Tuesday 31 May 2011

Baby you’re overdue

So the 30th May has come and gone and still no sign of the little one. Even though I had read weeks ago that only 5% of babies are born on their due dates for some reason I still expected the little one to arrive on the date that has been constantly on our minds.

The nervousness leading up to this date, the waiting, the hoping, and nothing, apart from the usual kicks and movements I think the little one doesn’t want to leave his one bed apartment. The disappointment on my wife’s face was enough to make me cry, I know she was having a tough time and I know how much she wanted a May baby.

One thing that I can pass on to you is if someone you know is about to have a baby then please don’t keep calling them to see if there is any news. The constant text messages, phone calls does take its toll and can be upsetting, all I can say is when there is news I’m sure you will find out.

As a husband all I could do is offer some comfort, I keep saying things like “the longer the baby is in there the stronger he will be when he comes out” or “she will come out when she is ready”. I know this doesn’t offer much comfort to a woman who has been waiting for the past 9 months, living with this little person inside her, planning, preying and hoping along the way. What I do know is that now she keeps telling me that the baby is not ready yet and she has actually started to cheer up again.

What did help was the few hours we spent shopping yesterday, we thought we would try getting some items that might help kick start things. We had already tried the hot curries and now it was time to get some pineapples and fresh pineapple juice. We also managed to track down some raspberry leaf tea.

We managed to find a lot of information about raspberry leaf tea on the internet and I must warn you that anyone thinking of taking this should do their research first as it is not recommended to drink it during the early stages of your pregnancy, most sites say you should only start in your third trimester. Whilst raspberry leaf tea is not right for everyone we were willing to give anything ago. Anyway only time will tell if it will work, I suspect as my wife has started to drink it late that we probably won’t be able to tell if it has worked now but if it helps keep her calm then that is good enough for me.

As a husband that has been there every step of the way through this extraordinary journey it is sometimes difficult for others to see the emotions we are going through. We do worry and get upset, nervous and anxious but we still have to keep it together. I’m sure I won’t be the first partner that has had to endure the pressures placed on them during this experience nor will I be the last but one thing’s for certain this life changing event has made me stronger and for that I am truly thankful.