Baby Out or Baby In?
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Monday, August 23, 2010 7:57 PM
My sister is pregnant. Fully pregnant, since she was due this past Saturday.
Her first baby was a month early and her second eight days late. With this third baby, she was hoping to go early again, but no dice. She seems resigned to her baby’s late-ish arrival, but I know she’s greeting each morning wishing it will be the day.
I have no experience with this, since my babies were born at 10 days and 14 days early, respectively. Other women generally greet this information with a “you’re so lucky” sigh, but can I tell you a secret? Both times, I was not ready to give birth. I was kind of hoping to go overdue, actually.
Since I’ve never been forty weeks pregnant, I know I can’t really say whether I’d tolerate it well or not. Perhaps if I ever made it to a due date, I’d be begging to give birth ASAP. But I do know one thing: while the last month of pregnancy is certainly uncomfortable, at least for me, it doesn’t compare to the first weeks of having a newborn.
New babies are sweet, of course, and there’s nothing like that first moment of seeing and holding your new little one. I do anticipate it happily. At the same time, though, no baby will stay inside forever; they all come out eventually. And when I’m on the brink of round-the-clock feedings and diaper changes and the postpartum hormone crash, I’ve got no desire to step over that cliff a moment earlier than necessary.
I told my sister about this today and she looked at me like I was crazy. And maybe I am, a little. But I’m thinking there must be at least a few other women out there who feel the same way?
So. How do you feel about it? At the end of a pregnancy, are you praying for the baby to exit your body immediately? Or do you, like me, kind of wish he’d stay inside as long as possible?
(Oh, and if you have ever been significantly overdue, please feel free to tell me that I’d feel quite differently if I got to that point in the pregnancy. I’m quite willing to believe you!)
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