Baby #3 has arrived safe and sound and although she was a week over due and as much as I hate being pregnant, I’d do it all over again – but only if I was a couple of years younger!

This labor and delivery was pretty much the same as the other two.  I was induced with the first and third, which does make the labor more intense but other than the intensity, all three were pretty much the same.  The only reason that the first one took so much longer than the last two is because the baby’s head was against his shoulder instead of pushing down on the cervix.  So with him I was in active labor for about 12 or 13 hours.

For me, once I move from active labor into the transition and then onto the pushing stage, everything goes extremely quickly.  My doctor has missed all three deliveries, (although he was out of town for the middle one.)  For the first one, once the head was in the right position, he was born within 45 minutes.  With the second one I labored at home for most of the day and made it to the hospital with barely enough time, she was born about 15 minutes after getting to there.  With the third one, I was in active labor for about an hour and a half.  It took about ½ hr to go from active labor, into transitional labor, then onto pushing and the baby was born.

So basically on average my transitional labor is about 10 or 15 minutes with the pushing stage being about 10 or 15 minutes before the baby is born.  I think for the most part my labor & deliveries are relatively easy compared to some, I’ve heard of so many women that have had such a hard time.

This is why our neighbor calls me the ‘baby machine’ – everything just happens so quickly, even conception.  The only part that takes a long time is the pregnancy and of course raising the children!

My doctor is going to induce me 9 days after my due date – which is much better than if I would have to wait 4 weeks!  And quite honestly, the due date that I had calculated is today – so technically I’m not really over due yet.

And really as uncomfortable as I am, I know it’s only going to be for another 5 1/2 days, hopefully sooner – but I’m not counting on it.

Originally my doctor had told me that he would induce 10 to 14 days after the due day but today he said he would induce between 7 and 10 days.  So I guess 7 more days of being uncomfortable, unable to sleep (not that I’ll get much more when the baby comes) and irritable.

Other than that everything is fine.  I’ve gained 3 lbs this past week and the baby’s heartbeat was at 140.

So for now I’m just hoping and praying that I go into labor naturally, the sooner the better!

Yes, still pregnant!  At my last appointment the doctor told me any day now and that I probably won’t go over my due date, but if I do he’ll induce after 10 days.  Urgh!  An extra 10 days of being pregnant!  The first time around it wasn’t too bad being over due, the first pregnancy is so new and exciting that it really wasn’t a big deal.  It was probably easier to be induced the first time because at least I was already at the hospital and I didn’t have to worry about wondering if I was in labor or when I should go to the hospital.  But I do have to say that induced labor is harder than natural labor.

I told my husband that I’m scared that I’m not going to know when I go into labor.  I mean I’ll know when the hard contractions start but as for the first stages of labor I’m not sure that I’ll recognize the signs.  For both of my other pregnancies I was in labor and didn’t even really realize it until after the hard contractions started.  And with my second pregnancy I had about an hour maybe two of hard contractions before the baby was born.  Which is why I’m scared that I’m not going to recognize the signs in time to get to the hospital.  Our babysitter is just over an hour away and then it’s a 40 minute drive to the hospital.  So from the time that I realize that I’m in labor to the time to get to the hospital is about 2 hours.  Which is more than the 2 hours of hard labor that I was in the last time and usually things go quicker with each pregnancy.  So I’m scared I’m going to be delivering the baby in the vehicle on the way to the hospital.

Well it’s 38 1/2 weeks actually, but hey who’s counting?  As of my last doctor’s appointment I’ve gained 27 lbs, so basically right inline with the other two.  The first one was 25 lbs, second was 28 lbs.  Also at my last doctor’s appointment I found out that if I do go over my due date, he’s not planning on inducing labor until about 10 or 12 days later!  I certainly hope that he’ll negotiate with me on that one!  Can you imagine, an extra 2 weeks of being uncomfortably pregnant!

Other than that everything is going well.  The baby is moving lots, it’s getting harder & harder to sleep at night.

I’m looking forward to throwing my maternity clothes away.  (Well, just the ones that I either haven’t worn for this pregnancy or that I’ve worn out!)