Sometimes we all need a loving reminder on how much your baby develops in those final few weeks, and a solution for distraction while we wait to let our body do that important work necessary to have a safe birth, and a healthy baby.

Your experiences are your own, and I don’t wish to interject or tell you how to feel, but for myself, I found that with both of my post due date pregnancies, 38 and 39 weeks were the hardest. Everyone thinks you’re withholding your baby’s arrival and asking every day if the baby is here. My mind spun, thinking I could have a baby tomorrow, or I could be still be pregnant in two weeks. It was the unknown that made me anxious. 40 weeks was easier. I knew that despite feeling like I would be pregnant forever, I wasn’t. I went to sleep every night saying “maybe I’ll wake up in labor tonight”. 41 weeks was like “okay, i’m here and I can’t go much further than this. I was calm because I had gotten through what I thought was the hardest part, and now I could confidently say, and trust that it was going to happen any moment. You get to a point where you just have to say “okay, I’m not in control and I accept that” and you just find ways to pass time so you’re not sitting around expecting for it to happen.



Here is what I found to be helpful. I hope that you find peace in those final days before your baby comes. It’s at least a little bit quieter, and there is a little more time to get things done. We can choose to hate it, or we can finds ways to embrace it.

Self care

This is probably a given, and hopefully already a regular part of your normal routine. This entire list is kind of a form of self care, and important to note that not all self care is physical things to do, but sometimes a state of mind. When you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy, this is a great time to really enjoy the extra time you have loving on yourself and doing things that make you feel good, and recharged. Of course you will still make time for yourself to do these things after baby is here, but finding time for you, might be a little harder and you may have to get creative with that use of time. Find joy in having a littttttle extra me-time right now and indulge in that if you need to.

Epsom salt baths

The end of pregnancy is usually a very achy time, which is probably one of main reasons you’re just OVER it already, right? I get it. Many women experience a lot of pressure in their hips, pelvis and back. The weight of a baby, placenta AND all that fluid is a lot of tension on your body. Epsom salt baths are a REALLY nice way to relax, and the buoyancy of water, especially salt water, will help with that pressure. The further into the water you’re able to submerge, the more weightless of a feeling. Needless to say I am a fan of a nice hot epsom bath every night around 40 weeks or sooner!

Affirmations

“What you think about, you bring about.” Affirmations are a great way to connect with your baby, and surrender your fears while actually building up the trust within your own body to give birth. I found that the best time to do my affirmations were when I was feeling READY to have this baby, but quite clearly my body was not. There are affirmations for while you’re in labor, which are what most everyone talks about, but I am talking about beforehand. “My baby knows the perfect time to be born.” “I choose to enjoy every second in this journey of pregnancy, even in difficult days.” “My body is preparing to give birth in its own time.” Mantras to help us understand and accept how labor begins, and works. Relaxing and letting go.

Guided meditations

Most oftenly used in Hypnobirthing, this is a method of relaxation in which you are guided through the meditation to help you visualize things that bring you peace, comfort and security. There are many guided meditations specifically for pregnancy and birth. The benefits are not just for relaxing now, but also training your subconscious to relax during labor. Being able to relax your mind and body is very powerful in allowing your body to naturally go into labor. There is a reason that most labors start at night, and not when we are busy.

*You can also listen to guided meditations while in labor

Blocking out all of the noise

“Are you STILL pregnant?”

“…Baby yet?”

“How long will they let you go?”

These well-intended, loving comments are bound to happen when you are around your “due date”. Everyone is excited for you, of course, but it’s okay to have boundaries with this.

Most people are not aware that babies come when they come. No, seriously. Society has been led to think that a baby needs to come out before their due date, and that is simply not true. A healthy pregnancy can go past 40 weeks, and that is actually very common if left alone. While sometimes necessary, inductions have become a “normal” part of having a baby, and people have gotten used to the instant gratification of a SET date of when a baby will be born.

Gently reminding your family and friends that you want to let your body go into labor naturally, is a perfect way to block out this “noise”. The comments don’t help a mother who is anxious to meet her baby. No one wants to meet that baby more than you.

Skip the “natural inductions”

I say this with LOVE and full sympathy, but just resist the temptation of trying to kickstart labor.

Let me explain, though. I know that it is hard. The internet is full of “sure fire” ways to bring on labor, and there’s probably a really cute article on Pinterest with a nicely organized check-list of what you can try, because what is the harm?

The problem with getting yourself to that point is that when it doesn’t work, because likely it won’t, is that by the end of it you’ll be even more fed up with pregnancy than you were before and now you’re stressed and left wondering why it didn’t work.

Nothing will safely bring labor on, if your body wasn’t ready and going to go into labor on it’s own. Too much pineapple is going to make your tongue hurt, your spicy dinner is going to make that heartburn 10x worse, and you just can’t bounce a baby out. Save your energy for when you need it.

Methods like membrane sweeping and castor oil should ONLY be done under the guidance of your provider. Those actually can work, but can also make things go south if you’re not being monitored, or given specific guidelines and instructions for safety.

Give yourself GRACE

Knowing that even the most patient of mothers struggle with the anxiousness of meeting their baby, I acknowledge your feelings of being done, wanting to have your baby already, and any other feelings you might have during this time. There is no right or wrong way to feel, but shifting your mindset will help get you through. Give yourself the grace to feel the way you feel, and then let it go. During your baths, or your meditations, free yourself of the expectations that others-or maybe even you, have put upon yourself. You can do this.