And the beat goes on

I have always been on who was more of a leader than a follower. You know, walking to the beat of my own drum. Not a leader in the sense of aspiring to become president or anything grand. But a leader in enough ways not to follow the crowd just because the crowd is going there or doing something. Unfortunately, it’s also that way with pregnancy. Or rather, when the birth happens.

“They” say that a greater percentage of new moms go before their due date. Not so with me. My first was breech (and I even remember her flipping at 38 weeks!) and she was born via c-section 8 days after the due date. “They” also say that subsequent pregnancies/births are shorter and go faster. Again, not so. With my 2nd child, she was 8 days overdue as well (although my due date had been changed 10 days back, from January 10 to January 1. She ended up being born on the 18th. In reality, my due date should not have been changed, but psychologically, she was 18 days overdue) and it was 39 hours. With my 3rd, he was 12 days late and was 36 hours. With number 4, he was only 1 day late and 17 hours. What a breeze! I was so excited because everything started and ended with a baby born in one day. Then came my 5th child. He, too, was 8 days overdue. Obviously, been there, done that. However, he was 60 hours from the first contraction till he was born. And 43 of those 60 hours were the hard ones where you have to breathe through them. Yeah, not really fun.

So, here I am with this child. I am currently 5 days overdue and nothing is happening. I am doing much better, mentally, than I have in the past. But I’m still struggling. I have never been one of those women who just love being pregnant. Don’t get me wrong, with this being #6, I obviously don’t go out of my way to avoid it. But I don’t just gush at the thought either. I have always had healthy, uneventful pregnancies. But I really like the end, when it’s all done and you have a beautiful baby in your arms. In fact, I have always gotten to this point and I look forward to even the pain. Yes, you heard that right. I look forward to the pain. Not because I have some fetish with pain or I’m into proving how much of a “superwoman” I am. The reason is much more simple than that. It means: IT’S ALMOST OVER! And that, my friend, is something to look forward to!

So, that is where I am this week. I’d like to say that my next post will be a birth story, but I won’t. That would be too cruel. To myself.