It's 10pm on Sunday night. And in just 12 hours I should be holding my baby after my planned caesarian.
So tonight I am packing my bag, trying not to think of all the things I meant to do but haven't had time for yet, and aiming for an early night.
Daisy was two weeks late and we had two things stressing us in those last few days. First the medical professionals wanted us to have an induction. We sort of expected that one. (And for the record, you're quite entitled to go over 40 weeks and leave it to nature, as long as you agree to be monitored at your hospital's for safety's sake.)
But the thing that we didn't anticipate was dealing with 3, 4, 5 people a day ringing, emailing or popping by to check whether the baby had arrived yet. One dear friend rang me in a panic on the mobile saying "Oh my goodness, thank heavens I found you. I rang you at home but there was no answer. Are you in the hospital having the baby?"
Like I'd be picking up calls between contractions...
No harm done, you might think. But when you have to keep explaining the situation to multiple people (especially a few who seemed to think that I needed to rush to the midwife for help to rectify the situation) it does up your stress levels.
So here's a great tip to stop anxious friends and family piling extra pressure on you. Tell them the due date is a few weeks later than it really is. That should stall their panic calls for a bit. In fact you'll probably have enough time to have the baby and a few days of 'you' time before you let the world in on your exciting new secret.
Besides which you're actually doing them a favour by keeping their anxiety levels low.
Believe me most won't even realise what's happened. And if they ever do, just claim you got the dates wrong through jelly brain.
And so, to bed. Wish me luck!
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