Just because you have been given a due date, it doesn’t mean that your baby will arrive on that date, nor does it mean that your baby is overdue. The date we are given is not the date your baby will arrive, it’s an approximate idea of when your baby will be ready to be born.
Did you know that only 5% of babies are actually born on their due date? I think we should change the name to “guess date” with that information.
Yesterday marked the beginning of the 40th week of my pregnancy, and my baby feels so big inside of my belly. Sometimes as she moves and rolls her limbs against my skin, it blows my mind that she still has room, that she is still comfy in there.
Lately, it has really felt like time is dragging. Earlier in the week, I was growing impatient and frustrated. Which makes me laugh now thinking as how I have unintentionally slacked and put off preparing for baby #2 until the very last minute (I was trying to soak up the final months of having just one little girl). She’s perfectly fine in there, comfy by the looks of it and it’s not nice to want to rush her arrival. Noticing this, I have decided to have a word with myself and change my attitude. I have brought mindfulness back into my life rather than wishing time away and wanting her to arrive now. These last days as a mom to one are precious and I will never get them back.
This isn’t a blog about pregnancy or childbirth but it is my intention to share parts of my journey that aren’t so easy, in hopes to inspire others. So if you find yourself in this state of “in between” below are some tips for how to really show up for yourself (and your baby) in those final days:
“The last days of pregnancy— sometimes stretching to agonizing weeks—are a distinct place, time, event, stage. It is a time of in between. Neither here nor there. Your old self and your new self, balanced on the edge of a pregnancy. One foot in your old world, one foot in a new world.”
The Mindful Approach when your ‘ baby is overdue’
- Trust your body, if there is no medical indication for induction really weigh up the risks and benefits.
- If you have a to do list. Finish it!
- Take a day trip with your partner or family, somewhere in nature, or somewhere you feel connected and happy. Get away from it all.
- Take your mind off of it! Read a novel, watch a movie, do some Sudoku, meditate, listen to a relaxation script.
- Explore reflexology, acupuncture or other complementary approaches. But importantly just relax and let go, baby will arrive when they are ready.
- You can ask the people around you to stop asking if the baby has been born yet! If someone asks you about it you can say “Due dates are just estimates and I trust that my baby will come when the time is right. We will let you know as soon as we have news to share.”
- Make the most of your time with your partner and current children if you have them. If this is your first child, take advantage of these last few days where it is just you and your partner. The “˜fourth trimester’ ahead is very demanding so make the most of the time you have alone. If you already have children you know how demanding the time ahead is going to be, so slow down and find things to do with your kids that are calming and comforting such as reading together or watching a family movie.
- Use affirmations to maintain a positive mindset and to trust your body to know when it’s time to birth.
“I believe that this is more than biological. It is spiritual. To give birth, whether at home in a birth tub with candles and family or in a surgical suite with machines and a neonatal team, a woman must go to the place between this world and the next, to that thin membrane between here and there. To the place where life comes from, to the mystery, in order to reach over to bring forth the child that is hers. The heroic tales of Odysseus are with us, each ordinary day. This round woman is not going into battle, but she is going to the edge of her being where every resource she has will be called on to assist in this journey. We need time and space to prepare for that journey. And somewhere, deep inside us, at a primal level, our cells and hormones and mind and soul know this, and begin the work with or without our awareness.”
I’d love to hear from you! Do you have experience with the home stretch? How did you cope?
theconsciousapproach.com 