40 weeks 2 Days

Well, I passed my due date two days ago. This is the stage of pregnancy that can be both annoying and fun.

Annoying because people start worrying about you being past your due date and imagining all kinds of bad things that could happen. Annoying because people also start suggesting all kinds of inducing techniques, including the suggestion (sometimes not so much a suggestion) that your provider should have you in the hospital on pitocin. Annoying because people start asking you daily, if not more often, if there's been any progress.

It can also be fun though. Fun because when people see that you are obviously very close to your due date, they ask you when you are due. It can be fun to see the look of panic when you tell them 2 days ago, or a week ago, or however long ago it was. They seem to think that the baby is going to fall out right then and there...as if that happens.

How do I feel about being past my due date? I'm fine with it. Pregnancy is typically 37 to 42, and even 43 weeks long. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not due until the baby decides it is time and makes its way out. Unless there is a legitimate medical reason to force the baby out, he or she can stay there as long as he or she wants. I'd rather have a "late" but fully developed baby than a forced labor that results in a baby with immature lungs or holes in its heart. Yes, it can and does happen!