The weeks before the due date can be a stressful time. It was for me. With my first child, I had no idea what to expect. I was a bundle of emotions–nervous, scared, excited. The advice from others was flying in every direction. Madness, I tell you. I’ve been through pregnancy and delivery three times now and I learned something with each time.
One thing that happened that I did not expect to happen was the non-stop phone calls I started receiving as the due date approached. It started about two weeks before the official due date. My phone began ringing off the hook. People wanted to know how I was feeling. More specifically, if I was having contractions. “You feeling anything yet?” “Have any pains yet?” “So, any contractions?” “You think you’ll go into labor tonight?”
I became overwhelmed. I knew that their calls were coming from a place of excitement and joy. They were excited for the big day to arrive. However, my due date came and went without any signs of labor. I was uncomfortable, I had cankles, I could barely walk from the stress on my pelvis. I wanted my baby OUT OF MY BODY. Having to repeatedly tell people “NO, I am not in labor. It is not time to go to the hospital yet!” became overwhelming.
I finally had to speak up. I did it in the kindest way possible because I knew that the phone calls were coming from a good place. I said things like “I know you’re excited about the baby. I am too! But it’s frustrating when I have to keep answering these questions. I promise you, when I start having contractions, I will call you!”
Looking back, I wish I had talked to my family ahead of time. I wish I would have said, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” It would have saved me a lot of frustration and saved them a lot of money on their phone bills.
Have a plan and let those closest to you know about it. If you want people at the hospital while you’re giving birth, be sure you have a list of people to call/text when the time comes. Let those family members and friends know that you will call them when the time arrives. If you’ve decided that you want the birth experience to be private, let your loved ones know ahead of time to avoid any hurt feelings or, worse, confrontations at the hospital. (And yes, those happen.)
Obviously, this isn’t the only thing you need to be concerned with or have planned before your due date, but this is one of those things that Nobody Told Me About, and that is why I feel compelled to share this with you.
Read more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies pageon BlogHer.com.
I love this! We had our first baby when we lived in AZ and the rest of our family lived in CO. No one called to bother me about going into labor, but I am thankful that I didn’t have to deal with relatives in the hospital room! We are going to have another baby in a few weeks and we are back in CO this time and I’ve already mentioned that I don’t want anyone there but I think I’ll have to set some guidelines into place before we go.