him. However I know a couple of the other doctors in the practice and know my baby would be ok. I appreciate that there's a big difference between that and having your baby delivered, though.
If your OB would have delivered you regardless, then that is pretty huge. If not, then maybe she assumed you're like everyone else who just has to be ok with whatever OB from the practice. She might not know about the whole insurance thing (or she might not remember, if you told her). I would say something but say it to her personally so that she can learn from it rather than get her in trouble by talking to, say, the senior doctor or practice manager. I definitely think that's worthwhile.
The other thought I had is that this may have been somewhat last-minute, and she jumped at the chance to go, which is a personal decision.
Either way, telling you earlier would have been the best policy!
Thanks for your input! I agree with a lot of your points. We visited our hospital's birthing center yesterday - and after talking with the nurses, I feel much better about the whole situation. The birthing center is great - everyone is very like minded with staying out of the bed to labor, breastfeeding, using birthing balls, squat-racks, jacuzzi tubs, etc. And, even though the OB on-call will not be coming from our group, there is another group that our group partners with and the nurses had nothing but great inks to say about any of the 3 doctors we could get. Since this is our first, I wasn't aware of the role of everyone in a delivery, so I feel better now knowing that my real support team will be our nurses, and that our birth will be great either way. Besides - what can you do.
That said - I will definitely say something personally to our OB just to let her know that a heads up would have been appreciated with as much notice as possible due to the insurance situation (which she probably did forget about) and just because we do like her so much that of course we feel disappointed to know she won't be available. I think she'll appreciate hearing that and keep it in mind.
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Thanks for your input! I agree with a lot of your points. We visited our hospital's birthing center yesterday - and after talking with the nurses, I feel much better about the whole situation. The birthing center is great - everyone is very like minded with staying out of the bed to labor, breastfeeding, using birthing balls, squat-racks, jacuzzi tubs, etc. And, even though the OB on-call will not be coming from our group, there is another group that our group partners with and the nurses had nothing but great inks to say about any of the 3 doctors we could get. Since this is our first, I wasn't aware of the role of everyone in a delivery, so I feel better now knowing that my real support team will be our nurses, and that our birth will be great either way. Besides - what can you do.
That said - I will definitely say something personally to our OB just to let her know that a heads up would have been appreciated with as much notice as possible due to the insurance situation (which she probably did forget about) and just because we do like her so much that of course we feel disappointed to know she won't be available. I think she'll appreciate hearing that and keep it in mind.
Edited to fix quote markers
You're welcome! I'm glad you feel better after having gone to the birthing center. Me, I felt like my OB was basically there to "catch" the baby and not much else, at least until she gave me my stitch and called it a day... The nursing staff is really who you are dealing with primarily. Hopefully they are cool. I liked them when I visited, but the main nurse that I dealt with overnight was kind of rolling her eyes at me the whole time, like I was being a baby about being in so much pain. (Believe me, it was horrendous.) What's funny is that I remember making small talk early on, and she didn't have any kids - so how would she know how much it does or doesn't hurt? Even if she did have kids, labor is different for every woman (and with every baby), so some women could have much worse pain than she had! However, the nurse who showed up on the next shift change and helped me hold still for the epidural was a ROCK STAR. She was very reassuring and told me she knew how much it hurt, etc. She was the one who helped me clean up afterwards, and between her and the night nurse, I'd have picked her in a second for someone to be squirting warm water on my private parts while I hovered over the toilet
I think you have a good strategy about bringing it up to your doctor, though, in that you will present it like you chose her - so she is complimented 0 -
How is everyone doing? Any good news?
Still hanging out here, no baby. This morning I got some bad stomach cramps that came and went, and I had some fun in the bathroom, so I got excited for a minute that it might be the start of something, plus the timing would have been great because we could take my son to school and then go to the hospital. But alas, I was mistaken.
This afternoon at my desk I've gotten a lot of movement and pressure down below, but that's it. No painful contractions (just the usual BH). The good news is that the baby has moved down far enough that I've hardly had to take any Tums over the past few days... so that's something, I guess!
ETA that it was semi-jokingly suggested to me by our paralegal that my husband and I have sex. (Keep in mind that my husband is the other attorney in the office, so he is their other boss.) That was awkward.0 -
How is everyone doing? Any good news?
Still hanging out here, no baby. This morning I got some bad stomach cramps that came and went, and I had some fun in the bathroom, so I got excited for a minute that it might be the start of something, plus the timing would have been great because we could take my son to school and then go to the hospital. But alas, I was mistaken.
This afternoon at my desk I've gotten a lot of movement and pressure down below, but that's it. No painful contractions (just the usual BH). The good news is that the baby has moved down far enough that I've hardly had to take any Tums over the past few days... so that's something, I guess!
ETA that it was semi-jokingly suggested to me by our paralegal that my husband and I have sex. (Keep in mind that my husband is the other attorney in the office, so he is their other boss.) That was awkward.
Don't you love how pregnancy brings out the inappropriate in the people around you? The next 9 days can't go fast enough.0 -
I don't know how all of you ladies are dealing lately, but I am MISERABLE! I just need to vent for a minute if that's ok. It's been so hot here lately, which doesn't help and we only have an AC unit for our bedroom so getting any relief is difficult unless it's at night time. I'm so sick of peeing or feeling like I need to pee every 5 minutes. Just sitting in a chair hurts. I feel like I'm squishing this big baby I am carrying around. My house is a complete mess. I wish I had some sort of energy to clean...even a little bit. It doesn't help that we are scheduled to move in 9 days. I feel like I have doubled in size overnight and have nothing to wear, including bras. I feel like I am hungry and full at the same time, but the thought of cooking anything makes me want to run screaming into the other room (hubby works long hours). What's stressing me out more than anything is not knowing who is going to watch my other kiddo while I am in the hospital. We have friends in the area, but they all work or have small kiddos at home. Our closest relative is about 2 hours away. We asked my MIL and at first she said yes, but when we talked to her the other day she said as long as it's not on a Tuesday or Wednesday. My daughter's babysitter said she could, but she works Wed-Fri afternoons. I keep playing the what if game and it just stresses me out even more. As much as I hope for a quick labor, I'm hoping it will take longer, just because if it is fast I don't know what we are going to do unless I go through it alone.
Congrats to everyone that has had a baby! Sorry for the long rant/vent! I feel better though. 0 -
Nothing here! Lots of lightening pains, so I'm glad he's getting down there, but man (like others have said on this post before) - ouch!! Other than that, I'm enjoying going to work - it's nice being distracted from analyzing every little twinge like I do at home on the weekends.
Anyone else have anything exciting happening?0 -
I don't know how all of you ladies are dealing lately, but I am MISERABLE! I just need to vent for a minute if that's ok. It's been so hot here lately, which doesn't help and we only have an AC unit for our bedroom so getting any relief is difficult unless it's at night time. I'm so sick of peeing or feeling like I need to pee every 5 minutes. Just sitting in a chair hurts. I feel like I'm squishing this big baby I am carrying around. My house is a complete mess. I wish I had some sort of energy to clean...even a little bit. It doesn't help that we are scheduled to move in 9 days. I feel like I have doubled in size overnight and have nothing to wear, including bras. I feel like I am hungry and full at the same time, but the thought of cooking anything makes me want to run screaming into the other room (hubby works long hours). What's stressing me out more than anything is not knowing who is going to watch my other kiddo while I am in the hospital. We have friends in the area, but they all work or have small kiddos at home. Our closest relative is about 2 hours away. We asked my MIL and at first she said yes, but when we talked to her the other day she said as long as it's not on a Tuesday or Wednesday. My daughter's babysitter said she could, but she works Wed-Fri afternoons. I keep playing the what if game and it just stresses me out even more. As much as I hope for a quick labor, I'm hoping it will take longer, just because if it is fast I don't know what we are going to do unless I go through it alone.
Congrats to everyone that has had a baby! Sorry for the long rant/vent! I feel better though.
Rant away! This is the place to do it! Sorry that the weather isn't cooperating for you! And a move in 9 days?? Yikes - that's a lot going on at once. Is this an in-city move? That is some crazy timing.
And the scheduling game sounds very stressful - I know there are other moms on this board who can respond better to the headache of who will watch younger children while you're in labor - so as a FTM I won't try to give advice, but just say to hang in there - I hope things sort themselves out!0 -
Nothing thrilling here. I've got lots of lower abdominal pressure, and I'm crampy like before I start. So I know I'm gearing up for baby's debut, but nothing to rush off to the hospital or call the Dr about. My next appt is Friday (assuming I make it until then) guess I'll find out then if all this pressure has accomplished anything. I've upped my red raspberry leaf tea to 3 cups a day, got my house as cleaned up as it's going to get with 2 toddlers running around, all the laundry is done, everyone's bags are packed, baby crib is ready, infant carseat is strapped in.....anything anyone can think of that I've forgotten to do?! I cant think of anything else; though I wish I could so I could keep up my frantic pace to pass the time!!! Full moon this weekend!!! Fingers crossed that it will do the trick for all of us 0
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Congrats on the new babies for the ones who have had them :O). I'm 37 weeks and just went to a breastfeeding class, which has made me change my mind about discussing my birthing plan with doctor. We have rotating on-call docs at my hospital too, but the lactation consultant told us that babies are born with an instinct to breastfeed, but it's greatly reduced when separated from mom. They recommend having the baby laid skin-on-skin on mom's chest for the first hour so the baby can feed and then get all the tests after! Has anyone else done that?
Hey Becca,
That's standard practice here in BC, in fact they are trying to keep csection Mamas with their babies too. They also have a donor milk bank as well. Interesting all the options that are out there that we don't know about!0 -
Hey ladies, how are you doing??
I'm done, done, done. I feel like my tummy is going to split open. Not sleeping...no position is comfortable. Even sitting sucks, but I've found that sitting on the exercise ball is best.
Misery loves company, who's feeling the same?
I'll be 39 weeks on Monday. Oh my lord, if I go 12 days past my due date I might have a breakdown.
YUP. I was so happy to set an induction date because now I have an end-date-certain. I'll be 39 weeks on Sunday. SO DONE.
For the past few nights I've actually had to get up in the middle of the night to pee (I had managed to avoid that by avoiding liquids past 8PM) because having anything in my bladder means too much compression down there and PAIN. I told my husband that last night I even laid awake for a few trying to determine if I was having contractions when I remembered from my childbirth class (in November 2010...) that you should pee first before you determine you're in labor. Lo and behold, I peed and felt a million times better.
Today I lost what little mucus plug I probably had left today, most likely due to the fact that my OB was messing with my cervix yesterday, but part of me is holding out hope that this means the real thing is close. (There's a big part of me that feels like I'm just playing the waiting game until my induction date.)
But I am NEVER comfortable anymore. At least a few weeks ago I could find maybe one position that was doable, but not anymore. Sitting hurts because everything is compressed. Standing hurts my back, hips, and legs. Walking hurts. I can't lie on my back, but if I could, I'm sure it would hurt because lying on either side hurts.
I have one more scheduled OB appointment (next Wednesday) before my induction date the following Tuesday. I'm wondering if I really have to bother with a pelvic check because what is it going to tell me other than I'm close and could go at any moment - just like now? I'll either go into labor on my own, or I won't, and doing a pelvic check isn't going to tell me which one is the case. All it's going to do is make me uncomfortable again. (I do understand that I should come in to have my BP and urine checked, but I'm not really sure what the point in the pelvic check is anymore.)
Sorry you're not feeling well either.....hang in there!!! It's interesting your point on vaginal checks. They don't do them here until you're overdue. When I told this to family back home, they are like " OMG.....they are so behind the times up there!"
But really......aren't they just avoiding false hope?? I mean I guess I don't see the point unless there are medical concerns that can be answered with a vaginal check. Have vaginal checks actual given you accurate news or am I missing something?0 -
@LadyJocc - I would be FURIOUS!!! LIVID!! Pissed even....and I'm pretty sure I would let her know just how peeved I was. I am so sorry she's done that to you. How unsettling right before an impending birth!
Thank you! I've been getting progressively more upset by it since she told us yesterday - and I told my husband that I think I have to say someone - if nothing else then as a courtesy for her (since she is younger) in her future dealings with patients.
Glad to hear I'm not crazy for being angry!
What??!! That's total BS, I'd be pissed!0 -
Sorry you're not feeling well either.....hang in there!!! It's interesting your point on vaginal checks. They don't do them here until you're overdue. When I told this to family back home, they are like " OMG.....they are so behind the times up there!"
But really......aren't they just avoiding false hope?? I mean I guess I don't see the point unless there are medical concerns that can be answered with a vaginal check. Have vaginal checks actual given you accurate news or am I missing something?
I don't think that's behind the times. Some doctors and midwives in the US don't do them, either. All it does is tell you how dilated and effaced you are (or are not). I'm not really sure what the point is other than for informational purposes. You can be 1cm dilated and go into labor the next day, or you can walk around at 3-4cm for a couple of weeks. Also, she said that most women aren't fully effaced until they're already in labor, so there's no need to be concerned that I'm still hanging out at about 70%.
Since they pretty much start doing pelvic checks at 36 weeks, maybe for the first week they would try to delay your labor, but if you went into labor after that, they wouldn't stop it, so I'm not sure what they are supposed to tell you. If they want to know what your baby's position is, they can probably determine that externally, but I guess the internal check tells them if the head is right there.
Check this out: http://www.childbirth.org/articles/VE.html
ETA that the article is right about the false hope thing!0
