The Truth About Your Due Date Week

Here’s the thing, I wasn’t prepared for the emotional roller coaster that my due date week brought! Why? Because nobody talks about it. So here I am, talking about the reality of it and that it’s normal to feel allll the things.

First things first, it’s (most likely) not going to go as planned. For me, one minute we thought that baby girl is making her arrival in the next 24 hours, the next minute I was wondering if she’s coming after her due date.

Here’s why: the doctor will tell you how dilated you are, the nurses will tell you what to look out for, and when it’s your first baby, you believe it all and pay extra close attention. So I was 4cm dilated one week before my due date (which apparently is a lot) and the nurses said “oh she’ll be here by this weekend”… well the weekend came and passed and guess who was still hanging out in my belly?!

And here’s what I need to be clear about. I wasn’t irritated that she hadn’t arrived yet, I wasn’t in a hurry, BUT a part of me wished that I wasn’t told she’d be coming early because the truth is… there was no guarantee and it just made me second guess it all!

Then it gets closer to her due date, three days away and I’m wondering, “so are you coming now orrr what should I expect,” THEN I caught myself questioning whether I needed to even time my contractions considering four nights ago they were 30 minutes apart for hours then suddenly they were so irregular I couldn’t even time them properly. Let me tell you, getting close to your due date is a WHIRLWIND.

Now let’s talk about the emotions. You’re excited because you can’t wait to hold your little one in your arms. You’re nervous because HELLLOOO you’re about to push a whole ass human out of you. You’re overwhelmed because you don’t know when that -water breaking- moment will come (or if it even will because plenty of women don’t experience it). You’re tired. You’re overjoyed because your family is about to grow and you’ll finally see who he/she looks like. It’s everything hitting you at once.

My advice? Don’t tell EVERYONE when you’re getting close. Don’t tell EVERYONE when you head to the hospital, it just gets to be too much. Instead, take it easy. Allow yourself to enjoy the last few moments as just the two of you - if this is your first one- and take the time to really relax.

The biggest thing I learned is they’re going to come when they’re ready, whether that’s early, late, or right on their due date, it’s always going to be right on time once they’re in your arms.

Polina