Starting to get disappointed at 39 weeks

[roke]

I am 39w1d and I am starting to get disappointed.  I am still at 1cm, baby has not dropped, and I have not lost my plug yet....   I have a feeling that this means that I will definitely be over my due date.  It is starting to get to me mentally as I am sitting here waiting for something to happen....  Anybody else been like this at 39 weeks and had their baby around their due date or had to be induced?

[kjbutcher]

I was totally in your situation!!  I went to the doc at 39w 1d (monday) and was 1cm dilated, and not much else going on.  the baby was still very high and the doc said that when i was to come in the following monday at 40w 1d we would consider induction or c section!!!  I did nothing special and thursday 39w 4d i woke up with contractions.  by that night they were pretty regular.  at 4am on friday, 39w 5d I was 3cm and AJ was born at 7:19am friday at 39w 5d.  It can happen so quick.  I have no idea when my water broke, some time between 4am and 6:30am friday, and I guess for about wed and thursday I was getting some additional discharge that we now believe was me slowly losing my mucus plug.  just wait it out and try to enjoy the very end of this time in your life!  someone said this to me and I didnt think much of it until the days following AJ's birth...you want the baby to come so bad and then right after he comes you start to think, I could have gone another day or two pregnant to get another day or two of sleep.  it wont be long now!  good luck to you!

[Mumita]

roke- I finally last night had painful contractions but they went away within an hour...that only means to me that its getting closer but no baby yet.  I tried a capsule of evening primrose oil...I still don't know if it worked but I'll keep trying this weekend.  I haven't lost my mucus plug yet, I think that happens when you are like 2-4cm dilated.
Good luck to both of us, I feel pretty discouraged too :(

[jenkaye21]

I am pregnant with my 4th, and I have never really dilated before labor begins.  Usually, when I actually check in at the hospital, I am only 1-2 cm and already in "real" labor (read: serious pain).

My first WAS a week late, and I was induced, but the 2nd was 9 days early, and 3rd was right on his due date.

Don't get discouraged, not being dilated yet doesn't necessarily mean anything!  

Good luck, I am 38w 5d, right behind you, and I am getting impatient, too.  But try to enjoy the time you have before baby gets here, it will happen before we know it!!

[JoyRenee]

Stripping the membranes is what made me have each of my daughters within 24 hours. So it does work for some people!

[roke]

Thanks for the stories ladies!

I have been having some contractions, but nothing is happening.  It is just bumming me out as I would have hoped that I'd be further than 1cm.  My next doctors appointment is the day before my due date.  If nothing has changed, I'm not sure what he will do.... if he will try and strip my membranes or set an induction date or what....

[TKM22]

hi, with my 1st child i  went 4 days past my due date then i went into labour, but jst before i went into  labour the nite before i  got  like real bad lower bk ache and i had few cramps that felt like i was due to come on my period. maybe u mite  get sumthing like this if u havent already.  i  hope ur baby comes for u soon enuf, i cant wait for my  2nd baby to arrive  but im only  30 wks and  1 day pregnant today so i still have a while yet. but  goodluck  and  im sure it wont b long now :)

[Grandmatobe]

Oh funny, JoyRenee and I posted at the same time, and said about the same things....

[Grandmatobe]

With my first, I didn't lose my plug until I was IN labor, so the fact that it is still intact doesn't mean you can't go into labor soon.  The day before I was due, I started getting pains and discomfort and by the next morning, I was in full blown labor and my plug came out.  I must have been about 4cm before I lost it, because I noticed it right before leaving for the hospital, and by the time they checked me in, I was 5 cm.

I know it is frustrating during the final week or so, as you just want the baby OUT.  When both of my daughters had babies last year, they both became impatient at the end and wanted to be induced:  one was induced the day before her due date, and the other was induced within days of hers (can't remember exactly on that one).  Both of them are now saying that they wished they would have let nature take it's course, because the labor was so hard with the induction.  They both also had trouble with their epidurals, so they have vowed to wait and let it come naturally next time, and hopefully be able to forego the epidural.

I know you have read it on here often, but try some walking (maybe in the mall, if it's hot where you live) and try to enjoy these last few days of piece and quiet.  You will be glad you did in the end.

[JoyRenee]

Everyone is different!

You could literally go into labor in an hour or in two weeks- there's no way to know!

I had each of my daughters 2 days before their due dates. Whereas my SIL has had to be induced past her due date with all three of her babies (and she was dilating/effacing, too).

So just relax and enjoy these last few days of pregnancy!