Yup Still Waiting (Warning for sensitive people or men, graphic pregnancy details)

i have another question... does it... er... hurt when they come out of there? i know it does but how do the contractions feel? i have been told they feel like really bad menastral cramps.

No, babies are TECHNICALLY full term at 38 weeks but the EDD is an ESTIMATED due date...2 weeks before and 2 weeks after are BOTH considered totally normal.

Your baby of course, but there is a ton of evidence on the dangerous of inducing for convenience. Makes me sad that so few doctors look at the research and inform their patients of it

eta: 38 weeks is considered normal BUT that does not mean its your baby's normal. Each baby cooks at their own speed

I am a bit over zealous about this issue as I know people it has caused issues in...they induced and whoops, due dates and size estimates were off and they ended up with essentially a preemie The baby comes out (again, unless there is something medically wrong) when they are ready.

i have no opinion on this but mom thinks the same way you do, greenmagick, she thinks that ppl induce mostly for convenience reasons or bc they dont want to wait anymore. i dont know anything of this but i have seen that on a lot of "pregnancy" shows.

How a woman gets back into shape during pregnancy has a lot of factors, I think a huge one is how in shape you were before, how your muscle tone is, if it's your first child, your age...your weight and BMI, how healthy your skin is, etc.

It's really common to be induced at 42 weeks, in fact I don't know anyone who's gone longer. The drs push it like crazy. Stripping membranes at 38 weeks seems really unusual to me but if the baby's really big or there are health concerns, I can see why.

Yes, dont get me wrong, there are some VERY valid reasons to get the baby out early, but the majority of inductions done are not because of those

I got mine stripped at 36 weeks but it was a mere formality since I was contracting quite a bit and she was coming. I was 4 cent, you couldnt even see anything but the base of her head to her feet on the u/s and they could feel her head LOL. I also had high blood pressure though. She did end up in Nicu for a week.

Thanks for your concern Greenmagick but I have no concerns. I have had 4 ultrasounds, one just a couple of weeks ago and he is a nice size. No worry of being a preemie. Plus all my kids, even though they went to 42 weeks all had to still be induced. The first two the membrane stripping worked to put me into labour and the 3rd the membrane stripping didn't work so they applied cream and that put me into labour. So all had to still be induced even at 42 weeks and all were born completely healthy and no c-section. So it may not be something that would be ok with you but I have been in working with specialists because of his cleft lip, been checked out by a high risk doctor because of gestational diabetes and all are perfectly happy with how he is doing and us doing membrane stripping when our doctor decided to do it. So breath easy, I am.

DogDragoness - Yes it hurts. With my first two the pain was really intense menstral cramps. Really intense. But tolerable. I still had to have an epidural though because even after 21 hours with my first and 10 hours with my second I stayed at 2cms. But that was because of the psychological effect of the rape I endured as a teen. My body stayed too tense. Withing minutes of getting it with my first and about 3 hours with my 2nd I dialited to the full 10 cms and had them.

With my third they had to use a cream but I am so sensitive to medications that it had me enduring so much intense contractions within 15 minutes that with in an hour they had to give me an epidural. Had him 4 hours later. I had never had one for pain before. Only to help dialate. But that cream cause the pain to be way too much. Which is another reasons why I hope to go into labour with the membrane stripping and not have to use the cream.

The most painful part for me those was not the contractions(except with my 3rd). It was the crowning part. I had to have an episeodomy(sp?) with all of them or I would have torn. Once the head was out it was much easier and less painful.

The Doula I have is highly experienced (over 1000 births) and she has helped many a rape survivor have natural births with no need of an epidural. So we are excited to see if she will have the same success with me. I would love to not have to have one.

OMG i just googled episeodomy they CUT you??????? do they sew you back up?????

this might be waaaaay to much of a personal question... but does it effect the way it "looks" down there? does it effect your intimate life? i would be like super self concious which again is why i decided not to have a kid(s), my OH wants kids & always asks me about it but i tell him no. since its coming outta me, i have the final say.

plus i dont think i could quit smoking, i mean i "could" but i dont want to

Sorry I had a bit of a giggle at how you put it. Yes they cut me. But it is better then tearing. And I didn't feel it since I was in such pain from the baby's head crowning. It just feels like a release of pressure and burning because now the baby's head will fit through. And yes they sew you up later. And I never felt that either. The uncomfortable part is when you go to the bathroom. You need to lean forward to try and make sure no urine hits the stitch area as it heals because that stings and burns. Then you use a squirt bottle to rinse and then softly pat dry. So yeah it is the after care that is the most bothersome. I had to have it with all 3 and will most likely have to have it with Nico too. But to me it is all worth it. The end results of having this beautiful little baby makes it all worth every single part of it for me.

That is not too personal a question. It is valid. No it does not make it look weird. In fact I asked my ex and Doug that question and they both have stated that after a few months of healing you can't tell. And no it doesn't affect my intimate life. It doesn't make you any more loose or such.

Sorry if that is tmi for anyone.

Really? Lol of COURSE they sew you back up. Sorry, not trying to be sarcastic but... Can you imagine if they just created an open wound and left it?

I had an episiotomy. Quick local anesthetic, snip, out she slid, two stitches (for me not nessecarily for everyone) and ta da. My uterus hurt more than the episiotomy did after the fact. Does it change the way it looks? I don't know, can't see it and hubby hasn't mentioned it.

Hubby hadn't complained that it feels any different and certainly hasn't put any damper on our sex life. So I'd venture to say all is good in that region

For me it was usually between 2-4 stitches if I remember correctly.

Lucky

my smallest tear was that many stitches. The largest lets go double digits.

OWWIE is all I can say to that for the after care. I do not envy you one bit in that reguard.

yeah thank god for Oxycodin. Savannah tore along that repaired area and she was 4-5, Morgan was internal and it was 2-3

ahhhhhhh! no thank you, I'll keep my fine-ass body thanks :S

Same here. That was the one major thing I was always utterly terrified of happening.

In reality, I didn't even feel it. I didn't even know I had torn until after they sewed me up and told me. The second time it was a really really big tear.

A couple weeks later when going in for a followup appointment, the midwife was checking things out and I asked her how it was healing. She looked really baffled (it's a team of midwives and she wasn't there), and said that she couldn't even tell that I had torn so it must have healed up well. Everything seems normal anyway.

It didn't hurt afterward either. It just feels achy and bruised, but apparently it feels like that even if you don't tear.

Nicole I hope everything goes smoothly! We're thinking of you over here.

I know plenty of moms who have "fine ass bodies". I mean if you don't want kids then please, don't have them but please don't act like mothers are a bunch of ugly body women with gigantic vaginas.

Thank you

and if one's husband or boyfriend has an issue with the idea of some scar tissue, well, that would tell you a lot about him and none of it would be good

Thank you.

My husband actually thinks Im sexier since weve had our kids then before since its MY body that gave him his kids and hes still in Awe that my body gave life to his children and that my tiny little butt pushed out a 8lb 13 oz baby.