You’re Late!

Hello!

So, the big day was finally here – bags were packed, house was cleaned, John was on his best behaviour – but all to no avail. The 25th came and went, as we expected it might but hoped it wouldn’t. Still no baby.

We’re now 40 weeks (+ 4 days overdue). We saw the midwife two days ago, and baby’s head is engaged, his heartbeat was strong, and everything else is fine (no signs of pre-eclampsia etc). So this is good news. We’ve decided to wait another week before beginning to be poked about –  a delightful procedure called a ‘stretch-and-sweep’. This is where someone (usually the midwife, rather than some complete stranger) pokes about at your cervix with the intention of separating the membranes and stimulating a hormonal release that begins labour. In theory.

Stretch-and-sweep…

However, our midwife raises a good point – how effective this and other methods of ‘inducing labour’ are is debatable, as they are all performed on women who are overdue anyhow, and therefore may naturally go into labour, with or without said intervention…

But I’m feeling good. People most commonly ask me if I’m at the ‘just get it out of me!’ stage yet, and honestly, I’m nowhere near. I feel comfortable, and am enjoying not having any demands on my time for the first (and last) time in a very long time. I’m also commonly asked if I’ve ‘felt any twinges’ to the extent that we questioned the midwife about this assumption by others that I should do so. She confirmed our understanding that most of the time this isn’t actually a thing. For most people, you’re either in early labour, and you know about it, or you’re not. So things are all quiet on the Walker front.

Me at 38 weeks

However, John and I are going through different strange psychological reactions to being overdue. I think it is fair to say that we have been cautiously optimistic throughout this pregnancy, perhaps with more emphasis on the ‘cautiously’ than others might be. It remains too good to be true in our minds and the current delay has reinforced that belief for John, who is now convinced that the baby probably won’t come after all, and will just dissolve away or something. I, on the other hand, feel a bit like we’ve missed our slot now, so that’s it. I’ll either stay this pregnant forever, or have to wait my turn again in a year or so’s time. So you should probably all stand down and get back to your normal lives. Nothing to see here…

Of course, we are aware how crazy this is, and how likely it was that we would go overdue, and how – one way or another – this baby is coming out. We’d just very much like to meet him now please!

40 weeks exactly…