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.

Congratulations dolly, well done!! 10cm on gas and air is amazing, shame about the spinal, episiotomy and shoulder dystocia. Hope none of it spoils your delicious newborn snuggles.

That's the theory with the curry eating etc- irritate the gut and stimulate the uterus. Total rubbish seemed like!!

fliss, Oooh, you got even more than me!! I managed to push out my placenta after they failed with the managed third stage in my pph :-) . Except you are all clued up and home birthing and i am ELCS ing... Not that a twin home birth is a good plan!

Roll call.
Where's arti?
What's happening with your waters feek?
Anyone hear from lemele?

Well spoke to the assessment unit and i've to keep active today if I feel okay and its not gushing in the hope things will kick off naturally then go in this afternoon and they'll check whether its fluid. Seems to trickle out more when i'm lying down rather than standing up tho which is confusing me.

Hi guys! I've not got the energy to read everyone's comments since last here but here's a brief update from me... :)

Twin boys born day before yesterday (28th) at 12:38 and 12:47am via VBAC weighing 7lb 2 and 7lb 12oz First one got a bit stuck when his head was about a third out so had episiotomy then he came out all in one push, second one had help with kiwi ventouse to ensure he came quickly and the right way round and was also born all at once. Absolutely huge placenta with the fattest umbilical cords I've ever seen came soon after!

And you know... The feeling of having them born onto my chest was the BEST thing I have ever experienced in my life! [tears up thinking about it]

So now we're home and doing great and I am so unbelievably happy that I managed to get my VBAC, it was wonderful.

2 7lb twins? nice one!

Been on a nice long walk this morning....nothing. Midwife this aft for another lecture no doubt. grump

Lemele What fantastic weights - and home after getting your VBAC I am so pleased for you :)

feekerry, mine went the same way with DC3, trickled from about 6am, contractions finally got going at about 5pm, the head blocks off the cervix when you are standing acting like a plug, so when you lie down it moves away hence the trickle resumes!

Thats as it was explained to me anyway! Mine started to gush with each contraction though when things ramped up! Good luck!

Ah okay more that maybe explains it as I was about to cancel my appt with midwife this afternoon as been out and about all day and had zero leakage so was thinking maybe a non starter but was def def leaking when in bed this morning. Suppose they might get me to lie down and cough or something to check. Must say tho have had zero pains, cramps or anything so prob just pissed myself or something!:-) lemele i'm crying reading that your post. That is so lovely. Well done. X

Lemele what a beautiful post about cuddling your twins on your chest, huge congratulations (wipes away tear)

You will be my inspiration to get me through my own labour, if you can VB two 7+ pounders and be so happy, I've (hopefully) got nothing to worry about when birthing just the one! Awwww lovely!

All the info about induction processes from various posters has made very interesting reading, is it ever possible to competely refuse an induction and insist on a caesarian if you go massively overdue? Because I really, really, REALLY don't want an induction, should it come to that. I know they cannot force you to do anything you don't ant to, so if you moaned loudly enough, would the CS be offered?! and at what level of overdue-ness? All info gratefully received as my previous two were 42-weekers and I was getting a bit panicky, so better to be prepared and more knowledgeable this time

I am 3 days overdue! Poo.

oh, well done lemele, , what fabulous weights. Were you only 37 weeks too? And your VBAC sounds great, good for you!

feek, I got gushes both standing and lying, but the head theory makes sense to me. I think mine were more standing as DD was back to back, no not optimal head-on-cervix position anyway. Hope all goes well with the mw this pm

All these babies arriving, I'm desperate to meet mine now!!!

TwoPeas The way I see it, is if you go over 42 weeks and take expectant management and that shows there is a problem with the baby (eg failing placenta, reduced fluid) then the baby's health is compromised already and therefore the most sensible and safe option for the baby would be to deliver immediately via CS than to put them through an induction which could easily take days meaning baby may not have the reserves to cope.

If however, with EM there is no sign of a problem, then you'd just carry on watching and waiting.

That's my take on it anyway. I won't accept induction this time for being 'overdue'.

Sorry to disappear and I haven't had time to catch up properly - big congrats to all the new arrivals and cheer-leading for those on the way!

So in a nutshell, we escaped the ELCS by a matter of hours. The potted version is that I had niggling pains all Tues evening, I went to bed and it got more painful; by 11.30 contractions were coming every 10 minutes. I also noticed that baby seemed very wriggly, a feeling which made me uneasy (still don't know if it was relevant but I didn't like it instinctively). Called the hospital who said I could go in or wait a couple of hours - so glad I went in! By the time I got there at midnight, contractions were two minutes apart. I was 4cm by 1.30am and then at 3am they said I was fully dilated - bearing in mind that DS1 took three days, this was a bit of a shock, I can tell you! At this point baby's heart-rate plummeted and wouldn't recover (turned out he had the cord round his neck) and so he was delivered with ventouse to get him out. As a result I tore quite badly and needed stitching up in surgery but DS2 was absolutely fine, screaming his head off, 8lb10oz and he's lovely. Surprisingly I'm feeling okay at the moment.

Everything a bit crazy now but will check back to see how you're all going!

Fliss I will commit that to long term memory (eg. if they say "we NEED to induce now" I can say about it potentially taking days, and thus my answer is no), as last pregnancy they 'booked me in anyway' for an induction I was refusing to have...DD came day before, so I didnt have to put my foot down, and never got to the stage of choosing exp.management instead.

But it helps me to have a plan of action- expectant monitoring, with CS if any decline in the situation, I too shall refuse induction based on just being overdue. Thanks for that, its clarified it, because both times before I found it difficult to explain that I would not be following the route the midwives proposed!

I think the only issues I have around childbirth are my rights to refuse vaginal examination (with DD2 the midwife said I 'had to have one before she knew if it was OK for me to push'... I was already pushing, and would have punched her in the head been mightily pissed off, if I hadnt been MUCH more assertive than I was with DD1's birth, and I refused any examinations. Also, ventouse scares me, but understand sometimes it is absolutely necessary, so fair enough. But I really have a bee in my bonnet over induction, even the success stories/more 'pleasant' experiences of it still seem too rushed and forced to me.

TwoPeas I will say, that's not based on any medical evidence or knowledge, simply my own thoughts on common sense and having had an induction for being overdue myself.

It just doesn't make sense to me to not get baby out ASAP if there is an indication of a problem, and if the medics are willing to let it take a few days which induction can then to me it would suggest that the problem isn't so bad IYSWIM but that has to be a decision each woman makes for herself and isn't any sort of recommendation on my part for anyone but myself!

I'm planning to refuse any VEs this time around unless there's a need for one, should be interesting (I've not mentioned it to DH yet, it's in his copy of the birth plan which he shall be given once I go into labour, he's well versed in most of it...just not that bit as he already thinks I'm being an awkward bugger)

artifarti Congratulations :) Hope you recover from the tear quickly!

Ooo lots of babies at last! Congratulations to all :)
I had my second sweep this morning and the midwife was utterly fab. The good news is I'm now 2-3, she could have stretched more but my waters suddenly started bulging and she pulled her hand away pretty sharpish. She said she could see I looked very tense and that I needed to relax to let my body do what it needs to. Monday induction has now been put back til Wednesday!!! as apparently they're too full on Monday. I've been told I can possibly skip the queue if I want by ringing up on Sunday morning and seeing if there's room. And she's said no pessaries, just waters breaking. I was having very real, regular contractions for all of yesterday afternoon and evenng, which have just started up again so fingers crossed. It would be lovely if it happened tomorrow as it's my dad's birthday.

Your sweep sounds more favourable than mine fuckity and I gave birth 14 hours later so fingers crossed for you ! x

hey guys,
more babies hooray!!
well im with twopeas and 3days overdue!was convinced i was gonna go early with this one.had a sweep yesterday but midwife said she couldnt do a "proper" one cos my cervix is still high and tilted to the back slightly.
feeling extremely pissed off and fed up :( got lots of backache and tightenings and can barely walk!!

ye arti!! i had a feeling you had sneezed!!!

well my 'waters leaking' turned out to be nothing. midwife couldn't see anything other than watery discharge. so still no further forward here.

will be +12 tomorrow. fuck sake.

Hi everyone, hope you don't mind me joining you.

Huge congrats to those who now have snuggly babes :)

I am 37 + 2 so got a while yet although am 'technically' full term so hoping baby decides to make an early appearance as feeling so fed up now.

Not likely though as my first 2 children were born at 42 weeks and then 41 + 5 weeks so I have a history of cooking babies a little longer.

Hello blackeyed, welcome! I'm 37+1...

Congratulations arti, sounds blooming stressful though. Thank goodness for a happy, healthy ds2, hurrah!!

Bit of a shock here today - having assumed (been told) everything was 100% normal and the baby's head was engaged up to now (40+4), the midwife I saw today started pulling faces and sent me straight to the triage at hospital for a scan. Turns out the baby's totally breech, with it's feet by its face!? I thought the 'bum' felt a bit hard under my ribs....So I'm booked to try turning it, which seems a bit pointless at this stage, and if that fails, I'm to have a CS. Also, if I do go into labour, it's straight to CS as there's not a great deal of hope of me delivering vaginally like that.

I now realise I know nothing about ceseareans...or how it might affect breastfeeding and so on. it was always a worst case scenario as I lead a very active life/have a physical job and feel like I'll just be in bed for a year or something. I also wanted to get pregnant again fairly quickly after the first IF I felt able...guess that's out aswell.

Oh more babies are here

Congratulations, people

MW tells me that the baby is back to back. I'm gutted, I had a fucking horrendous delivery with DS1 because he was b2b. Tried everything to shift him the right way last time and nothing worked, he came out stargazing. SPD is seriously limiting my options RE floor scrubbing and ball-bouncing. Shit it. :(

seemedlike, they recommend 12 months between pregnancies after a CS. Low success rate of ECV after 38 weeks I thought... Shouldn't affect bf though can take a little longer for your milk to come in, but my step sister had 2xemcs, 1x ELCS (as she'd had two CS by then so no vbac allowed) and was pregnant when her eldest was 10 months after the first and 11 months after the second, so all close together. She said her milk came in on 5th day every time and ebf the lot. A bf pillow to position well may help for soreness post op with feeding? If you're fit and active going into a CS you'll hopefully bounce back well. No lifting etc of course. ELCS has much better outcomes than emcs from what I've read. So don't panic!! (That's what I'm telling myself as I'm going ELCS not induction in 5 days) . fliss is a wealth of knowledge on vb, wonder if she knows about CS?

Good to know BF is possible! Yeah I don't hold out much hope for turning, it just doesnt make sense there'd be enough room now I'm overdue!? I'm kinda hoping my waters will break sooner and we can just get it over a done with, although from reading the CS thread on here, think I need to stock up on lactulose, windeeze and arnica first!

Crikey seemed thats quite a thing to discover when your 40 weeks plus!x

Oh so great to hear of more babies arriving

arti congrats on your DS .

Lemele wow, congrats on your twin boys - what a great story! You must be totally exhilarated about vbacing the two of them!! I am still thrilled by my vbac last Sun so can only imagine how you must feel...enjoy the double dose of newborn snuggles.

daydreamdolly big congratulations on your DD . Sounds like you had quite a time of it, but now you're at the smitten stage I hope it's all receding.

Seemedlikeaguididea crikey, what a shock! It goes to show that it's really hard to tell breech without a scan. OK, on a c-section, I had an EMCS with DS and I would definitely say an ELCS would be better (if you scroll back you'll find a lovely description of an ELCS birth with Kenobi I think it was?).

An EMCS will mean you've laboured, which means you'll be more knackered and scared. If it was me, I'd prefer to go straight to a planned section. The surgery itself is major and I found the recovery a challenge but it's doable (I just hate when people make it sound super easy, cos it's not!). In terms of BFing, it won't affect your milk coming in (the removal of the placenta is what triggers milk to come in, so it doesn't matter how it's removed iyswim). But your scar can mean certain positions are easier, eg I liked the rugby hold quite a lot in the early days and didn't learn to feed lying down until about 9-10 weeks post-birth. It may be worth checking out a site like Kellymom so you're clued up on some tips on how to manage. I would definitely recommend a good support pillow (I used by pregnancy dream genii one) to help support the baby.

The fact that you're physically fit should help with recovery, but do give take it easy. Take the painkillers prescribed, rest up and you'll soon be back to yourself.

One of my colleagues gave birth to her son who was breech, as no one spotted it until she arrived at hospital in labour. She was 3cm on admittance and was pushing him out 40 mins later - she said she found the birth fine (faster and more straightforward than her first) but the staff were freaking her out by being so completely panicked at the situation.

OK, sorry for the ramble! And sorry for the radio silence. I ended up being readmitted to hospital on Tuesday afternoon after a rapid temp rise. My hospital were worried about sepsis and retained products etc so I've had lots of tests, scans (including a transvaginal one, which I thought would be awful after the episotomy but was thankfully fine) and enough antibiotics to fell a horse (and am still on the orally now - have to set my alarm to take them in the middle of the night!). My hands are nicely decorated with bruises from all the cannulas and blood tests! But it was actually fine, as I had a side room (en suite and all) as I was deemed an infection risk. So I felt like it was more like a hotel than the usual post-natal ward sleepness! But we were delighted to get out yesterday and managed to enjoy some of the heatwave today .

Hope to find more babies born when I check back in! C'mon babies!