Everyone who said baby will arrive when he’s ready, you’ve finally convinced me.
After my 38 week OB appointment, I was convinced our little man’s arrival was only a matter of days away. I looked to a variety of natural induction methods hoping to speed things along, including:
- Acupuncture
- Acupressure
- Orgasms
- Nipple stimulation (I honestly don’t think I did it long enough)
- Raspberry leaf tea (only had a few glasses this week)
- Labour cookies
- Spicy food
- Walking 2x day
- Bouncing on my birth ball
- Squats
I’m 39 weeks, 3 days today. Besides him continuously dropping (I seriously don’t know how much lower he can get), I have zero labour signs. I’m uncomfortable. My belly is low and heavy. I’m exhausted. I’m sore.
But…
If my baby boy is safe and secure and not ready to join us, then I can wait.
Last night during one of my insomnia moments, I googled “reasons for full term pregnancy”. There are many benefits to waiting until full term to deliver including less complications post-delivery, better muscle control, and increased brain development. For more details, check out this article on 40 Reasons to Give Baby 40 Weeks of Pregnancy.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the old wives tales about natural induction will only work if your baby and your body are ready for labour.
I still hope he arrives within the next two weeks naturally. His Daddy’s birthday is this upcoming Friday, October 16th. That’s also the date of my next OB appointment. I’ll be 40 weeks, 1 day. It would be an amazing gift if our baby would arrive sometime between now and the end of next weekend.
But clearly, that decision is up to him, not me. 🙂
Awaiting Autumn 