The bet is set

So, my very supportive husband says that I am not going to have Maisie till next weekend. I have told him that I am going to go into labor today and have her by tomorrow.

So who do you think will be right? I am sure that it will happen some where in the middle, but a girl can hope, right?

But either way, we will wait till she is ready. Just like with Calan, we are pretty set on let things happen naturally without any help from either drugs or our doctor. As long as she is OK and there is no medical reason to get things started, we will wait the full 42 weeks, which seems to be something out of the norm when it comes to my doctor's office which I am just amazed by.

Yesterday I had my 39 week doctor appointment and he asked me how I was doing and I said fine. He laughed on the hottest day of the summer and in a room where the air conditioning was not working, I was the first pregnant lady he had seen today that did not use the word miserable. I wasn't miserable. Yes hot, but not miserable. I'd be hot and uncomfortable pregnant or not. As he was measuring and checking Maisie and I, he asked just how long I wanted to go meaning do I want to be induced if I go past a certain time. I said I want to go as long as I can, which is 42 weeks. Again, he smiled and laughed. Again, I must be something of an anomaly because most women he sees want to end when they can.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am all about the old wives' tales and trying to help her along naturally, but so far nothing has worked and probably won't. It didn't with Calan. He arrived 7 days past my due date. And don't get me wrong, I really do not want to go 42 weeks, but I am not sending eviction to Maisie till she is ready to come out on her own.

I think that it is hard for women knowing an estimated due date. It seems as soon as you get close to that date, well-meaning family and friends start to watch and wait and wonder why the baby isn't here yet and you are just waiting and wishing and hoping that the any day could be the day. Besides being uncomfortable and tired of being pregnant yourself, you have the world (or what feels like the whole world) wanting to know when the baby will be here. There is a lot of pressure to meet the due-date deadline.

However, the fact is that specific date is just an estimate and most babies are not born on or before that date. But going past that date means the days come to a stand still. Each day a woman goes past her due date is another day not knowing any target of when the baby will get here. It is excruciating.

So, I understand the pressure and the want to have a baby ASAP. But, we will wait. I am not a very patient woman, but I will wait. Even if it means losing my bet with my husband, I will wait. It doesn't mean I'm not praying that she gets here and that I get to hold her soon. I just know that it will happen when it happens and it is truly God's greatest gift that truly is worth waiting for.