I am officially 41 and 3 and still nothing. Maybe today I felt SLIGHTLY (and man, I cannot stress how SLIGHTLY) different. But nothing crazy. The only thing happening that is crazy is the state of my mind. While I am doing better than last week, I am still going crazy. Being this overdue is a peculiar thing though. See for being full term (and heck, at this point, entirely past full term) I am not very big. Most of that can probably be attributed to having battled hyperemesis gravidarum (hg) throughout the majority of my pregnancy, but it still makes for some funny looks and comments.
I am at the point where I can't go out without someone asking me how far along I am. I think they are expecting me to say something along the lines of 7 1/2- 8 months. So when I reply with a hearty, 41 weeks and however many days I happen to be in that moment, I really get the looks! Usually they look me up and down, then say something along the lines of, "but you're so small," then they really process it and the shock of seeing a mom past 40 weeks (because we are an endangered species here in the United States) sets in and then they REALLY get confused. I have had comments ranging from a simple, "Oh wow," to "So are you getting induced tomorrow," and even from one woman, with a concerned look in her eye, "And your doctor is letting you go THAT long?!"
Ryan has been getting comments too. Tomorrow is Monday so I am certain he will be bombarded with a number of well meaning teachers and students asking if the baby is here yet, and then being surprised that she is not. I am not kidding when I say, even our local Jehovah's Witness couple was surprised that I have not had the baby yet (though why they come to our door every Saturday to talk with Ryan is a whole different story, haha). He is being a real trooper though, replying with a smile, and a simple, nope not yet, or an, any day now! And when people ask why we have not medically induced yet, I think he is even better at replying than I am. He just nicely explains that the baby just must not be ready yet and that she will come out when she is. If he has gotten any negative responses at all, he has not told me...but his overall demeanor and autism come together and make him really not care about any negative comments that might be said. I have to say though, I am SO thankful to him for being so awesome when people are bugging us and for being so knowledgeable and supportive about our decision to not medically induce.
Beyond Ryan and I though, I know my family is getting lots of questions too. My mom even came up with a simple, "we will have a baby in the next 2 weeks" sort of response to anyone texting or calling her to ask if I have had the baby yet, and I am sure my dad has come up with a similar response. Luckily, my parents are VERY supportive of my decision to not only have a home birth, but to wait it out and let her come on her own time. My mom was induced when she had me and had a less than stellar experience to say the least, so they are very supportive of my decision to wait and I am very thankful for that.
Ryan's parents have been pretty understanding thus far too. While they are not as knowledgeable about home and natural child birth, they have still been very understanding about the whole thing. I am sure his mom is also getting the questions from family and coworkers about why I have not had the baby yet. Thankfully though, if she is getting antsy about it at all, she has not said anything to me!
As you know though, if you read my previous post with my natural induction plan (I will link it here) I started taking steps on Friday night to move things along. So far those things have included taking 1000 mg of Evening Primrose Oil every night before bed, trying not to stress out, and planning for a cervical check tomorrow when my midwife comes out to the house. Those things don't sound like much, but in a way, trying to have this baby feels like it is turning into a full time job! While I am feeling better about it all, I cannot help researching natural induction techniques online and trying them out. Mostly that looks like walking TONS, bouncing and doing hip circles on my birth ball, doing lots of squats, trying to have good posture and a number of other things. Sometimes I feel like it is helpful, like when I am power walking through Meijer at 1 am and I am having pains that come and go. I'm not sure if they are contractions, and they are not THAT painful, but they're the closest consistant thing to contractions that I have felt in months. They always go away though as soon as I stop walking, squatting, bouncing, or whatever other exercise it is that I am doing to bring them on.
Regardless, I am excited and ready for tomorrow. While I am nervous about being checked (really nervous actually, because who likes having someone's hands shoved up their who ha??) I am interested to see where I am at. In my heart of hearts I feel like there is nothing going on. In the same way that I have though throughout this entire pregnancy that she was going to be late, I don't think I am dilated at all. I just think I would be feeling more going on in my pelvis if I was. But here we are, and I am, after all this work, at the very least, hopeful.
Comments