36+5 and becoming obsessed with going into labour!

[eiysmummyc]

From being about 35 weeks all I can think about is going into labour on time! This is my second child, and with my first I was induced. Although I got through it with just gas and air everyone, even the midwife, has said natural labour is much less painful and generally more pleasant as your not hooked up to a drip and monitor for hours on end! I am now obsessed with avoiding another hospital induction and have googled every natural induction technique known to man in case I go to 40 weeks! I realise how crazy I sound ha ha but I just want to know if anyone else felt pressured to labour on time or if I am indeed just a hormonal psycho lol!

I'm almost 10 weeks and last time I was overdue, and ended up with three sweeps, waters broken, induced, then emergency c sec. I am desperate to avoid this again and also quite obsessed about labour. Also terrified. Majorly more than last time.

Hope you get your natural birth!

I'm 36+5 and I've been thinking a lot about labour. It's the first and I'm very much hoping for natural delivery in the local birth centre. If I get to 42 weeks, I'm strongly considering going for elcs rather than going through induction. But I don't know how much of a fight that's going to be.

Here's hoping we all get the birth experiences we want!

I'm 36+6 and can't stop thinking about labour either. I think I'm going to be induced a bit early though and I'm just hoping baby decides to make an appearance before then. I doubt it though being my first.

I think, if you can, it's probably better to remind yourself that a normal pregnancy lasts between 37 and 42 weeks. A baby isn't actually 'due' at 40 weeks but I do know that we've created this situation where people perceive it that way and this arbitrary 'due date' makes people feel like they're on a countdown. Interestingly, if you were in France, they use a 41 week date as your due date. It really is just a guide to care, it doesn't mean that the baby is late as soon as you hit 40+1. There is no late or early really, only what is right for an individual baby.

You can't induce labour. Those myths are just that. Myths. Nothing works. You aren't in control of this.

I think in a world when we're so in control of everything and so used to exercising choice, labour and childbirth are so foreign to us. I do just, gently, kindly, worry that you're setting yourself up for a fall. There's every chance you'll labour naturally when your baby is ready but being very fixated on a certain idea as 'better' 'less painful' or similar can lead to some very real feelings of disappointment if it doesn't end up like that. You might require induction before time, natural labour might be more painful, you may need monitoring for other reasons, it may not be short. You really can't know and as hard it is, it does help to go into it knowing that you can't choose or control it.