37 WEEKS | GETTING LABOUR STARTED

I'm really not a patient person. And once I fix my mind on something I want I can often become far too preoccupied with it.. Waiting for labour to start is one of those things. I've been hoping and hoping that I won't go overdue with this baby.. I really don't want to be induced and as I have a work commitment the month after my due date it really feels like every week of post-baby recovery counts. Also I'm just sick of being pregnant. I'm tired, I can hear myself moaning all the time, most of my clothes don't fit and I just want her to arrive. A lovely big, ice-cold G'n'T would be lovely too.

So. I've been googling and looking at safe ways to get things going naturally. I've been trying my best to keep fit and have carried on going to two spinning classes a week all the way through, and I've been trying to stay active in general as it's meant to help with baby's position and hopefully gravity will be on my side to get things going. I've also asked my old neighbour to make me up some gorgeous essential oils to drop in the bath and rub on bump, and Clary Sage can be added after 37 weeks which can apparently help contractions begin.

I hit 37 weeks between Christmas and New Year, which works out well as the three of us are all off work and school, and have been getting out of the house to 'blow away the cobwebs' and take some walks into town near us, we wrapped up and did a long walk along the beach, and today we walked to the local farm shop with Vivienne on her new bike from Santa. I'm really hoping that walking and walking this baby out will work. It turns out we did 20km in three days (and then got lots of rest afterwards); I felt absolutely fine and completely normal for the first two days, and after today I'm feeling like I've had enough so will be getting some rest tomorrow and doing absolutely nothing.

I've also been listening to my hypno-birthing tracks when I remember and, even though I end up asleep most times, I really feel it's helping. I keep saying to David that I'm ready to go through it again now, and definitely feel a million times more positive about the whole thing than I did a month or two ago. I've heard that staying relaxed helps the release of Oxytocin which can trigger and help contractions progress so fingers crossed this is the case too. Tomorrow might even be a two-bath day(!)