I just wanted to make a couple of comments about due dates. I've had two students -- one who is a Bradley instructor now -- give birth this weekend. Both were "overdue." There was some anxiety leading up to the actual birth day, which I believe was inflicted by society's expectation of when the baby should be here. Surely it's dangerous to go past 40 weeks, right? 40 weeks is considered overdue in some circles these days.
I always joke that the baby doesn't have a little calendar in the womb with a little red pen with his/her due date circled like you do. You've probably heard the numbers on this one: only 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. And yet, so much hinges on that date.
If you have been given more than one due date, you always want to go with the later one, not the earlier one. This buys you time at the end of pregnancy. You may not think this is a big deal right now at 21 weeks -- surely you'll have your baby early -- but as 40 weeks comes and goes, it becomes a big deal.
You need to know your care provider's policy on going past 40 weeks. Maybe they won't even allow that to happen (red flag - get out of there!). Maybe it's one week, 10 days, or maybe they'll "allow" you the full 2 weeks. What if you have 2 dates that are, say, 4 days apart. At the end of pregnancy, every day is significant. This all goes back to believing that your body knows what it's doing. There is evidence that shows that it is the baby that triggers labor, so that must mean that the baby comes when he/she is ready. Labor will be better and baby will do better when he/she is born.
One of these moms that had her baby today had been induced with her other children. What I usually see in these situations is that the mom truly believes that her body is incapable of starting labor on its own. That was not necessarily the case with this particular mom, but I see/hear this quite often. Induction really does a number on a mom's confidence with future babies. This mom declined having her membranes stripped and water broken because she believed in her body. After weeks of contractions, her water broke last night, contractions picked up, they headed for the birth center, and had their baby 6 hours later. Beautiful.
The other mom I referred to, had her first baby at 42 weeks and was quite convinced that this one would come early. Needless to say, she was inching very close to that 42 week mark again! She may have all her babies closer to 42 weeks than 40. All 4 of mine came between 39 and 40 weeks. The more regular your cycle, the more likely you are to be closer to 40 weeks. I am exactly 28 days.
My favorite example when talking about due dates is comparing babies to popcorn. We pop popcorn every Sunday night for dinner in a Stir Crazy popcorn popper. You'll always hear a kernel or two pop much sooner than the others, but generally, they all pop real close together. Despite being exposed to the oil and the heat the same amount of time, there will always be several kernels that pop after all the rest are finished, even when I'm pulling the plug on the popper. And so it is with babies. They generally come around the same time, but it's impossible for the kernels to pop all at once -- that would be quite a sight in the popcorn popper! Some babies need more time than others, some a little less. Let's be respectful of the time they need to "cook." I know that some women truly believe they would have stayed pregnant forever, but I promise, it just ain't so!
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