3rd day overdue

Baby was due 3 days ago, 2nd of December and nope it hasn't come and yes, I get numerous calls every day from people asking "has it come yet?"

I didn't realize the wait would be so agonizing! Every day, I wonder could it be today? Every new sensation, I think did I feel this before or is this a new feeling? Is this one of the signs of early labour? Last night I didn't sleep worrying about the labour and the birth, what it means to get induced etc. etc.

There is a silver lining to the delay I must say. Today I had a chance to re-read the "birth & labour" chapter of my pregnancy book which is probably the third time I've read it. Lo and behold, I discover that I didn't quite absorb all the interesting things in there weeks ago when I originally read it! Only now do I have the mindset to really pay attention to the important details. A few weeks ago, I was preoccupied with other things and just not ready to think about labour. Things like the baby shower, cleaning, cooking, making sure nursery is ready with all the things baby needs.

My attitude has always been to not focus on the birth but focus on the outcome which is a healthy baby. So rather than concentrating on the minute details of labour, I wanted to make sure I was ready to care for a baby, made myself and my home as ready as possible for his arrival and prepared my body as much as I could for breastfeeding.

I didn't want to write a birth plan for precisely the reason that I wanted things flexible as I really didn't know how things would pan out and how I would cope with the pain (I think I have quite a good tolerance for pain but the ultimate test is yet to come). My attitude is, whatever works at the time, that's what I'll do. I didn't want to define a successful birth by whether I used as little pain relief as possible rather a successful birth should only be about a healthy baby and a healthy mum.

Having said all that, with the baby not coming just yet and with everything else ready for his arrival, I'm now in the mode to really think about the birth process. I now have the time to visualize things in my head and think about what I need to do to manage the pain. I now have a "fluid plan" in my head of things I could do to minimize the pain. I am also adamant that my husband read the same book and that we talk about it so we're on the same page (pardon the pun) on the day and he can provide the best support as possible.

Wish me luck!

newmumV(ange)