a question for any1 who has ever delivered a baby vaginally?

Question

oct 27th I was 37 wks 6 days & my doc said i was 3cm dilated 90% effaced 0 station i know all pregnancies r diff. & unpredictable but, my doc said i could have her any day now & that i might or might not make it to my next appointment next wk. what do u think? sum people tell me they went from 3cm to 10 very quickly others say it took wks but since shes 0 station & 90% effaced do my chances of having her b4 a week seem accurate? cos sum people say not to let the doctor get your hopes up ,that they say soon but u end up waiting longer..idk this is my first pregnancy & everything has been A okay, no preclampsia no talk about c section or inducing, shes extremely healthy but i havent had n e contractions, or at least if i have i havent noticed..so I know theres no real answer but id just like to hear others expereices i guess. thx

Answer 1

This is probably going to be kinda long. LOL


I have three very different experiences...
With my oldest,(she'[s 23) I was in real labor for 18 hours. I don't remember how effaced I was or how much I was dialated at my last appointment before she was born, but when I was in labor, I was IN LABOR. I hit tranistion at about 12 hours into it, and had her 6 hours after that. It was a very easy labor and delivery.

My son, (he's 8)I was at 3 cm, and over 90% the day I saw the doc. He said he thought I was in very early stages of labor, and he was indeed right about that. LOL I walked. I walked alot. That threw me into real labor. That evening, I went into the hospital, they checked me, I was about 4 cm, completely effaced, and having regular contractions about an hour apart. They sent me home, told me to stay there until at least one of the following things happened...Throw up, pass the plug, or water breaking. I went home and took a shower, sat on the bed, rocked in my rocker, paced, while my husband slept. LOL Well, all three of those things happened within 5 minutes of each other. I'm really glad I was sitting on a huge bath towel folded up and placed under me in case my water broke. I had that on top of plastic, so it wouldn't soak the bed. Best idea I'd had in a while.
I went to the hospital as soon as I got fairly cleaned up. It was about 3 am at that point. I had been in regular labor with predictable contractions for about 10 hours at that point. When my water broke, the contractions increased in intensity. I hit transition and progressed very quickly. I had to stop and sit down, on the stairs, on the floor and in the driveway before I got to the car. Either I got used to them, or they lessened a bit, but it wasn't so bad. They were regular, and things went along pretty well, until my son went into fetal distress. They couldn't find a heartbeat, so they did an internal monitor and stopped my labor to see if they needed to do an emergency section. They ended up not having to do that. I was fine until they had to give me that stinkin Pitocin. Avoid that if you can. It increases the intensity of contractions like crazy. It does have it's uses, but I think a lot of times it's just used to get the doc home faster. If you can avoid it, avoid it. If you need it, use it, and know it's going to be worth it.
My son was born about an hour after they gave me the Pit. Intense hour, but again, totally worth it, and far from what I'd call bad. Until they gave me the Pitocin, the contractions were equal to a really bad period cramp. (But I do have pretty bad menstrual cramps, always have.)

With my daughter..she's 5, I went in, inearly labor, and watched tv, walked around, took a shower. I was in labor for about 6 hours, they checked me. I was about 5 cm. I decided to take a shower to relieve the back labor, I heard a *snick* and my water broke. I went to the bathroom. I had to use the facility while I was waiting for the nurse to get out of my way so I could take a shower. While I was there, I felt like I needed to push, so I did. I was hitting transition like a frieght train.
The nurse left so I could undress and take my shower. I pushed again. I felt, and I could feel the hair on her head!!! she was about to make her appearance...I called for my husband. Told him to get the nurse. He JOKINGLY said, why, is she crowning? I said no, but she is about to... He went got the nurse. I couldn't get to the bed because the contractions were so intense. I couldn't sit down on the floor because I was afraid I'd hit the baby's head on the floor. SO, the nurse grabbed the comforter off of the bed, we backed up back into the bathroom, and I used the handicapped rails to support myself while I squatted and gave birth to my daughter 15 MINUTES after my water broke.
Did it hurt, oh yeah. LOL But it was only 15 minutes!!! She was in a HURRY.

Now, none of my babies went passed 37 weeks. In my family our buns in the oven don't bake more than 38 weeks. They just don't. That 40 week thing is an average, and half the time, they are off on your conception date anyway. I gave birth at 36 weeks with my oldest, she was 8 pounds 9 oz and 22 inches long. My son was born at 37 weeks, and he was 9 pounds 14 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. My youngest girl was born at 36 1/2 weeks, and she was 9 pounds 12 oz, and 22 3/4 inches long. All were born vaginally, with no pain meds. I did use visualization. I pictured the contraction as a wave, and I imagined diving thru the middle of it when it hit. That helped me more than anything else I did. Vocalize if you need to. Don't clamp up your mouth. It sounds silly, but some midwives believe there is a link between a locked down, clenched mouth, and labor slowing or temporarily stopping. I did facial exercises after I hit real progressive labor and I never had my labor stall, except when they medically intervened to stop it. There were parts that were intense, but nothing I couldn't handle. Our bodies know how to do this. If we trust them, and their ability to bring a baby into the world from our uterus, then labor will go easier.
Bring music or a dvd player to L and D. You are likely to be there for a while. First labors can easily go for 24 hours or more. If that happens, don't panic. Until you are sure you are in labor, don't go in. Once you are there, they put you on the clock and will want to do interventions after you hit 24 hours. That is standard practice in most hospitals.
Big one here. Make them wait until the cord stops pulsing to cut it, and make sure they push the blood back into the baby before they do. Many hospitals sell that cord blood now. It's worth a lot of money to them. It's not theirs, and it's up to 25% of your baby's total blood volume. She needs it. If you aren't banking it, make sure she gets it at birth.
Good luck with your little one. I didn't tell you anything here to scare you. I hope I didn't. I hate when people tell pregnant women horror stories. You do need to know, hey, this can make things hurt more, or that may make things go faster or easier, but you don't need to hear horrible birth stories and I don't understand why people feel the need to share that. Many blessings on your family and your soon to be new addition.

Answer 2

Just take it easy and be patient. With my first I was 3 cm Dilated for 5 weeks (My DR did not tell me effaced or stations at that time 1978). My contractions started exactly 5 weeks later. Three hours into contractions my water broke and 4 hours later I had a beautiful healthy baby Girl ( a bit of a shock since everything heartbeat, ultrasounds etc said she was going to be a he). My daughter lived in blue and had a nursery decorated with trains for the first 6 months of her life.

Answer 3

If my hospital let me then I would definately deliver a breech baby vaginally, I would do all that I could to avoid a c-section. I have actually discussed this topic with my midwife as I thought my baby was going to be breech and she told me that none of the midwives in my area are trained enough to deliver a breech baby vaginally although they are going to be doing special courses early next year so that women in my area have that option if they want it. I wouldnt attempt a home birth with a breech baby as I dont live very near to the hospital and it would take us too long to get up there should anything go wrong and more things are more likely to go wrong with a breech baby, but thats just my personal opinion.

Answer 4

Oh, to be pregnant again. My God! What am saying? Well, I did so enjoy the feeling of carrying life all the way up to the point when the pain started - all three times. I was made to be pregnant.
But anyway, to try to address your question, sounds like you are having a wonderful pregnancy. No medical problems to mention. And you are so very right, each pregnancy is different so none of us, no matter how many babies we have had,can give you any accurate information that would completely stop you from worrying but you must stop worrying and (I hope) go back to enjoying this wonderful time in your life. God Bless!

Answer 5

Well for me I was 2-3 cm and 80% effaced on my last appt ~ it was a Monday. That Friday night at 9:30 I went into labor when I was exactly 39 weeks prego, and had my daughter Sat morning at 8:58 am. But for you it could be completely different. Hope all goes well.
And Congratulations!!!

Answer 6

I would say that your chances are about 50/50. With my daughter, I was dilated to 3 for 5 weeks b4 she dropped into position. My son I was dilated to 3 for 2 weeks, then I talked my dr into inducing me because of the pain. He ended up weighing 9lbs 8ozs, which is what caused the pain, but as soon as I dilated to 4 things went quickly. You duaghter will let u know when shes ready, congrats!

Answer 7

At this point your water could break any minute. But it may not. First pregnancies are normally slower @ this. If the baby has dropped it will be very soon. Both of my children were induced. My first labor was very hard i only dilated to 1 on my own. My second labor was a breeze. I was already dilated to 5 and did not even realize it. Another sign your water might break is if you lose your mucus plug. Good Luck !

Answer 8

Sometimes doctor predict the time you will gave birth is when they measure your cervix. It she said your cervis are open already, anytime soon you will deliver the baby. Usually first baby is 2-3 weeks earlier in the estimated due date.

My doctor told me that I'm dilating already, after 4 days I gave birth to my baby, went to labor for almost 5 hours..but Ive got episiotomy and hemorrhoids because of the wrong push to the baby...

Be careful,,.. I thought Im just having constipation that time, because my husband and I ate ice cream that night. I went to the bathroon and pee'd several times. I didnt know that the water broke already. I just see some pink blood and later on brown blood, which turn on contraction every 60 second. Then my husband rushed me to the hospital.

Just keep observing yourself and be ready.

Goodluck! Its wonderful to have a baby..

Answer 9

oh boy! get ready,my first daughter was 8 days late. i understand you are probably fed up and so uncomfortable! but hang on. my seconds daughter born 10 years later was exactly on time . just because you are 3 cm dilated now does not mean anything. you can get to the hospital and be ready right away or wait. i got to the hospital at 2 am with really bad contractions starting around 4 am, took 2 jacuzzis, (doesnt really help) an epideral at 6:30. started pushing at 8:00 had my daughter at 8:13! 13 minutes of pushing, it hurt like heck but it is SO WORTH IT! congratulations! e- mail me when you have your bundle of joy! goodnight.

Answer 10

I had a friend like you that stayed dialated at 3 cm and pretty close to your percentage of effacement and she was like that for the last month. It wasn't her first child either.

Now, if you want to rush it, try having sex, or even attempting to. That might get things going.

My first pregnancy, the doctor stripped my membranes at week 38. Nothing.

Week 39, she did it again and told me to go home and have sex. I laughed at her. My husband wanted to try. That's about all we could do.

An hour later, I went to the bathroom and while on the toilet, my water broke. I could tell because I wasn't going on my own anymore.

:)

Within 3 hours I was 5 cm and within 7 hours I was 9. I had my daughter at 7:43 a.m. (exactly 7 hours 43 minutes after my water broke.)

Best of luck.

Answer 11

my first daughter was 3 days late my doc told me the same thing i might see you in my office next week or i might see you in the hospital this week.( i was 0 station) that night i went into labor.......my second daughter was 9 days early and i was 3 cm dilated as well ....that night my water broke.......

it all depends ........my two labor and deliveries were sooooo different------but to answer your question i would say yes i think (in my personal opinion) you probably will have your baby b-4 next week

good luck and hope you dont have to get induced