[ChristinaR]

Hi Ladies,

I'm 37 weeks today and at my dr's appt yesterday my OB said I was still really high, long, and closed. I started having BH contractions this week so I thought for sure she was going to tell me I was starting to thin out but no such luck. How did you progress and around what week was it. I'm wondering if its at all possible that at my next appt I can start progressing some or if I should just not get my hopes up. Oh and did you anything differently to get things going? I still have 3 weeks till my due date but if by next week she still says lo isn't any closer I think I'll cry lol.

[Gray_baby]

I have no idea if anything is happening with me yet because I haven't been checked yet. I just didn't want to hear that nothing is going on so every time the doctor offers I turn her down.

And remember even if you were 1cm or more you could remain that way for weeks. My sister sat at 2-3cm for weeks up until the day she delivered. From what I've read this is quite common, so it's not always a good sign of you delivering soon.

[ChristinaR]

Oh wow I didn't even realize it was something optional. She didn't even ask me lol. She just said ok lean back I need to check on you. I guess I'd still want to know though only because I travel alot so if I'm anywhere near close I'd probably stick close to home more and want to stop working sooner.

[banksamee]

I was not really dilated until after my water broke. But I thined quite a bit. Good Luck! I hope you have progress at your next appointment! (I did a lot of walking in my last week...which was week 38 for me...that seemed to help. especially stairs.)

[KCMomma]

Since you are officially full term I would stick close to home anyway. Sometimes labor can just come on so quickly that you need to be close to home/hospital. As for me, I was 2cm dialated and like 70% effaced for several weeks. To me the effacement means more than the dialiation. You can quickly go from a 2-10 so to me the thining of the cervix means more, but hey, I'm no doc! Unfortunately, it's different for everyone. I was checked into the hospital and 5 hours later (after an ER c section) I had my baby, but then others were there for hours upon hours! Hope I helped some!

[Celry]

I was thinning out by 35 weeks with the twins, but didn't dialate until after my water broke.

[LindsLuvsSi]

I was not dilated at 41 weeks! So my midwife stripped my membranes and stretched my cervix to 1.5cm. Then 5 days later when contractions began I dilated more. I was in labor for over 22 hours when I was fully dilated and in labor for 24 hours when DS was born. My water didn't break until I was about 8cm dilated but the next 2 went was at most 2 hours. GL!

[Banned-Jaylas_Mommy]

my first check was at 36 weeks and i was closed but 50%effaced. the following week i had progressed to 1 and 70%. then the next 3 weeks was stil at a 1. my water broke the night of my 39 week appointment. i was only a 1 at the appt.

so it really can happen at anytime!

[ChristinaR]

Thanks ladies! So it sounds like the effacement part is most important. Can't wait till next weeks appt now.

[stlgirl]

Even if you don't have ANY progress at your next appt, it really doesn't mean anything! I honestly think I'm going to opt out of getting checked because I think I'll just end up stressing about it. When labor starts, you can go from absolutely nothing to like 4cm and 80% effaced pretty fast, or that process can take several weeks. It varies by woman. You could go into labor tomorrow even with no 'progress' in your last checkup. So I guess what I'm trying to say is not to get too caught up in how ripened your cervix is, because that's really no indication of when you'll actually have the baby. But if you do want to speed that process up, walking, EPO, and lots of DTDing can help.