Question about the end of pregnancy

Q. I'm almost 38 weeks and not dilating?

I will be 38 weeks on Saturday and I am STILL not dilating. My doctor's appointment was yesterday; he checked me and said my son is still pretty high up there. I haven't dropped at all but I feel terrible. My whole pelvic region feels so heavy (almost like someone hit me) and it aches badly. I'm scared I will be overdue again (was 10 overdue with my daughter) and my need a C-Section in the end. With my daughter I was overdue but at least (around this time) a cm or 2cm dilated.

Has anyone gone through this with a subsequent pregnancy? In my mind I thought, this one would go a lot quicker but I'm losing hope and my fear seems like it may become a reality. I had an all natural birth with my daughter and I wanted to experience it again with my son. I'm scared I will have to go through getting pitocin and so forth. Any suggestions, words of encouragement, anything?

To add I have been having BH's constantly that have been getting pretty painful, but still nothing!
I just am getting frustrated because I am very uncomfortable, even more so than my other pregnancy.


Answer :

It's normal to feel anxious towards the end or pregnancy. Try to do relaxing things to help yourself feel grounded - go for a nice walk, have a warm bath, sip some herbal tea, talk to your baby, breathe.

Not being dilated or having dropped is totally meaningless bits of information. You're 38 weeks. You're not in labour yet, you don't need to be dilated. Your baby doesn't need to have dropped. It will drop when it's ready, and your body will open when it's ready.

As for being overdue, actually the normal range of birth is from 3 weeks before the due date to 2 weeks after. So if baby wasn't born by 2 weeks after the date, you would be overdue. Women and doctors today are so overly focused on times and dates, they expect babies to be born by that due date. Also, the due dates are estimated based on the average woman's cycle of 28 days. If your cycle is longer than that, you're date of ovulation would be later, and your due date should be later. Some doctors take that into account, some don't.

There are many ways of getting labour started naturally once labour is already imminent (meaning that it would start on it's own anyway in the next few days). One of the best ways is sex.
Oxytocin is the hormone involved in love, sex, labour and breastfeeding. So kissing, making out, nipple stimulation, sex and orgasm can make your body produce oxytocin which can start labour.
Prostaglandin, which is is semen is the hormone which softens the cervix. So that can help start labour too. Don't have intercourse after the water breaks though.

There are lots of other natural ways to start labour.
You can find them just by doing a Google search.

Have fun and do find things to help you relax. Feeling anxious can actually stop labour.
If you have any further questions, you can email me.

Asker's Comment: Thanks! I'm just going to be patient and wait it out.