When will he come?

We are all ready for baby to come. I am still a week away from being 40 weeks but I seriously want him to come now! Wouldn't it be a great Father's Day gift? Throughout this pregnancy, I have said that I wanted him to come 8 days late mainly because of stuff related to my contract at work. But now that we're so close, I've changed my mind! There's a few reasons I want him to come early:

1) He's getting really heavy and hard to carry around!
2) I'm gaining too much weight and he's gaining too much weight...this baby is big and definitely at birth weight.
3) We're getting too excited and so eager to meet him.
4) I'm supposed to be exercising, but it's really difficult to walk because he's sitting so low and pushing on my bladder. All my joints and muscles are starting to hurt from carrying around this extra weight.

Despite all of the above, I would still never consider medically inducing labor, unless Medically necessary. And I use that term in the strictest form of the word necessary; not just because the dr. says that the baby appears to be too big or something like that. I'm talking like preeclampsia or some other serious medical condition. Or I would consider medical induction after reaching 42-43 weeks. But that would only be after we've exhausted every other method. But that better not happen! Once I hit 41 weeks, I might start trying some natural methods. I'm so against medically inducing labor though....there's too many risks and more often than not, it leads to a C-section. You can read more about that in the recent post I made on inductions:

http://loveyoubabytothemoon.blogspot.kr/2012/05/induction-of-labor.html

 The March of Dimes recently started a campaign against labor induction. It encourages waiting for labor to start naturally. The campaign is called "Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait." Although a baby is considered full term at 37 weeks, there is a still a lot of crucial development that occurs in the last few weeks of pregnancy. A baby born at 37 or 38 weeks may look just like a newborn, but there is a lot of rapid brain development that still needs to occur in utero.

Here's some of the highlights of the article:

Why babies need time
Babies born too early may have more health problems at birth and later in life than babies born full term.
Here's why your baby needs 39 weeks:

• Important organs, like his brain, lungs and liver, get all the time they need to develop.
• He is less likely to have vision and hearing problems after birth.
• Babies born too soon often are too small. Babies born at a healthy weight have an easier time staying warm than babies born too small.
• He can suck and swallow and stay awake long enough to eat after he's born. Babies born early sometimes can't do these things.

Why scheduling an early birth can be a problem
Experts are learning that scheduling an early birth for non-medical reasons can cause problems for mom and baby. For example:

• Your due date may not be exactly right. Sometimes it's hard to know just when you got pregnant. Even with an ultrasound, your due date can be off by as much as 2 weeks. If you schedule to induce labor or schedule a cesarean birth (also called a c-section) and your date is off by a week or two, your baby may be born too early.
• Inducing labor may not work. If your labor is induced, the medicine your doctor or certified nurse-midwife gives you may not start your labor. When this happens, you may need to have a c-section.
• A c-section can cause problems for your baby. Babies born by c-section may have more breathing and other medical problems than babies born by vaginal birth. (Most babies are born by vaginal birth. The mother's uterus contracts to help push the baby out through the vagina, also called the birth canal.)
• C-sections can cause problems in future pregnancies. Once you have a c-section, you may be more likely in future pregnancies to have a c-section. The more c-sections you have, the more problems you and your baby may have, including problems with the placenta.
• A c-section is major surgery for mom. It takes longer for you to recover from a c-section than from a vaginal birth. You can expect to spend 2 to 4 days in the hospital after a c-section. Then you'll need 4 to 6 weeks after you go home to fully recover. You also could have complications from the surgery, like infections and bleeding. So it's important to stay in touch with your health care provider even after you go home.

Read more about the campaign here:
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/getready_atleast39weeks.html

Although we want baby NOW, the decision is ultimately up to him and my body. We are not going to force him to come out according to our timetables.