do you think this means i will have a long labor?

[krissyy]

hi--today at my doctor appointment (i'm 38 weeks) i learned that i am 1cm dialated and just 50% effaced (very little progress from last week).  my friend is due over a week after me and is 2cm dialate and 80% effaced.  do you think i am moving along slower than average?  do you think this means that i will dialate really slow when i actually do go into labor?  does a slow start mean i will go past my due date?  

[krissyy]

thank you.  yea, i am preparing for it taking 12+ hours...but i am so afraid that since i am dialating/effacing slowly now, that i will do it slow then resulting in a csection, my biggest fear!  but you are right, i am lucky that i am dialating/effacing even if it's a tiny bit...that is one less cm that i will have to worry about on delivery day :-)

[Bettyboop4papa]

At 39 weeks with my first baby i wasn't dialated at all or effaced my cervix was still very firm. They induced me at 40 weeks and it took 15 hours to have our bundle of joy... if your body is already preparing i would say yeee haw that is a good sign. you have to expect 1st deliveries to be a little long.. pushing took me an hour.. and that is average. but the second that baby is out you forget about the whole thing.... best wishes to you

[krissyy]

oh, i hope you are right!  

i lost my plug 11 days ago and haven't had sex...however, i have heard that you can...  i believe that the amniotic fluid provides enough protection.  don't quote me on that, but i have read it someplace.  the reason i am not having sex is because my husband is well endowed (sorry tmi!!) and i don't want him poking her head....seriously though, my doctor poked her head during my first internal exam (she is extremely low) and the poor girl was flipped out and didn't calm down for the rest of the day!  i think she thought someone was coming in after her...poor little thing :-(  i have been eatting lots of fresh pineapple (which i have heard mixed reviews about) and doing lots of cleaning.  i think that when baby is ready to come, she will come...  but i am enjoying the sweet pineapple and productivity in the process--and if that helps move things along, than yay!!!

[Rosa20]

i havent read what all the other girls have said i just pretty ,much got the gist of it....your friend may be the one giong over due..you can dialate and efface over night..depending on when your going to go! I think youll go soon...HAve some faith hun! EVerything will go soo quick( i bet ya) lol..i have a question to ask tho..when you lose your plug like you have..can you still have sex ? or no because it increases risk for infection! If you can i suggest having tons of bd and getting them prostaglandins from your hubby to get things going!! lol...sorry if that was to out there for you! lol....good luck hun!

[lamb18]

Cheers to that. LOL. I can't even stand to be around mine anymore. LOL. Everything she talks about is how she is going to go into labor "any day now". LOL. I was like ok... you are probably going to go overdue. LOL. There is no telling that their baby will progress before yours. When my other sister had her baby last July, her friend had her baby like a month before that. My sisters baby (my nephew) was crawling, walking, standing, and teething before her friends kid and that kid was a whole month older than my nephew. So, there is a pretty good chance that her words could come to bite her in the @$$. LOL. That is why I come here to Med Help to talk to the girls on here and share experiences from them. None of this is a competition. The girls on here are always up to helping each other... not trying to beat each other. I love it here.

[krissyy]

YES!!!!  a competition!!  i was so excited that we were due just a week apart, but now i hate it because she is constantly comparing symptoms and such to me, but not in a curious/empathetic way...in a competitive way!  my friend is pregnant with her second and was overdue like your SIL, but by just one week.  it is SO irritating!  do you know what the worst part will be???  after we have the babies and they are telling us that they think their babies will walk and talk and progress before ours!  i just wanted us to be able to bond and share our pregnancies together...and afterwards i was excited that our little ones will be so close in age.  now i realize that it's going to be more annoying than anything!

[lamb18]

I completely understand about your friend. I have one of those and that is my SIL. LOL. She acts like the whole pregnancy thing is a competition. Seriously, she does nothing but complain and say how she "knows" she will go early. LOL. I laugh in her face because she went 2 weeks overdue with her 1st and she is headed there with this one. She is trying SO HARD to have her baby before I do. I am like... seriously, you need to grow up. Your baby will come when it is ready. The whole family keeps saying that I will go before she does and that pi$$e$ her off. So, she goes out and walks 2 miles a night hoping to go into labor. I laugh at that too. LOL. It is like a never ending competition with her. Is that kind of like how your friend is? Don't it just get irritating? LOL.

[krissyy]

thank you for your support...i think i must be having an extra hormonal day and just don't know what to do with myself.  i feel like i am just digging up things to worry about today...!!!  i am worrying about things i haven't even thought twice about my entire pregnancy!  

[casandbaby]

everyone is different, i don't think it means your labor will be slow or long it just depends on your body and such.

When I was pregnant I was 10 days past my due date and I still hadn't dialated nor effaced. And after getting the meso(sp?) and put on pitosin it still went slow.

[abbysmommy4]

When I was pg with dd at my last Dr. app. I was not dialated nor efaced at all.  I thought the same thing.  I went into labor about 5 in the morning, went to hospital around 9 they sent me out to do some walking, I went back to the hospital at 11:30 and had my dd at 1:30.  So it does depend.  Hope you have a speedy labor.

Oh and she was my 4th child, my first experience with no dialation or efacement till labor.

[krissyy]

i am sure you are right...and i have heard the same thing, i just think i need some reassurance.  my friend has just been a little discouraging as she compares her progress to mine and says she is definitely going way before me.  i don't mind being pregnant and am fine if i go to my due date, i just don't look forward to a long labor that could possibly result in a csection from no progress.  i just don't want to be one of those women that can't dialate when it's time.  

my next appointment is saturday the 30th.

[lamb18]

Not necessarily... I have been doing some research on the internet about dilation and stuff and apparently you can go from 0cm to 3cm in a few hours. So, I wouldn't be concerned or anything. My SIL is 39 weeks and still 0cm and her baby hasn't dropped yet. I will be 37 weeks on Monday and I will probably stay at 0cm. LOL. At least you are making some progress. When do you get checked next?