What is it about those two little words…”due date”? They can cause stress, excitement, and so much anticipation…but yet, we all know it really is sort of irrelevant: that ONE date. I have started referring to a “birth window” (2 weeks around the due date), which seems so much more relevant, but society surely hasn’t caught onto this idea.

Sunday (April 12) was my due date. I had really seriously convinced myself I was going to go early with this baby; my body just felt ready and everything seemed to be accelerated. Our midwives chuckled when I told them my predictions. They said, well, perhaps you will…but in our experience, many second/third/fourth time moms feel this way and then voila they deliver on time or after their due dates. Just when you feel you couldn’t possibly make it to term…you do.

In fact, our midwives have a theory on predicting due dates. At some point late in pregnancy, a woman will plateau in her belly measurements. This is typically because the baby is dropping lower so your belly is not going out as much anymore. When the midwives see two plateaued measurements, 75% of their women see the midwives 3 more weeks. My measurements plateaued 2 weeks ago and I’ve seen the midwives once since. I have an appointment tomorrow. If I fall within their 75%, I have a little over a week to go.

It’s not that I wanted to go early. I didn’t. Not really. Well, maybe a week early would have been ok. A week and a half maybe? I am just tired of being pregnant. But early last week I was having dinner with some friends and we were talking about what we were grateful for, and I blurted out that I was grateful to still be pregnant. Every day that this baby stays in-tact means that baby is getting bigger, stronger, and fatter. All things that should make life on the outside easier (knocking on wood).

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Nevertheless, making it to your due date is kind of fun. I celebrated my due date by going to yoga in the morning. As I’ve mentioned before, the studio is a fantastic place of support for me, and many people there shower me with compliments and well wishes. On Sunday, many people commented or made it a point to say hello to me. Ironically, many asked when I was due. I loved saying “TODAY!” The looks of astonishment and smiles were so fun. Afterwards, I went to Starbucks and had a few people ask me how far along I was. “Pretty far, considering TODAY is my due date!” Again, I received big eyes and amazement. I had many people check in and wish me “Happy Due Date.” I joked with some of my friends that restaurants should offer free food on your due date, like they do on your birthday.

All in all, I am feeling much more peaceful now that my due date has come and gone. I honestly felt so much more angst about whether I was going to go into labor the 3 weeks prior to my due date than I am feeling now. Now, I know it’s going to happen soon…like in less than 10 days. The window is narrowing on D-day and this gives me a lot of comfort.

So while I think a due date is sort of irrelevant, I do think it’s special. Many women often remember their due dates along with their childrens’ actual birth dates. I think this is because we spend so many months thinking and planning around the due date. It certainly warrants some sort of special treatment, right?

Did you make it to your due date? Did you celebrate or feel it was a special day? Did you have any feelings change on/after your due date passed?