“Ping!” You’re due. Like a Thanksgiving turkey. Like an oil change. You. Are. Due.
What is in a due date anyway? One particular date? Out of 365 days of the year, this is thee day you are due. (Okay, okay, I know…it’s not really 365…it’s more like 280 or something.)
Due with what? Ahhh…on second thought, let’s not go there…that’s another Oprah.
Due dates are only accurate five percent of the time. I read this once. So…in other words…..due dates are inaccurate ninety-five percent of the time.
Fabulous system. All the more justification for inductions and scheduling labor and delivery. Ahhh, on second thought…I’m not going there. That’s another Oprah (or maybe I did that one last month…my mind is mush anymore).
So how about a due window? What’s so god awful about that? “You are due to give birth anytime between week 38 and 42. The end.”
Or how about due moons? With my first two pregnancies, I counted the moons. Right now I am approaching my fourth moon. Hmm…due moons…yeah…so who’s going to go for that?
Back to windows…
My due window is mid-April through mid-May.
Oh yeah, I’m with-child. In the family way. Bun in the proverbial oven. To be blunt, knocked up.
Having found my beliefs about birth with my first pregnancy, then having them reaffirmed with the second, I find myself somewhere on this scary path of cruise control with the third, all the while reminding myself not to be too lax or something bad might happen (Damn that superstitious Catholicism I was sorta brought up on. Is it bad that I just said that?).
But when it comes to the due date, the due window, I’m sitting back in on my favorite love seat, feet propped up, and a bowl of ice cream is resting on my belly. I’m not worried. I could not care less.
I think babies are born when they are ready to breathe. The end.
Not when it’s convenient for the surgeon. Not when it’s convenient for grandma Ruth to fly in from the Ozarks. And not because I’m so tired of being pregnant. Wah.
I think babies are born when they are ready to breathe. Outside of the womb, that is.
I know that’s when my babies were born. They were both born at week 42 of gestation. I labored through the night by the light of the full moon. They both arrived by 8:00 a.m.
It’s when they were ready to breathe.
So yeah, I am due anywhere from mid-April to mid-May. That’s all anyone’s getting outta me this time around. (Disclaimer: I’m sure the clever can figure out THEE date, but I don’t want to hear about it. Thank you.)
Am I cranky? Huff.
Which leads me to my final thought (Yay! An end in sight!)….if you went into labor on your own, did you give birth on your due date, or were you in the window?
How ’bout if we all get in the window?
Jenna Hull is the mother of two homebirthed babes, lover of dark chocolate, and a self-proclaimed Birth Junkie who gets her fix through blogging under the pseudonym Kiki La Roo at www.kikilaroo.wordpress.com.
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“I think babies are born when they are ready to breathe.” I love this!
Thank you so much for this perspective- in a culture that seems bent on inducing early to avoid postdates at just about any cost! I hear that in some forward thinking places the due window is accepted as the norm . Imagine if the paradigm shifted and women truly believed that there are a few weeks that a babe could be expected to come, rather than one day!
Spring! What a lovely birth window. Both my boys both decided to breathe in the spring (march 2 and 5. Now we need to spread this new “birth window” concept to all- I love it!
I mean due window!!
I’ve been thinking (and writing) about this question too, as I was “due” several days ago. My first was 2 weeks early (and I was sure I’d be “late” so it was a 4-week early surprise in my mind). My second was 3 days past the due date (my husband says 10 but it was actually 3), my third 2 days before and this one … who knows? Not in the breathing way yet, I guess. The uncertainty and waiting are hard. I guess that’s what pregnancy and childbirth are partly about — letting go of our expectations. Thanks for this post. I’ll make sure to link to it when my own rant against due dates goes live next week.
Mendy–I think you unintentionally came up with really nice, calm idea…let’s remove the word DUE all together and go with ‘birth window.’ I like it. I also like “season.”
Great post! Thank you so much for all you do, i’ll keep reading.
Thanks for the great post! keep it coming
I was very pleased to find this site.I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
Also, if you are/have experienced diarrhea as an early pregnancy symptom, how early in the pregnancy did you experience it???