Well today is the day!! And unfortunately i have very low expectations of any action. Although it would be nice to have 1 out of 4 born on their due date. At this point I'm just praying that God delivers her naturally to me.
After some research on the computer I found that only 5-6% of babies are actually born on their Due Date. Most babies delivering within1-2 weeks early or late. There are many interesting studies out there. The following are just some fun facts:
•Labor gets a push: The number of women whose labor is induced has more than doubled since 1990. In 2006, it rose 1 percent above the previous year, to about 22.5 percent of births. Sixteen percent of preterm and 24 percent of term and higher deliveries were induced in 2006.
•Doctors remain top choice: In 2006, the vast majority of moms in the United States gave birth in hospitals (99 percent) with the help of a physician (91.5 percent). Midwives attended about 8 percent of all births (most midwife-attended births are in hospitals), up from less than 1 percent in the mid-1970s.
•Of the 1 percent of births outside the hospital in 2006, 65 percent were in homes, and 28 percent were in birth centers, numbers that have remained largely the same since 1989. Midwives attended 61 percent of home births, and physicians attended 7.6 percent of home births in 2006. In all, 38,568 births happened outside of hospitals in 2006.
When and where U.S. babies are born
•Midweek delivery: The most popular day for babies to make their entrance? It's now Wednesday. (This is the first year since at least 1990 that Tuesday wasn't the biggest birth day.) There were 15.4 percent more births on Wednesday than on the average day.
•Little lightweights: The average newborn weight in 2006 was 7 pounds, 4 ounces, down just an ounce from 2005. About 8 percent of babies born in 2006 were low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams or 5 pounds, 8 ounces) – also basically unchanged from 2005. The low-birth-weight rate has risen 9 percent since 2000 and 24 percent since the mid-1980s. Induced labors, c-sections, older maternal age, and fertility therapies are reasons given for the trend.
All that being said, I am ready to meet my sweet Claire, but am not ready for induction. Nor a little lightweight. And if not Tuesday, than I'm good with the Midweek delivery being the biggest day of the week for birthdays. I'm also ready for my Midwife to be the only sweet one who delivers me. No matter the study or the facts, she will be here when he is ready for her to arrive.
Daddy and Claire 
Daddy and Claire 
