Another due date come and gone (almost).

3:30 in the afternoon on my due date, and all is well. I had an appointment with my midwife this AM, and while I have made some physical progress towards labor, nothing is immediately impending. My spirits are generally really, really high, and I'm more than fine with this news. This is a pretty significant contrast from where I was at this point with Maia's pregnancy; back then, I was really letting the passage of time get me down.

So, in honor of going past my due date again, here are a few bullet points that will serve as a mantra of sorts to me over the next couple of weeks:

• A due date is unequivocally NOT a finish line. It is the somewhat-midpoint on a bell curve of a "due month." 37-42 weeks. Five weeks, people.
  
• Only about 3% of all babies are born on their due dates.
  
• Baby G knows what he/she is doing. As long as we are both healthy, I trust above all in his/her process of development.
• My pregnancy is healthy, my body is strong, it knows how to grow a baby and give birth, and a calendar doesn't factor in to any of the above.
• On most days (absent the oppressive heat and humidity) I'm feeling like a million bucks.
• Going past my due date doesn't mean that baby is "too happy in there" or that my body "doesn't want to let go." Nonsense.
• I am NOT "late" unless I pass 42 weeks. :) (And some people might even say not then.)

I know many, many women who'd say that among the biggest challenges of going past a due date are the well-intentioned comments from other people. The collective message from the world "out there" is that a due date is an endpoint, and that going past it is somehow abnormal and must be unbearable. Because my spirits are pretty darn high in general, I'm doing my part to keep my own attitude really positive in this context. Some days are tougher than others (particularly when I don't sleep well), but I'm holding my own. Baby G and I will just keep fighting the good fight! :)