According to a Harvard study, the average length of first time pregnancies is 41 weeks and one day. You are still on the early side of average!
Hang in there, I know it’s hard, esp. with the temptation to just schedule it. As long as you have no medical reason to be induced, hang in there and let your babe put on his or her finishing touches! There is a movement in this country to make 40 weeks more like the 42 weeks of old, that is, a feeling that going past 40 weeks is dangerous, but that’s simply not true, unless medical problems already exist/present themselves. In a normal low risk pregnancy, inducing immediatly after 40 weeks and those who waited for labor to begin the 2 weeks following showed no adverse outcomes. It’s going past 42 weeks, the high end of “full term” that begins to get hairy. Your doctor will keep and eye on you and your babe and any medical issue that may arise. You’ve got awhile before you hit the 42 week mark.
I TOTALLY understand. My little G was born 12 days past her due date. Take this time to relax, sit in the sun (if it’s sunny where you are) read some positive stories about birth (LOVE LOVE Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth). I have a lot of fond memories of the last 2 weeks just relaxing in the backyard, reading, joyfully anticipating the arrival of our baby. What a blessed time! It seems to drag now, but I cannot belive that today is my G’s 11 month birthday…the time FLEW. It was hard to wait, b/c everyone around me was urging me to “just go induce it, already!” but I wanted to avoid the hospital at all costs so I could birth at home with my midwife. As I entered 41 weeks, I had my midwife do a “stretch and sweep” as a former poster mentioned, and that started to get things moving. Long walks, sex, scrubbing the floor…all that good stuff can help kick start labor if your baby is ready.
Prayers for a safe, happy, and natural (if that’s what you want of course) delivery!
