Update

[teachermom2834]

My first and my second are five days apart. My fourth was due ten days after the second but came early and landed smack in between the first two. So we have three in five days. What it meant in reality was that birthdays were no big deal around here. Just unmanageable.

Too much cake for sure. My oldest ended up settling on Quiver’s cinnamon rolls for a cake. The baby, who had the middle birthday, would have a traditional birthday cake and then the third birthday three days later usually chose a sundae bar but we also had cookie cake sometimes. 

My third child was the outlier with an early February birthday which was usually celebrated with the Super Bowl. 

[Kassia]

40 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

 

Too much cake for sure.

We called it cake season.  My FIL's bday was 5 days before my twins' birthday,then my youngest's bday was five days after that and then my bday is three weeks later.  So many celebrations in a short time.  

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

My 3rd child was due on my first child’s birthday, so we were glad she at least came 10 days late.

My 2nd was due on my first child's due date. First child was 2 days early and she was 5 days late. So they are a week apart.

 

[kirstwellz]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

My 3rd child was due on my first child’s birthday, so we were glad she at least came 10 days late.

@Elizabeth86 I just happened across this post today - I hope your little one arrives soon!

 

I just couldn't resist dropping in to say I have 6 kids - 1st and 2nd babes are June 16th and 18th 2 years apart, then I have a May 23rd, my twins were born last year May 24th, and I have one random January baby in the middle 😂 mine and my husband's anniversary is June 9th....thankfully my parents usually try to make sure we get to celebrate! Lol but totally understand all those close together birth dates!! 

[ktgrok]

My dad is a twin, and my sister was born on their birthday (but schedule c-section, so not as cool as otherwise). 

My second son and my sister's second daughter had the same due date. She had a scheduled c-section a week early, and I went almost 2 weeks late, so they are 3 weeks apart, but we joke that if we'd given birth the same day at the same hospital (I had a homebirth) we would have thought they mixed up the kids. Seriously. When we are together I'm sure everyone assumes my son is hers, and her daughter is mine. My son looks way more like her older daugher and her, and her younger daughter looks a lot like my youngest daughter, and like me. Personality wise as well, he's more like her and she's more like me. It's hysterical, and a very good thing they were NOT both born on their due date. I'd be VERY confused. 

[mommyoffive]

@Elizabeth86 Anything going on???

[Terabith]

Okay, now I’m hoping for a Valentines baby.  8 lbs 2 Oz.  

[Elizabeth86]

45 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

@Elizabeth86 Anything going on???

Not much. I’ve had a few random contraction. Dh was noting that the baby seems lower. 

[Ali in OR]

Oooh so I still have a chance with my 2/15 guess. I thought I was out of it. Hang in there Mom!

[Terabith]

Has that baby been born yet?  
 

When was due date?

[ScoutTN]

Still thinking of and praying for you and your baby boy! Hope he arrives soon! 

[Elizabeth86]

41 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Has that baby been born yet?  
 

When was due date?

I’m 40 weeks and 5 days

[Ausmumof3]

30 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I’m 40 weeks and 5 days

Keep hanging in there! Both my boys were eight days late 🤞you get there a touch sooner 

somehow those days seem so long!!!

[ktgrok]

39 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I’m 40 weeks and 5 days

from what I remember of your past pregnancies, you still have 5 more days 🙂

If you were me, you'd have a week left...at least. (41 w 5 days for two, 42 weeks for the last. Only my first, with a different father, came early).

[Elizabeth86]

22 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

from what I remember of your past pregnancies, you still have 5 more days 🙂

If you were me, you'd have a week left...at least. (41 w 5 days for two, 42 weeks for the last. Only my first, with a different father, came early).

Only my first came early too. On their own anyway. 4th was a csection and not ready to be born yet.

[ScoutTN]

35 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

from what I remember of your past pregnancies, you still have 5 more days 🙂

If you were me, you'd have a week left...at least. (41 w 5 days for two, 42 weeks for the last. Only my first, with a different father, came early).

Yep, late arrival genes here too. Sorry for the long wait @Elizabeth86! 

[Green Bean]

He has definitely overstayed his welcome! Time to vacate the premises, Baby!

[Elizabeth86]

Just saw the OB and had a cervical check. I’m 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby still head down.

[ktgrok]

9 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Just saw the OB and had a cervical check. I’m 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby still head down.

Good news: Baby is staying in the right position, and things are progressing! Labor will probably be quick once it starts!

Bad news: I walked around 4cm, 50% for about a week before my last was born. So...don't get TOO excited, lol. 

[Elizabeth86]

Also just had an ultrasound. She said the amniotic fluid was cloudy and that sometimes means meconium so I’m nervous about that.

[Kassia]

@Elizabeth86hope this baby comes soon so you (and the rest of us) can stop worrying.  Thinking of you.  ❤️ 

 

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Also just had an ultrasound. She said the amniotic fluid was cloudy and that sometimes means meconium so I’m nervous about that.

What are they recommending? 

[Elizabeth86]

1 minute ago, Quill said:

What are they recommending? 

She didn’t seem overly worried. She is saying I can schedule an induction if I want.

[BusyMom5]

I'm not big on induction,  but if there is meconium, you are 4cm and 50%, it should go quickly and then be over with.  I'd be very tempted to just schedule it. 

[ktgrok]

Given maybe meconium I'd as for a biophysical profile - worst they can say is no. Would maybe give you peace of mind, you know? 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

She didn’t seem overly worried. She is saying I can schedule an induction if I want.

Feel free to ignore my non-professional internet person opinion, but I would do the induction. I was induced 3 weeks early with my youngest for a different but potentially scary reason. Although that was my longest labor (9 hours) and he was my skinniest baby (not done cooking, we joked), induction was not otherwise any worse or harder than my non-induced births. 
 

 

[Elizabeth86]

21 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Given maybe meconium I'd as for a biophysical profile - worst they can say is no. Would maybe give you peace of mind, you know? 

I had one today.

 

21 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Given maybe meconium I'd as for a biophysical profile - worst they can say is no. Would maybe give you peace of mind, you know? 

 

[Elizabeth86]

11 minutes ago, Quill said:

Feel free to ignore my non-professional internet person opinion, but I would do the induction. I was induced 3 weeks early with my youngest for a different but potentially scary reason. Although that was my longest labor (9 hours) and he was my skinniest baby (not done cooking, we joked), induction was not otherwise any worse or harder than my non-induced births. 
 

 

Strongly leaning that way.

[ktgrok]

3 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I had one today.

 

 

What were the biophysical results? (she asks, as if asking for a stranger's medical information in a public forum is totally normal)

 

[Terabith]

I’m not sure how accurate ultrasound is at picking up cloudy fluid and meconium?  I thought it was tricky and even pegging weight of baby was kind of a guess?  My second was born at 40 weeks 6 days.  My first was like one day shy of 42 weeks and was induced, and it wasn’t as nice a labor. Involved a vacuum extraction.  Honestly even at 42 weeks, I don’t think she was ready to be born.  But I’d consider the induction for peace of mind.  

[ktgrok]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

I’m not sure how accurate ultrasound is at picking up cloudy fluid and meconium?  I thought it was tricky and even pegging weight of baby was kind of a guess?  My second was born at 40 weeks 6 days.  My first was like one day shy of 42 weeks and was induced, and it wasn’t as nice a labor. Involved a vacuum extraction.  Honestly even at 42 weeks, I don’t think she was ready to be born.  But I’d consider the induction for peace of mind.  

I didn't even know an ultrasound could pick up cloudy fluid - that's a new one for me! How much fluid - sure, can estimate that (although it varies moment to moment and having mom drink more or baby change position can alter that measurement). But not density...off to google. 

[ktgrok]

First glance google search says cloudy fluid could be meconium, but just as likely to be vernix, which is totally normal. And that decisions should not be made based on ultrasound finding of cloudy fluid, but if there is concern a non stress or biophysical profile done, or even amnio. So me, if the biphysical profile was good, I'd not change my plans. 

We are aware of six cases, including ours, of sonographic detection of echogenic amniotic fluid. The review of these cases indicates that the findings refer more often to a considerable amount of vernix rather than meconium, and it is not necessarily associated with postmaturity. If echogenic amniotic fluid is identified in an obstetrical ultrasound, we recommend: (1) rule-out meconium by amniocentesis or amnioscopy, or (2) study fetal well-being by means of nonstress test and/or biophysical profile. Thus, a false positive diagnosis of fetal distress in these cases could be easily avoided.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2696778/

[ktgrok]

This study showed that cloudy amniotic fluid in ultrasound was NOT associated with meconium, but was associated with vernix. 

Vernix stained amniotic fluid was more common in the study group (48.8%, p = .031), the rate of meconium-stained amniotic fluid was similar in the study and control groups (9.6-9.2%, p = .881).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33427538/

[Green Bean]

Maybe seriously consider induction given weather, days past due, and your distance from hospital. Not like any of us would dare ever tell anyone what choices to make, of course. That lies with you and your dh.

[Ann.without.an.e]

Goodness, you know I hate induction but I would be tempted to go for it and get it over with. I mean you're showing signs that your body is ready. I was always induced two weeks late with no signs of labor in sight. 

DD will be induced next week and she is praying to go into labor before that. 

[Spryte]

Just checking in, hoping for new baby news soon!

[Eos]

4 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Also just had an ultrasound. She said the amniotic fluid was cloudy and that sometimes means meconium so I’m nervous about that.

Can also mean vernix.

Oops, just saw Katie said this.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Eos

[Scarlett]

I am thinking you won’t even really need to be induced. When I was dilated to four, and he faced at 50% breaking my water is all it took.

[kbutton]

4 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Good news: Baby is staying in the right position, and things are progressing! Labor will probably be quick once it starts!

Bad news: I walked around 4cm, 50% for about a week before my last was born. So...don't get TOO excited, lol. 

It's so interesting how long people stay at a particular stage and what it feels like for them!

With my first, I was at 4 cm and neutral station (can't remember effacement status) when I presented at the hospital. Contractions were just starting to feel like cramps. They'd been painless up until then, but we left for the hospital because I went from saying "Sure, go take a shower" to DH to "Nope, leaving now" in just a couple of minutes. My body just knew. I was so glad later as that let me start to get settled into the hospital before things were really moving, and I had a much more comfortable car ride as well. 

Labor was very fast for a first, and it would've been faster if he hadn't been tilted slightly off-kilter (definitely head down though). Apparently the way I labored was a dead giveaway for his position (I kept putting one foot up on the side of the bed, then another, and I didn't want to be in bed at all--could NOT keep still, and I felt like climbing). 

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

It's so interesting how long people stay at a particular stage and what it feels like for them!

With my last I was at a 7cm with no active contractions (not even measuring on the monitor).  For some reason they didn't want me to leave.  Which was fine with me.  Once it final started total labor was 1 hours and 15 minutes.  If he hadn't had the cord around his neck it would have been about 45 minutes since typically it only took me 2-3 contractions to push them out and his took a lot longer because of the cord issues. 

[Eos]

5 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

For some reason they didn't want me to leave.

LOL

[Elizabeth86]

4 hours ago, ktgrok said:

What were the biophysical results? (she asks, as if asking for a stranger's medical information in a public forum is totally normal)

 

Everything was fine. The only concern was the cloudy fluid, she said the meconium was only a possibility. We settled on inducing Friday. Giving nature just a little more time, but I’d feel safer getting him safe. I’m still hoping for a vbac, but if I end up with a csection, I accept that too. 

[busymama7]

Meconium in the fluid is only a problem if they inhale it.  Inducing increases the risk of a distressing event that could cause the baby to gasp due to longer/strong contractions so 🤷  And it might not even be meconium and most cases of meconium aspiration are thought to occur before labor so getting the baby born sooner doesn't change that.  Inducing also lowers the chance of a vbac being successful but less so for you since you've had other vaginal births. 

Hopefully he comes in the next couple days!

 

 

[Elizabeth86]

9 minutes ago, busymama7 said:

Meconium in the fluid is only a problem if they inhale it.  Inducing increases the risk of a distressing event that could cause the baby to gasp due to longer/strong contractions so 🤷  And it might not even be meconium and most cases of meconium aspiration are thought to occur before labor so getting the baby born sooner doesn't change that.  Inducing also lowers the chance of a vbac being successful but less so for you since you've had other vaginal births. 

Hopefully he comes in the next couple days!

 

 

It’s a tough choice, but I think I’m just going for it and praying for the best. It’s so hard to know what is right. All y’all please pray I go into labor very very soon.

[Green Bean]

Praying

[knitgrl]

Hoping you do not have to go through with being induced. For ds23 and dd8, I was pretty far along in labor, though I don't remember how many centimeters, but I had been admitted to the hospital at that point for both, and they broke my water, and it was fine. Dd13, they decided to induce with pitocin, and it was the worst of all my experiences. The labors pains were a lot worse than with my first. I kept telling the nurse they could take it out because I was having contractions just fine but they wouldn't listen to me because they couldn't get a hold of my midwife for hours. Looking back now, I wish I would have pulled it out myself. Anyway, I say this so if you find yourself in a similar situation, be pushy. (See how I made a Dad joke there? 😁)

[Elizabeth86]

41 minutes ago, knitgrl said:

Hoping you do not have to go through with being induced. For ds23 and dd8, I was pretty far along in labor, though I don't remember how many centimeters, but I had been admitted to the hospital at that point for both, and they broke my water, and it was fine. Dd13, they decided to induce with pitocin, and it was the worst of all my experiences. The labors pains were a lot worse than with my first. I kept telling the nurse they could take it out because I was having contractions just fine but they wouldn't listen to me because they couldn't get a hold of my midwife for hours. Looking back now, I wish I would have pulled it out myself. Anyway, I say this so if you find yourself in a similar situation, be pushy. (See how I made a Dad joke there? 😁)

I have had a Pitocin induction with my first because my water broke in its own, but contractions wouldn’t start. I handled the pain fine. I’m just worried it won’t work because it didn’t last pregnancy and because the max dose is low due to vbac. I was only 37 weeks with my last pregnancy and only 1 cm dilated.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Elizabeth86

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I have had a Pitocin induction with my first because my water broke in its own, but contractions wouldn’t start. I handled the pain fine. I’m just worried it won’t work because it didn’t last pregnancy and because the max dose is low due to vbac. I was only 37 weeks with my last pregnancy and only 1 cm dilated.

As I think I said in an earlier post, I was also trying to avoid induction, and a VBAC. So I totally get it. That said, I do think that inducing at say, 41w 3 days with being 4cm is going to be very different than 37 weeks and 1 cm. 1 cm is like the "gimmee" points - it's like when they said you got 30 points just for putting your name on the SAT, lol. Doesn't count. 

For me, the final membrane stripping might have been what put me in labor..but I'm hesitant to say that as we'd already tried it twice  a few days apart, with just cramping. I think that baby was just ready (baby kicks labor into gear, not mom), and I was also relaxed enough because we had sent the kids to my sister's house. 

It is worth examining if there is anything stressing you out (other than you know, being super pregnant, lol). Anything you wanted done, or are worried about regarding logistics of labor? Maybe it is the distance, and if you sent the other kids to a relatives and you and DH went and hung out near the hospital things might happen?

[Elizabeth86]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

As I think I said in an earlier post, I was also trying to avoid induction, and a VBAC. So I totally get it. That said, I do think that inducing at say, 41w 3 days with being 4cm is going to be very different than 37 weeks and 1 cm. 1 cm is like the "gimmee" points - it's like when they said you got 30 points just for putting your name on the SAT, lol. Doesn't count. 

For me, the final membrane stripping might have been what put me in labor..but I'm hesitant to say that as we'd already tried it twice  a few days apart, with just cramping. I think that baby was just ready (baby kicks labor into gear, not mom), and I was also relaxed enough because we had sent the kids to my sister's house. 

It is worth examining if there is anything stressing you out (other than you know, being super pregnant, lol). Anything you wanted done, or are worried about regarding logistics of labor? Maybe it is the distance, and if you sent the other kids to a relatives and you and DH went and hung out near the hospital things might happen?

Haha I’m trying to think it over, but yeah I’m pretty stressed about everything. My biggest thing is it seems there is the people around me thinking I’m crazy and need to get baby out ASAP and then the other set that thinks I’m crazy to have an induction. I’m just so torn on what the right thing would be. I’m just stressed thinking I may regret my choice.

[Starr]

Sounds like you are needing your baby in your arms. My unofficial vote would be to go in tomorrow and let it play out. Once your baby is born the details wont be so important. Hugs