u/TheFoolWithDreams

Would love positive stories of major change of plans.

I've been planning a home birth with my midwife team this whole pregnancy, they've been incredibly supportive in spite of me having an additional risk factor (diabetes- very well managed)

I'm 38+3 and have been in prodromal labor for 9 days now.
The high risk team at the hospital want me to induce at 39, I've said unless baby is in distress I'm waiting till 40 (no known additional risk with well managed diabetes as baby hasn't really seen any additional glucose) but with the prodromal labor and reading stories of women who had PL for weeks I'm trying to accept that I might have to change my plans.

Would love to hear positive stories of unmedicated induction or just having to birth in the hospital when that wasn't the plan- especially if you had a fear of hospitals before birth, because I have an irrational fear of them lol
I've envisioned giving birth at home literally my whole life, so this is such a hard thing to accept but obviously I'll do what's best for baby and I.

I am of course doing everything to encourage labor to progress, walking, red raspberry tea, sex, pumping, considering castor oil but not sure because the evidence of uterine hyperstimulation is a bit spooky as I had that with my MC and it was hell.
Might try evening primrose oil tonight and see if that helps.

My plan has been a low intervention, calm birth. My mum has been part of the birth team from the beginning. She's generally an incredibly calm, grounded, intuitive human. And she's also my medical advocate so incredibly important that she's involved. I'm super well educated but I shut down around medical things because of anxiety.

My plan has been to ignore early labor until no longer possible, telling no one until I couldn't hide it. However when I started having mild contractions on Wednesday I knew her workload was really heavy and time sensitive so I went against the plan and told her where I was at in case things progressed quickly. I said then "it's not go time, but just an update"

I'd been having pretty consistent 40 second contractions 5 minutes apart. They're not REMOTELY painful so I assume this is prodromal labor. Thursday afternoon she calls to check in, I tell her this and she decides she doesn't feel comfortable with me being alone anymore so she comes over.

I have a routine NST Friday, it's confirmed that contractions are real, not BH. Mum starts talking about how she thinks baby is going to come this weekend. Like I said, she is generally a very intuitive human and I trust her judgment a lot.

We walk a ton over the next two days, contractions are stronger when I walk.

Through all of this I keep saying "I don't want to get my hopes up, I know it could still be a week or more."

Yesterday morning contractions finally hit the point that I would have under normal circumstances said something, mildly crampy and 3 minutes apart. But still only about 40 seconds long. We go for another walk. By around 3pm they seem to stop all together. This morning they're back but again really light.

I'm feeling so mad at myself for saying anything sooner than I planned. For letting myself do anything other than ignoring it when I KNOW prodromal labor is incredibly common on first pregnancies. My plan was to prevent the emotional exhaustion so many people experience. I wish I hadn't said anything that I had just carried on like usual, watched bad TV, slept lots, and ignored things till it was actually painful.

Now I feel like I've been in labor for 4 days, even tho nothing has really happened. I'm mentally exhausted and so frustrated.

I'm going to call her today and ask that we hit the reset button. I'll probably call the midwives and get a cervical check just to reassure my mum that baby isn't coming today. But otherwise I just want to go back to business as usual until something meaningful changes.

I know her labors were both fast and mostly painless, so I understand where she's coming from, she doesn't want me not prepared if things progress quickly. She's not trying to put pressure on me but I am really disappointed with how things have gone so far. This is the first time in my life I've regretted telling her something.

Idk I think I just needed to vent.

I just desperately need to shout into the void. I'm 99% sure I'm in very early labor. I lost 3lbs over the weekend, lost my mucus plug last night, my boobs are suddenly so painful and I have had intermittent back pain - incredibly similar to pre-period pain and identical to the pain I had at the beginning of my MC last year and over the last couple hours the pain has been rolling into my pelvis slowly.

When I say early, I mean EARLY. I'm very aware I could still have a looong ride before baby is anywhere near arriving. My mum and husband know, but no one else does because I firmly don't want to get anyone excited/invested or asking for updates. Because again, it could still be a while.
My plan is just to send the important people pictures when baby is here AND I'm ready to share.

However, under normal circumstances I'm a chronic overshare, I process verbally and I have my book club coming over in half an hour and I just have to pretend everything is super casual and nothing is going on when all I can think about is these waves of back pain and the fact that after two years of trying to get pregnant I get to meet my baby soon.

So instead I scream into the Reddit void, because I need to tell people. But I also know for my sanity and wellbeing I cannot tell the people in my life. Everyone is so excited for this baby, their questions and check-ins will come from the best place but no one even knows baby's due date, and that's by design. I don't want to be bothered and I don't want to deal with everyone's disappointment when they ask if baby is here and I say the answer is no. Almost everyone in my life is a forever auntie, I have very few people who plan on ever having kids. They are so excited to love this little dude, but I want to share him on my own time.

After my friends leave tonight I'm turning my phone off and hiding in a hole till baby is here I swear to god lol

Hi friends!

I'm 32 weeks today and really starting to lock down on the details of my labor plan. I got a chest freezer and am hoping to fill it with easy meals that my birth team can throw in the microwave for either myself or them in the moment, would love your recommendations! Especially for quick snacks.

I'm diabetic so snacking through my labor is going to be incredibly important to keep my sugars managed.
Current plan is to have mild cheese, fruit, veggies & hummus. No major dietary restrictions beyond the diabetes, but carbs are important in labor because glucose can go low!

Additionally, those who have had a successful home birth, what do you wish you had planned differently? I just ordered my birth pool, we have candles, music, puppy pads & towels galore, I'm due in July so we're getting an AC unit for our living room. I want to be sure I have everything to support me, my midwives & my birth team through the whole process.

Let me tell you right now, I was SO WORRIED when I was making my moodboard for my maternity photos that I wouldn't look pregnant, that I would just look like I don't know how to dress with a fat belly.

We did my photos yesterday, just with my Mum and her phone because I cannot afford a professional right now & we forgot the good camera at home (hormone brain is real at 32 weeks) and I cannot stop crying over how beautiful they are. Yes, my belly hangs over my skirt in a couple pictures but it's so special to immortalize this incredibly special time, and even with the apron I am still very obviously pregnant.

So if you were on the fence & unsure... Do it. It's so so so worth it.

Driving up to Duncan today and someone's truck has been dropping stuff all along HWY 1, bags, full of stuff, boxes, sheets.

No idea who it is but make sure you use caution, especially on the malahat.