It's a due date...

Today I've hit 42 weeks of pregnancy. I've had so many inquiries about the baby coming.... but little to answer questions with because not much has changed from two weeks ago. I think the baby has grown some and I've acquired more stretch marks as a result. My feet get hot at night and I seem to be waking up a little more frequently. Not to mention the weird dreams. But you can't make a baby come if mom is healthy and baby has a good heartbeat, is still kicking a lot and is not ready to be out of the womb.

The most frequent question I get is, am I going to be induced? By the end of this week I'll start looking at alternative/natural ways to encourage my body to go into labor, yet even with that I don't feel a rush to get things going. It would be so nice to just naturally go into labor. In fact, I'm not sure why a lot of moms rush to have their babies be born.... it just doesn't make any sense to me. God has a way of working things out in His own time and why would we treat the 3rd trimester any different than the 1st or the 2nd? I think a lot of it has to do with the expectations that we humans put on ourselves. We have timelines and ways to try to organize life and any time something diverges from the expected path we start to worry because of our need to control every little detail. We forget that we really have very little that we can control in life besides our own actions/reactions to the events and people we come across day to day. We forget to wait on the Lord. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

One friend commented on Facebook, "It's a due date, not an expiration date." There's so much truth in that statement. I understand that there are plenty of times when it is necessary to use certain means to bring a baby into the world asap, and I am thankful for doctors and tools that we have in such situations. Yet, if these medical interventions are not necessary, why would anyone want to rush a miracle? Ecclesiastes 11:5, "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."

People tell me they are surprised that I am so patient... yet not once have I considered that I had any other alternative but to be patient. I have learned to be patient through other circumstances like waiting for my husband to come along. That only took 25 years. What then is 9 months? Of course I am excited to meet this little being that's been kicking around in my womb for weeks. Of course I wonder, wish and wait. But I have faith that it won't be long before all of my curiosities and questions will be answered and that day will be delightful.

Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”