My Baby is Not a Fed-Ex Package and I am Not a Pressure Cooker
But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. {Romans 8:25}
Happy due date day to me! The babe is snug and comfy inside, and I am waiting. With this being my first time enjoying the incredible care of midwives, there is far less angst surrounding this day. I made happy-due-date (non-real-foodie-friendly) brownies last night. They gave me heartburn. That’s what I get for eating white flour and sugar, but on the plus side I made them at home so they didn’t cost me anything other than ingredients from my cupboard. Also, there was a cup of butter which pretty much makes them healthy… or maybe I should have just eaten the butter on its own…
The general consensus among the midwifery and natural birthing community is that the baby is smart enough to choose his/her own birthday, which renders the due date more or less meaningless. Like all other stages and milestones of human development, the best time for a baby to be born varies widely – usually between 38 and 42 weeks.
For some reason our culture has come to believe that my baby is a fed-ex package with a guaranteed delivery date, or that I am a pressure cooker that might explode by a certain time. Studies show that the rate of stillbirth increases a very slight amount (point one of a percent!) after 42 weeks of pregnancy (NOT 40!), however there the vast majority of women who continue to wait are able to safely birth after that time as well (not to mention the fact that most due dates are inaccurate/estimates because women all ovulate at different times in their cycle, and thus conception time can vary widely from the average).
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. {Ralph Waldo Emerson}
Today I’m 40 weeks, and as has been my goal since the very beginning, I am of the mindset that I will likely be quite “overdue”, and I am honestly ok with that. I’ve been reflecting on patience and waiting lately, and have been meditating on a few choice words…
Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things – with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope. {Corazon Aquino}
These words are beautiful and they exhort my soul to hope in something bigger than myself. My baby and the good Lord above know the best time for him/her to be born, and I wait with blazing, serene hope (most of the time!).
Another fantastic quote I found while pregnant with my daughter two years ago is this:
Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be. {Carrie Fisher}
Rounder? Check.
Wider? Check.
Weirder? Check.
I am trying desperately not to go on about the make-up-less face in the photo above, complete with double chin and chunky arms, and let’s try NOT to dwell on the horrified reaction of my face in the mirror after catching a glimpse of my bare behind after a shower the other day. Yikes.
Instead I choose to write a story of beauty in that mirror.
I am beautifully marked and used, housing a complete separate human being and birthing that person into the world. My body is functioning in a most remarkable fashion, and will be left with evidence of its other-worldly achievements. Stretching and sagging and leaking and aching – all glory-marks in a world of artificial contrived beauty and denial. I am not ashamed. I am beautiful.
And so I wait. I heave myself over in bed and feel the pelvic muscles scream pain, the belly drags on my lap and restricts my lung capacity. The baby seems to weigh a billion pounds (somehow I’ve “only” gained sixty. Yes, six-zero…). I. Am. Tired.
But I wait.
Life is steady. And full. And hanging in this place of the in-between of my readiness and my babe’s.
And so I wait.
***
(And since the rest of the world seems to be a great deal more anxious than I am about WHEN this baby will come, please – sit back, relax, and enjoy these random iPod photos of late. Breathe, relax, and your my baby will be here soon enough…)
* the state of my bathroom sink *after* the muddy boy-child “washes his hands”. He and the darling girl-child also managed to dirty an entire load of laundry with mud from head to foot in all of ten minutes *
* the next logical step *
* mama and daughter love *
* a favourite summer-time treat – tomatoes and cucumbers from the market. add some cashews and serve it for lunch, and these kids are in total bliss. isaac finished his tomatoes first – they’re his favourite. *
* there’s been a lot of this going on around here… babies are being birthed at record speed – baby monkeys, bears, and dollies by the dozen. isaac usually says “look at my belly! ask when my baby’s gonna come out! (when, isaac?) in five minutes!!” 30 seconds later the baby’s out, and giving birth has never been easier… *
***
And now for a final word… my last couple of posts have each been slightly controversial in their own way. I greatly enjoyed writing about encapsulating my friend’s placenta, and the positive responses I’ve received. If you haven’t checked it out yet and feel like broadening your cultural horizons just a little, please do. Also – my post addressing some of the ignorant and sanctimonious attitudes of privileged folks who don’t really get that some people truly cannot afford to buy whatever they want at the grocery store was very well-received by nearly everyone. The comments left here on my blog on my blog’s FB page were super encouraging and positive, and though I was nervous hitting the publish button – I don’t regret a single word I wrote, or how I wrote it. Thank-you, dear readers for your beautiful words and for “getting it”. I’ve responded to the comments there, and would love to continue the fantastic conversation that was begun.
Happy Monday!
hahaha, I love the pictures of your kids being “pregnant”! So cute!
Congratulations and glad your little one made it out safe and sound. 
Thanks!
Beth I am praying all goes well. You look great, I truly mean that. I’m so excited, though not as excited as you I’m sure, to “see” your new baby, whether it’s a girl or boy, and their beautiful name.
I truly hope someday we can meet each others’ kids and they can play together!
Krista
Thanks Krista! That would be pretty cool one day, I agree!
Loving your posts Beth. Wish I had time to comment on more of them, but life continues to be quite busy here in my house. You look beautiful by the way…no make-up required! Enjoy the waiting…hope your beautiful babe arrives safely….whenever he or she decides it’s time!
thank-you, thank-you! your saying so means so much to me… i’m so glad you are reading and enjoying.
You’re awesome, and inspiring. Wishing you all the best.
thank-you!!
I laughed a million times…oh my goodness!! And you do not have chunky arms! pffff! =) You look beautiful!!
Oh silly Laura. Thank-you
xoxo.
You are looking great! And the fact that you’re still blogging? By this time when I was pregnant with Annalise, I was *seriously* winding down. My brain got so slow….so the fact that you’re still churning out all these posts is amazing.
No worries about the 60 pound weight gain. I think your body does what it needs to do during pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Annalise, I was harassed. I actually had someone come up to me and call me fat to my face, berating me for my weight gain. I gained fifty pounds. No one believed me when I said I was eating healthy and walking an hour every day.
However, one week after I had her, I had lost THIRTY POUNDS. Quite clearly, that was all water! Never had pre-e, but was clearly just retaining loads of water. So my weight gain really wasn’t that far off the mark…I was left with 20 pounds to lose, which isn’t out of this world. So I’m sure your body will do what it needs to do.
Our bodies are marvelous things, and have wisdom about all this
Best of luck on delivery, and good for you for relaxing at a time when many women are preconditions to become unnecessarily anxious due to the pressure to induce, etc.
I’ve been feeling so mushy-brained for months now. A good rant always helps, though
I agree – my body just did what it needed to do (considering I eat a pretty good diet low in starches and carbs and high in healthy fats and veggies, as much as I can).
Thanks for the encouraging words!
You truly are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen at 40 weeks pregnant (you’re also beautiful not pregnant). Pictures brought tears/laughter…I miss you all so very much it hurts, so while I am being patient, calm and collected waiting for grandchild #3, I’m anxiously counting down the days until we see all five (5…wow) of you in July. Love you:)
Aw, thanks. The time will fly by I’m sure and we’ll be seeing you before we know it. Crazy that it will soon be the “five of us”!! I can hardly wrap my head around it! Love you too!
I love how you stated the title! I get so frustrated with inductions outside of an actual medical need(emergency or actually past due and not just by a few days) to me it always screams ” yes I know my baby will come when he is ready so he must not be ready yet but I’m going to force him to cause Im ready” It just seems selfish to me and we seem to have an epidemic of that in our society today. So its refreshing to see you relaxed and letting things happen on their own!
BTW your kids get cuter every time you post and you look fantastic! I wish I looked like that when pregnant, I take the whole whale look whereas you appear to glow and be all belly! =)
Yup, it’s crazy how many doctors induce at 7 or 8 days over when due dates are really so off most of the time. I have personal experience with that… with Isaac and Ally both I had a due date based on LMP, like most women, but with this one I was using natural family planning and now know that I ovulate later in my cycle than average, which put my due date 4 days later… which means that I was induced with Isaac and Aliza at (what they thought was 8 days but really was) only 4 DAYS OVER!!!! Crazy. There’s no need to subject a woman and baby to the many risks of induction unnecessarily… it’s really quite irresponsible. And… end rant.
Thanks for your sweet words. Exactly what a very large pregnant mama needs to hear
You look beautiful!
Thanks!
Well said, Beth! I agree that baby knows when to arrive, and that often unnecessary measures are taken when people get impatient. Hope you can continue to have patience as you wait! And for the record, I think you totally rock a pregnancy. You are a gorgeous mama!! I love the pictures too, Isaac and Aliza are such sweet kids. How exciting to have another baby joining the tribe soon
Thanks! I hope so too! Thanks for your sweet words, too
I think you look absolutely beautiful.
I wish I looked that lovely without makeup. 
Ha! It’s not one of my most confident moments, that’s for sure. Me and make-up-less-ness have had a loooong battle to acceptance.
You look beautiful! & your kiddos are so adorable I can barely stand it!
You & your beautiful growing family are in my thoughts & prayers & I excitedly wait to hear that the new little one has entered this world at just the right time!
Thanks for thinking of us Kat… so excited to share the news with you guys