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10.11.2011

Well, Hello There, Due Date. We Meet Again...

Dear Due Date,

I expected all along that you and I would meet again.   After all, I went beyond 41 weeks with my other two pregnancies.  I nearly drove myself crazy then, trying everything short of castor oil to get labor to begin.  And all to no avail.  These things tend to happen in their own time, no matter how much we'd like to convince ourselves otherwise.

This time, I decided do things differently.  If I trusted in birth, then it begged the question - why do I need to try anything and everything to bring on labor?  Don't my body and my baby know when the time is right?  I decided to relax and accept rather than push and insist.  From the moment we shared the news of this pregnancy, when asked when our baby was due I usually replied, "In October.  Probably October 20-something."  That's when we were expecting her.

Yet life has a way of teaching us to be flexible, to abandon illusions of control.  Around 38 weeks, I started having signs of labor.   This caught me off guard.  Mentally, I had been preparing for almost another month of pregnancy.  At one point I was having so many contractions that my midwife thought I might be in early labor.  Of course this just so happened to occur on an evening when we were planning to see a concert in Austin as a family.  We had purchased tickets two months prior, when I was absolutely sure this baby would not be coming early.  My midwife gave me permission to go only if I packed a hospital bag.  We drove over half way there and stopped to eat dinner at a favorite restaurant.  My contractions had been coming every 9-10 minutes for a couple of hours.  It was almost 100 degrees outside, and this outdoor concert was standing room only.  We decided to turn back to home.  I took a bath and went to bed, in case labor was beginning.  And the contractions stopped.

Thankfully the kids were pretty forgiving about it all.

So, today, Due Date, as we meet for a third time, I can honestly say I am perfectly content bumping into you once again.  I'm thankful that I'm comfortable, sleeping well, and able to stay active.  I'm kind of enjoying the way that the baby's kicks now resemble an alien trying to break out of a cocoon.   Best of all, you remind me that soon, oh so very soon, we will be meeting our baby.


That is, when she is good and ready.

4 comments:

  1. girl that is what my belly looks like after I eat a bagel:)

    Take care, enjoy these last few weeks, days, or hours of just your 3 as all things will change soon enough!!

    Can't wait to see the news and see the first pics of the beautiful family of 6!!!

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  2. love you all! Team Williams can't wait to hear the good news of your new loved one!!!

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  3. Happy due date! I'll be praying for you these next few days! Praying the little arrival comes at just the right time! Enjoy these last few days as much as you can!

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  4. As someone who went 15 and 10 days "past dates" I only know the waiting game too well. With Hugo I decided the same thing as you; he would come when he was ready. And at 10 days "overdue" I considered him early. :) Thinking of you in these last days and wishing you a healthy labor and recovery!

    PS. My doula likes to call my pregnancies elephant pregnancies, because I carry my babies for so long. Heh.

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