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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Baby refusing to make an appearance!

46 replies

Sam29 · 08/03/2003 13:55

Maybe I am being a little over anxious but am two days over due date and desperate to avoid being induced! Have tried the hot curry and sex (no mean feat at the moment!!) but baby refusing to move........ any ideas which might work?

OP posts:

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mears · 08/03/2003 14:05

Don't get over anxious sam49. Very few babies come on their due date. Babies very often don't arrive spontaneously until at least 10 days past their date. Relax for another week before worrying about trying to get into labour. Keep up the sex though

Original poster

Sam29 · 08/03/2003 14:17

Not sure I can cope with trying sex again though sure dh would appreciate the suggestion! Am sure baby getting bigger by the day and I am going to give birth to some 10lb monster! Also know I cannot have the long wished for water birth if I am induced via drip.

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SofiaAmes · 08/03/2003 15:04

Sam29....I was 10 days late with my first and he didn't come out enormous (just 8 lbs). I remember distinctly feeling just like you do and saying something to a doctor who assured me that no one has ever been 44 weeks pregnant. For some reason (I think it was my pregnancy adled brain) that actually gave me some consolation. By the way we tried everything including hot curries every meal, sex all the time and all the speed bumps in london at full speed in a car with no suspension....
p.s. I didn't need to be induced.

viksy · 08/03/2003 16:37

Walking. The week before I gave birth I done a 30 min walk (to local shops & back)everyday. The day I went into labour I did it twice (needed extra munchies!!) I also bopped round the room like a crazed raver to MTV, which my sister was horrified at, it worked though went into labour 3hrs later Good luck.

batey · 08/03/2003 18:06

Manic cleaning of the kitchen floor got my dd2 on the way, I think there's something useful in being down on all fours that helps the baby get into position.Try not to worry though, get plenty of rest too.

Claireandrich · 08/03/2003 19:22

Sam29 - I was 14 days overdue by time DD arrived. I was induced at 12 days OD as she was too lazy to arrive on her own too! Mind you, even the induction didn't encourage in that department either. LOL!!! We tried absolutely everything to get her going too. However, she wasn't a big baby either - just 6lb 15oz! I felt that I was huge though. I carried her all at the front and from the side must have looked massive!

Good luck!

Podmog · 08/03/2003 19:36

Message withdrawn

sb34 · 08/03/2003 22:45

Message withdrawn

jona · 08/03/2003 22:49

Go to the hairdressers! I went the day before two of my children were born. Don't know whether it's the head massage whilst having my hair washed, the walk to and from (about 15 minutes each way)or the satisfaction that my hair looked nice for all the photos to be taken on the imminent arrival!! It worked for me...

Chinchilla · 08/03/2003 22:54

Two days is nothing for your first baby! Mine was nearly three weeks overdue. If you don't want to be induced, you don't have to. My antenatal doctor said that I could wait until I started by myself, as long as I had weekly scans and regular monitoring. (However, the scan showed that all my amniotic fluid had gone, so I did have to be induced). I totally sympathise with you, as the waiting is horrible, and you must be feeling uncomfortable.

One thing is for sure, the baby will come when it is ready, and not before. I found my area antenatal doctors a bit trigger happy when it came to my induction, but I held my ground, and they backed down. When it finally had to happen, at least I knew that it really was in the interests of the baby, and not just because it was more convenient for the hospital.

Keep your chin up, and make the most of your last few days! Make a plan to do something really nice later this week, and you can bet that the baby will come! Really wish you all the best for the birth.

Podmog · 09/03/2003 07:00

Message withdrawn

robinw · 09/03/2003 07:36

message withdrawn

Hughsie · 09/03/2003 08:44

A friend of mine swears by eating pineapple - a whole fresh pineapple! Quite refreshing and preferable to the sex option I'd say. Apparently stimulation of the nipples also naturally produces the hormome to activate labour so your partner can do that instead!! Good luck - I was 4 days late with my first and had a curry on the night I went into labour - coincidence I think!!

Janeway · 09/03/2003 18:12

ds was early, but started his arrival very quickly after I'd spent the evening laughing uncontrolably at Bill Bryson's "Down Under" - even if it doesn't work, you'll have fun passing the time till your wee one decides to arrive.

pupuce · 09/03/2003 20:24

Sam29 - the average gestational age for a baby is 41 weeks... so you've not reached the average yet

But I know how you feel.... we just "expect " the baby on a certain day... and then the day passes..........

Oh and BTW you can go up to 43 weeks!

Inkpen · 10/03/2003 11:16

Jona - I didn't even need to GO to the hairdressers. Just making the appointment was enough! First time I landed in hospital with early contractions (31 weeks), second time I went into labour about ten hours before the appointment ... Don't know what they thought of me at the salon. Every time I made an appointment my mum had to ring up saying, sorry to cancel, she's gone into hospital ...

kaz33 · 10/03/2003 11:19

Curry worked for me - went into labour at 1am, 5 hours later.

lalaa · 10/03/2003 13:15

Big walk up a hill so you get a good workout!

bundle · 10/03/2003 13:21

I heard that just 2% of women deliver on their 'due' date. A friend tried acupuncture (done by a midwife from her own hospital, but privately, so she read through notes thoroughly first) but didn't appear to work 2nd time around, and needed induction

concorde · 10/03/2003 13:35

Try to have a bonk, it will be a long time before you will be able to!!! Sam29 you've gone very quiet or else you've gone into labour - espcially if you have being trying out all of these suggestions, another one I have heard of it castor oil and orange juice, this is a sure thing to get things moving downstairs - lets hope if will get the baby moving

Cha · 10/03/2003 15:40

I did the castor oil thing after being 10 days overdue and it did make things start to happen. HOWEVER, what started stopped a few hours later - this went on for 2 days and the midwives called it 'false labour'. One said that castor oil irritates the uterus (says on the bottle not to take if you are pregnant) but this does not mean it starts labour properly. I had a nightmare time with this false labour malarchy (2 nights without sleep) and when I eventually did go into proper labour - beginning of the 3rd day - I was exhausted. DD was born at 9pm that night and if I hadn't drained the last mililitre of energy all the way up from my big toe for the final push, I would have had to have had forceps. So IMO, keep off the castor oil...
I tried everything else too - I walked round the park 3 times a day, star jumps, curries, horrible uncomfortable sex, crawling around on all fours - the works. Nothing happened. She was 12 days 'overdue' and that was when she wanted to come. This time round (am 15 weeks pg) I will not be in such a hurry - I know what to expect and I ain't mad keen on making it come any sooner!

Original poster

Sam29 · 10/03/2003 18:07

Thanks for all of those, someone else said to me today to book something nice for later in the week as this will guarantee baby's arrival! So, yes, am still here, see midwife tomorrow to talk about being induced but am heartened to hear that some of you have lasted out in the face of pressure from hospital. For sake of my own sanity (and dh's) I think I will give in by 12 days over at latest!

OP posts:

Azure · 11/03/2003 10:25

Cha - interesting to hear what you say about castor oil. I took castor oil in orange juice when I was 3 days overdue and contractions started for a few hours then stopped. I tried again 2 days later, which started the labour properly. Unfortunately it then took 20 hours and forceps before DS was born (I was rushed up to theatre for an emergency c-section but luckily that wasn't needed). Maybe the castor oil wasn't such a good thing. Sam29 - good luck. You'll soon have your baby with you no matter what.

mum2toby · 11/03/2003 11:06

RASPBERRY HERBAL TEA!!! I swear by it. I drank 3 cups, 5 days before my due date and my waters broke 3 hours later!!!!
I was already in hospital coz my BP was up and I had to hide the tea from the Midwives coz they gave me a row for drinking it!!

emmakate · 11/03/2003 11:29

don't forget that whilst the gestation period in the UK is set at 40 weeks, most of the world work to 42 weeks (even in France) !!
If things get really uncomfortable for you and you feel "ready" to have your baby then try the homoeopathic remedy Caulophyllum in 200 potency (Neals Yard sells it). Best of luck!!!

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