At 38 weeks I am nearing the end of my pregnancy and now that little one is full term, she could arrive at any moment! Surprisingly this week I found out how being so close to the end can bring out the crazy in family and friends.
This pregnancy has been rough so out of everyone I am the one looking forward to this coming to an end the most so I can meet little one that has been kicking me and stop all these crazy pregnancy side effects. Yes lightening has made it a much easier ride for the last few weeks but I definitely am looking forward to being able to do simple things like hug people, pick stuff off the floor, eat Brie again and of course meet little one.
A few weeks ago I had to set boundaries with my dad and aunt – they wanted to know the instant I was going into labour and to rush up to see me first but this isn’t what I wanted. I was really proud of setting these boundaries but what I didn’t expect was how every little movement with everyone and anyone was now going to be analysed.
I have set days that I Skype or call certain family members. On Tuesdays I Skype my Grandmother on my dad’s side. This week about 3o minutes before I was supposed to be talking to her, my best friend rang and needed someone to talk to. She had had a really rough day and needed someone to talk to and I had gone through something similar. For her it was work related, while for me it had been a spine spasm that had hurt like hell leaving me in tears. We both needed a girly chat.
I text my Gran to say I needed to rain check as my friend needed me all while I was talking to my friend on the phone. I quickly got a message back that it was ok.
45 minutes later we needed to break for 5 minutes but planned to return to our girly conversation. A minute after though my phone went yet it wasn’t my friend trying to call back but my dad. It would normally be when I would be talking to his mum on Skype so he knows not to call other than when it is urgent so I picked up thinking it was important.
“How are you? Is everything ok? How are you!?!” came through my phone in panic sounding tones.
I calmly explained how I was being a supportive friend and currently having a pause but would need to get off the phone as my friend was going to be calling back any moment to resume our cheer up call. Slowly his tone became less panicked, though the questions of “Are you sure you are ok?” did continue throughout.
Clearly my Gran had messaged him that I had rain checked and he thought it must have been because I had gone into labour and was trying to keep it from them. It seems that my every movement might be being discussed and that some people might not be able to respect my boundaries. Any missed call, conversation or change in behaviour is going to be analysed.
Upon returning to my girly chat it did give us something to giggle about as I saw the funny side of the situation. I even Skyped my Gran later, and while I didn’t mention anything about the call from my Dad, I did get to have a nice catch up.
A lot of mums on forums across the internet mention how families and friends can go a bit mental when it comes to due dates and getting constant calls of “Is the baby here yet!!!” and other stressful behaviour. All of them have highly recommended going radio silent and while I was thinking of doing it before, this really did confirm for me that it was a must for me too.
While it may be two weeks away, on my due date I have decided to go radio silent in terms of calls, video calls and regularly planned catch ups so that I can rest, relax and not feel stressed about my movements being analysed. It also means that I won’t have to stress about having to contact someone about cancelling on them if I suddenly go into labour. Thinking about it, there are so many positives that I am so glad that this happened.
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