40 weeks and 1 day
Amelia come down with a bacterial throat and ear infection on Wednesday night which saw me crawling around on the floor of the after-hours doctor surgery mopping up regurgitated broccoli while Big-P comforted her – she who not only had scream-inducing sore ears but who has never experienced throwing up before and was terrified by the whole process. And then back at home again I was changing bed sheets and pajamas over and again, and madly stuffing loads of stinky washing into the machine as midnight marched towards us. I think back to how precious I was about myself and my pregnancy last time and how this time there has been no choice but to keep having to find pockets of energy despite being the size of a house. “Yes! I am enormous! Yes I can still leap tall buildings in a single bound!”. Last time it was more like “Yes! I am enormous! No – I can not possibly get off the couch! Forget it! Bring me more chocolate!”.
Today we went in to see the doctor where we all sat around shrugging and saying “Ok! So we just keep waiting.”
I have just borrowed a copy of “Walk the Line” to watch on dvd tonight in hopes that having a movie out that I really want to see will mean the Universe will work against me and I will find myself suddenly in labour. And then I can say “Haha Universe! I tricked you! I can borrow this movie any time but I really wanted to do was go into labour! Haha!”. That’s how I think. Even when I am not 40+ weeks pregnant.
I like the way you think – tricking the universe like that!
And just in case it backfires on you, “Walk the Line’ is really quite enjoyable….
OMG — Best of luck to you! I’ve been reading your site for a while, and I even emailed you a while back, but I didn’t get a response, so I’m not sure if it was something I said or if perhaps you just didn’t get it ‚Äregardless, I’ve been thinking happy thoughts about you and your family and the newest addition… Can’t wait to “meet” the new one on your blog!
Oh how I remember those post-due date days. Waiting for something to happen. Waiting and waiting. Hello, baby, your time is supposed to be up!
40 weeksi read somewhere that this number is a western idea and really it is a much more fluid than that
Oh no. I can relate to that feeling of going over. Can’t you just ask them to start the whole thing off and break your waters or something? Going over your due date is just excruciating.Wishing you the best with it all!
Mia
Ha ha, Claire! I can relate! I am due June 8th too and I’m trying my best to come up with ways to trick the universe too. It is so time to have the baby! 😉
Well I was a week overdue, and it became known as the ‘bomb watch’. I kept thinking it would happen at Safeway. But it didn’t, it happened at 5 in the morning after some dodgy nachos.
mmm – suddenly I am craving nachos.
Hey there,
Your thinking sounds eminently logical to me…is that ‘coz I’m piscean tho? Hope Amelia is well again soon, vomiting is horrific no matter what age… 🙂
Ha ha I can not wait! So excited for you!
We are the exact same way here. I just pretended that I needed peace, quiet and a nap in hopes that a package we were waiting for would arrive. It did, but I accidentally fell asleep (of course if I had not been aslepp it probably would have been quite a few more hours)!
I hope Amelia is right as rain awfully soon!
Delurking here…well, I’m glad that your physician is not forcing an induction.
I myself was 43.2 days with my son, but I was dead set on not having him at home until the kitchen remodel was finished!
I’ve had clients (I’m a midwife), who have been thankful that I have no problem waiting for an eternity for a baby…they typically know when to enter into the world on their own!
Good luck and hang in there!!!
Of course my 2 year old was sick while I was in the hospital having baby #2 which I brought home only to catch the sickness along with the rest of the family- fun times, fun times.
psstt…. you could try to have sex. That will help to trigger.
The waiting! I waited well past my due date when I was pregnant with Audrey. There was nothing happening at all, and my doctor scheduled an induction for the 10th day – I went into labour at midnight the night before. Apparently it’s quite a common occurence… maybe you should try to trick her out with a ‘pretend’ induction?! 😉 All the best! xo
ayayay, i can totally relate to the vomit terror… i still have total vomit-phobia and was inducted at the age of 3. if you opt to bring on labor with slapstick, then Kentucky Fried Movie is my recommendation! 🙂
OK, so maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this, but when I was pregnant with Alice, I awoke one night to hear Beth having one of those coughing fits where you think that this cough sounds like it is going to become a vomit. So I jumped up. No, hang on, I kind of rolled up like a beached whale and then I jumped and ran to Beth’s room and you’ll never guess what? (“What?” I hear you saying) My water broke. All over the new carpet that had gone down in the “renovating the bedrooms frenzy” that had happened the month before. So maybe you need to jump out of bed really quickly? Or like I said, roll and then jump.
Good luck Claire – hopefully this post will find you going into labour all by yourself … if not, at least you get to see a great film on dvd. If you DO get to watch it tonight, let me know what it’s like !
i watched “taxi” with queen latifa and jimmy fallon (which was AWFUL)when i was a week over due. when the movie ended i had my first contraction, and immediately went into hard labour. maybe it takes crappy t.v. to disgust the child out of you.
If only the universe can be fooled so easily …
Can remember breast feeding my new born at 2am while trying to settle my 3 year old back to sleep and hoping that my 1 year old didn’t wake up, which she usually did when the newborn and the 3 year old had settled down. Ah, those were the days. Motherhood is life in the trenches, and no-one can tell me different. And I’d do it all over again in a second!!!
Every morning I check your blog to see if Big-P has posted some good news. As someone who had an induction with my son 14 days(yes 14!!)overdue and an induction with my daughter 13 days (yes 13!!) overdue I can sympathise with you just wanting it out. I tried all of the oldwives tales (except the orange juice and castor oil..), to get my kids out. But you are having a Gemini afterall and they just do things when they please really. Good luck to you Claire!!
Oh and I forgot to say… “walk the line” is a GREAT movie..so I hope you enjoy it if you are home!!
How exciting…not long now!Theres nothing i reckon like that feeling when the baby comes out and you meet them face to face
Lucky you!
PS I reccomend sitting on a chair with the shower head spraying at your contracting belly
Discovered this during my 4th labour and found it calmed me (Wild woman!) down alot
My labour started when an earsplitting clap of thunder made me rise vertically from the chair. The baby kicked so hard that my waters broke!!My little girl was born 3 hours later.Hope you don’t have to wait much longer and that poor Amelia is feeling better.Sending you lots of good wishes from England.
Try going for a walk, it was the only thing that worked for me after being in a gradual labour for about 2 weeks with my second. She is still determined to have her own way on a daily basis. Hope you have a great birth and healthy baby.
i went 14 days over with my first and she was of larger than is suitable for my bits proportions, so i tore like i woman giveng birth to a small cow.
second baby was induced via ruptured waters on my due date, and all subsequent kids will be as well due to the vast amount of scar tissue I wound up with. Still, i loved the fact that one way, or another, it would have to come out. and then i could bend over again, lie on my tummy (after a bit) and have a really great tickle game with my toddler without wetting myself.
And if anyone tells you to eat curried sweet potatoes with chilli whilst taking brisk uphill walks and have wild sex, just give them *that* look. yep, that one.
“Walk the Line” is brillig. I loved it.
Good luck !
Can’t wait to read the happy news !
Hey, I’m 18 weeks preggers and I just watched Walk the Line last night. Let’s hope it doesn’t induce labor in everyone. Best of luck with yours, though! Maybe some step aerobics will do the trick? hee hee.
I hope “Walk the Line” helps put “Ring of Fire” in your head while the new baby is crowning like it did for me.
(it burns, burns, burns…)
When my sister was pregnant she went a week or so over her due date. She was incredibly ready to give birth. My Mother kept telling all of us that God was making her perfect and when she was finally done, she would come. This still did not stop us from trying several “home remedies”, including Castor oil- which only succeeded in making my sister nauseaous. There was also eggplant parmesan (far more pleasant) and a very bumpy ride over some railroad tracks (not recommended).
Bring on the chocolate.
Chara
Oh I really feel for you!! I was a whole week overdue with my last one. It was the longest week of my life. I don’t think I ever walked as much as I did just trying to induce labor! I really thought I was doomed to be pregnant forever! Hang in there the best you can! It will finally happen so suddenly that it will be hard to believe that you’ve been waiting so long! Take care and best wishes for a beautiful birth! 🙂
I’m holding my sleeping 6 mo.old son as I type this. He was a week late, so I can relate to the wait! “Walk the Line”, great flick.Best wishes!!!
Try a little castor oil – old wife’s tale that it will start your labor.
I was 14 days overdue with my son and I STILL had to be induced. I tried everything, even castor oil! He was just as stubborn!
Anyway, I’m sending good thoughts your way! Hopefully today is the day!
i’ve been reading your blog(s) for a while but i never commented. this time i had to, i’ve been laughing so much with the past entries and this one was just hilarious! all the comments above made me laugh like crazy, i’m glad i work in a office all by myself and have nobody here to think i am getting insane.good luck with the labour and the all the best for your lovely family.
I just discovered your blog and I love it! I hope your labor goes quickly and easily!!
I think that universe theory works the same when I wash my car. Without doubt, rain is in the forecast.Best of luck with the labor. I’m thinking about you. And Walk the Line is one of my favorites!
Well, I was supposed to be a 4th of July baby, but instead finally came out on the 26th of July. The doctors got tired of waiting and had her come in on the 25th and walk every hallway in the hospital. Apparently my mom’s older brother was a 10 month baby too, so I’ll be expecting the same thing when I (eventually) have one.
🙂 hee.oh poor amelia!
hang in there- i keep checking in- hope walk the line does it!
Jeez, this is the most motherhoody post I think I’ve ever read. Good luck – it won’t be long now.
oh gee so close now! good luck when it does happen! try watching 3 men and a baby – I was told it has a very high ratio of baby crying in it which can stimulate the hormones you need to get labour going. however, I wouldn’t recommend this as in desperation I tried this with my last pregnancy and I tell you that movie has REALLY dated. It looks SO daggy these days. Anyway I did try to get through some of it and hey I did go into labour that evening (a week late) so maybe it worked. 🙂 sending joy and good wishes Jen
I read some of the other comments and wanted to say that I have read that castor oil can be really dangerous so don’t try that. I know a woman who laughed so hard at Mr Bean that she started her labour off. And yes, 40 weeks is just a western construct like Kathreen said so baby will come soon enough! 🙂 Jen (again)
I for one, am routing for you to see Walk the Line–it’s really good. Then you can have the baby. Hope Amelia is feeling better–I’m sure you’ll pop over the weekend, supermom!I’ll be thinking of you.
oh and if all else fails, a little balsamic vinegar will help moves things along–after the movie, of course! and the laundry!
take care
Hi Claire,Whilst googling baby things I found your site, right when you’re due. It’s lovely to catch up with what you’re doing, and congrats to you both on number 1 and impending number 2.
Love to all your family, as well, Amanda
Mind you, I wasn’t sure it was you when you said you picked Amelia up in your car! I remember when you could only do the left hand turns around Burwood 🙂
Oh! Good luck. I hope the baby comes soon.
I am sending you labor vibes through the keyboard. It really is not the same the second time around.
i remember, how many years ago was that now?, when you were pregnant with amelia and i was checking your blog daily to see if the big day had arrived.that was when i lived in melbourne.now i live in tokyo pregnant with my first child and still reading your blog waiting for the good news of number 2.best wishes 🙂