Right, someone convince me it's not long now...please!

[MidnightinMoscow]

I am 38+3 with DC2. Hoping for a VBAC after an EMCS for DC1 with who I got to 9cm's with.

I have had period cramps for over a week, two lots of plug coming away and last night lots of tight feelings high in my bump. The period like cramps are really painful and often are alongside sharp pains down below.

I have a week to go into labour, otherwise I am booked for a CS. I am so fed up of symptom spotting and being in this 'is it- is it not?' place. I went into labour at 38+4 with DC1.

So someone come along and tell me lie to me that todays the day.

Chicken dhansak, disappointingly weak gin and tonic and I've just used the very last of my anti-stretch mark cocoa butter (for all the good it did me). So baby will definitely be here by the morning. There is no question about it.

I'm with u Arti except it was chilli and a glass of ice cold Sauv Blanc. Oh and a heartburn tablet. I know how to live.
Fuckity sadly I'm not off food. Have managed 4 3 of DD's Easter cakes today

Fuckity Nope, no sign of being off my food here today. I have started feeling a bit sick in the last 5 minutes or so though. To be honest, I'm fed up of wondering when it's all going to happen and I've not even reached my EDD yet. My lower back is burning from carrying this weight and the inside of my thighs feel like I've been booted repeatedly for hours - I expect to feel like this after but not before.

Fliss do you have a Tens machine you could use? I've found it's really helped my backache. I'm with you on the feeling kicked though, that's how I feel when I get up in the night. It's horrible, I have to brace myself against the wall before I can walk. No appetite at all here, though I think maybe I'm coming down with somehting as I feel like I'm going to be on the loo all night Yuck. I think it's off to bed with a hot water bottle for me.

no no no no no. Ladies, really, no-one is coming down with anything, bar a baby after an unplanned sneeze home-birth perhaps.

fuckity I am borrowing one from a friend, but I've not got round to sending DH over for it yet (I don't drive, he does). You have reminded me about my wheat bag though, so I shall bung that in the microwave soon and head up to bed.

I actually feel like I could do with a bloody good cry, so I might go and watch Sport Relief and see if that gets me going. I did DH a favour and washed his youth team's football kit this week ready for tomorrow to save him taking it to the dry cleaners and back (and so that he could use that time to take me to get my pool) and he's packed it away tonight and the goalie top is still marked. That nearly set me off, he got a bit of a grump on so it's back in the wash and hopefully it'll be dry by morning.

And now the bastard moped rider is back out again - every night between about mid March and September there is this utter, utter arsehole who lives somewhere near me who insists on riding the worlds noisiest moped around from about 6pm (although it was 4pm today) until anywhere up to 2am. Round and round and round. Never actually goes anywhere. We've been here 5 years, and it's the same every bloody year. If it wouldn't destroy me to walk to the end of the driveway and throw rocks scream abuse at him/her then I would. I assume they must have all of the relevant paperwork for the bike so there's nothing the police can do (I can't be the only person in the whole town who's stabby about this idiot)

Feeling like you're going to be on the loo all night is a good sign - emptying the old bowels is a sign of impending labour (fingers crossed for that, and not a bug!)

Meh, just checking in for today. My day of activity resulted in nothing but a good nights sleep. Will try again today. Hope everyone else is having babies. X

No babies here. No cramps in the night neither. Just a 4am wide awake call. Watched crap telly downstairs.

Today's agenda = local shops (expecting the gasps "you must be due, when is your due date" me: "been and gone" reply " more gasps, shouldn't you be at home resting in case your waters break, yadda yadda yadda...."). Then potter in garden, nap, take dd over to friends to play while I eat cake (banana cake made yesterday). Hot curry, sex, early night.

Good plan?

Sounds good joy. I'm 41 weeks tomorrow so really trying everything now. My plan is pretty much same as yours for today. Tho I dont think i'll be popping to the shops as my 'mask of pregnancy' is so bad this morning I look like I have a tropical disease! Lol. Have good day everyone. Will check in later to see if anyone has sneezed.

Just a quick check for labouring people... I'd throw stones fliss, or booby trap the road and hope they'd write it off and be uninjured but never able to pay their new higher insurance premiums :-)

No baby here either and another terrible night of sleep. Arghhhh. Wonderful mil is coming to the rescue again by taking the dc for lunch and a run around in the sunshine so I can rest. I really must buy her the biggest box of chocs in the world. I'm a bit worried babys movements may have slowed down a litle so I'm going to have a v cold drink and see if that wakes him up, if not it's up to the unit for us rather than an afternoon of sleep. I think my mind's just distracted and he probably just has less room to move. It feels like I really have doubled in bump size the last few weeks, I'm thinking this baby won't be as small as everyone was predicting.

Still preggo here. Bad nights sleep, dead achy legs and period pains all night. Just having a pedicure as we speak and off for a sunshine walk and pub lunch later.
40+8 and resigned to being pregnant forever.

No baby here either. 40+7. Awake from 3.30am working myself into a fury that I can't just go into labour like everyone else. Then DS woke at 5.50am so I started panicking about how the hell we are going to cope with that every morning when feeding half the night. Fortunately at this point DP packed me off back to bed for a couple of hours so I feel a bit more sane now.

Enjoy the sunny day everyone - or alternatively go into labour and relish the pain .

I'd just like to say to those of you trying the old wives tale natural induction methods, don't bother.

They don't work and you don't have to do anything - these babies come when the time is right. I just get a bit at couples forcing themselves to have uncomfy sex for the sole reason of getting the baby out, or women taking knackering long walks or eating tonnes of curry or pineapple. Please don't.

NONE OF IT WORKS!

If it did, no-one would ever need to go for medical induction and all those things would be banned until 37w

Uncomfortable and boring as it is, do nothing. Go and sit in the sun, enjoy a drink and an ice cream. Save your energy because the arrival of a new baby (or two) is only a few days away for all of us

Here here Fliss. Every time some random well meaning person tells me to go on a bumpy car ride, I smile and say 'none of that works, these babies come when they are ready!'
Only going on a walk cos I fancy it and want to get DD out in the fresh air.
Got bloody mucus plug coming away today, good sign do we think? Gah, who knows?!

God yes, I tried everything to get DS out and nothing made the slightest difference (other than a surgeon's knife at 40+17 ). There is no way I'm doing The Sex but yes, a nice walk in the sun towards some cake might be in order later.

Bloody mucus plug sounds promising Daydream!

I'm 40+5 today with my first today, and am beginning to feel self-conscious because I feel absolutely fine, compared to the majority of people's posts on here! I'm still working most days from home, am sleeping better than I have in ages, I don't feel uncomfortably huge, I have reasonable amounts of energy - I ran up two escalators in Waterloo tube station the other night because I was late, and have just taken apart and rebuilt the cot - the baby is active and in the right position etc etc. I'm just worried I'll never go into labour!

Or that feeling fine now is some kind of appalling foreboding that I'm going to have the labour from hell, because the rest of you seem to have got some of your suffering out of the way in advance! Aaargh.

Totally agree that none of the old wives tales work!

With DS, I tried them all (except castor oil...which I managed to get my hands on but chickened out of using!). And I spent the last two weeks of my pregnancy just hating the fact that I wasn't in labour yet. Went a bit mental really (thought I'd be pregnant forever) and it kind of wrecked what had been an otherwise easy pregnancy. This time, I'm trying to enjoy it as I know I'll get a baby eventually.

Having said that, the lack of sleep, fanjo and periody pain is killing me and I'm super narky with DH today. The flat is also a tip and I've decided I Must Fill The Freezer With Spag Bol/Shepherds Pie/Lasagne tonight - feeling more tired and narky just thinking about it!

So am also losing quite a lot of bloody mucous today - i love a good show!

Yesterday's appointment went quite well - cervix was 1cm dilated, soft, and 1cm in length (though still posterior) so sweep was successful. Had forgotten how weird it feels to have a sweep! Baby is also now 3/5ths palpable and in an OK position - apparently the baby is LOLing away in there (left occiput lateral). Am relieved as the midwife at my last appointment was freaking me about about baby being posterior.

So of course I got all hopeful that today would herald some labour action. But then I remembered I had three sweeps with DS (including one that caused me to have a bloody show) that didn't work so am feeling less hopeful now!

And, most cruelly of all, our broadband has been down until just now. Thank god Virgin fixed it or I'd have gone mad constantly re-reading my pregnancy week by week book instead of googling and MNing.

Hope there's some good labour action going on (fuckity? dolly? joy? arti? surely someone's got to sneeze soon!).

Nothing here, lovely warm day though. Curry is being had tonight, but more as dp needs no excuse Still off my food tbh, and have spent far too much of today thining that I could still be pregnant next weekend, despite being 41 weeks today. Luckily now people realise I'm so close people have been rallying round, I have had lots of offers to take dd to school next week which I am shamelessly going to accept.

Dont worry hardcheese i'm 40+6 and also feel totally fine. Sleep all night mostly and apart from being a bit large mostly forget i'm pregnant. Then I remember i'm nearly a week over due and this feels like its never going to happen. Totally agree that nothing works re natural induction methods. Ate a load of fecking pineapple earlier and its done some kind of damage to my mouth so have since given up and lying in the garden on the sun lounger getting burnt and having a rather large glass of wine. What will be will be.

Had a lovely day, but clearly not in labour.....
Atv least the sun is shining. However I have no suitable clothes. Thought this one would arrive in late feb at the earliest, or stratish of march so wasn't banking on 25 degree sunshine!!!!

Hardcheese am of your feeling great - that was me up until a week ago, when I got a horrible cold (which included losing my voice for a couple of days). Enjoy the sleep, as you'll be well rested for labour and the newborn stage!

Fuckity that's lovely that people are offering to step in and help with your DD. Am glad you're taking them up on the offers!

Joy also no suitable clothes - was sweating buckets walking to yoga this morning in my layers and coat

Feek urrgh, hot weird pineapple mouth - I remember it well from my last pregnancy

So, ladies who've had waters rupture in the past, did you feel anything? Total TMI alert but I went to the bathroom a while ago and things were normal. But since then I've had mini gushes of liquid...kind of like the leaking if you sneeze or cough but I've not been sneezing or coughing. That's not waters going is it? I'm assuming it's wee...had my waters ruptured artificially with DS so have no idea!

Flip that could be your waters! Put a pad on and (I know I know, gross alert) once you've had a few gushes then give it a sniff, amniotic fluid is sweet smelling. Have heard it can come out in small gushes or dribbles not necessarily a big unmistakeable gush. Mine broke in labour with DD so I don't really remember how it felt cos I was in full blown labour and a bit distracted. Really hope it was your waters!
Nothing to report here apart from steadily losing bloody mucous plug and having lots of BH's. Don't seem to be going into labour tonight that's for sure. DH reckons that I won't go into labour and will be turning up for my induction next Friday at 40+14

Ooh flip I have no experience of waters going but sounds promising. Have you tried lying down for bit then getting up and seeing what happens?

Flip Ooh I hope it is your waters (soon to be followed by ctx) and not your bladder giving up I had ARM last time too so no idea but it sounds hopeful

I feel odd tonight. Bit backachey, nauseous, dry mouth, not hungry (very unlike me) movements feel 'strange' (not worrying, just strange) and feel very weird in the fanoir. I did have a feel up there earlier (have been 'self assessing' or at least attempting to since 37w) and things are definitely different, my non expert opinion was now 2cm but as someone who has had a baby before that's not unusual.

Just fed up of all this bloody guesswork.

I'd be very pleased if DC2 decides tonight is the night but I daren't hope for it, am still going to be shocked by anything less than 40+16.