Bump Watch: Week 39. Bring it on!

The Book Club. From L-R: Me, Cynthia, Regina, Paola, Gunilla

One great thing about having a baby in Singapore is the ease of meeting partners in crime. A group of us who met through childbirth classes at ParentLink recently started meeting up for afternoon tea in town. We take over the cafe and get quite a few stares, what with our row of hugely pregnant bellies. In a recent spin-off, some of us formed a book club. Well, we figured that we need to find more intellectual stimulation than talk of baby poo alone can provide.

Here's a picture from the first book club meeting - incredibly, four of us are due to give birth within days of each other. In fact, three of us could be locked in a "battle of the doulas" as we race to the finish line. Cynthia, who is due 2 days after me, shares my doula (Jennie) and back-up doula (Di). Meanwhile, Gunilla, who due on the same day as Cynthia, also has Jennie as her back-up doula. I'm sure it will all work out in the wash, although I can't shake the image in my head of poor Jennie running up and down the corridors of the maternity ward juggling three babies!

Anyway, we all met up for coffee yesterday (coincidentally my due date), and there's no sign of any babies appearing just yet! Understandably, talk in the group has now turned to the many myths and urban legends surrounding bringing on labour. Turns out that between us, we have tried the following:

• Eating pineapple
• Having sex
• Eating spicy food
• Nipple stimulation
• Drinking raspberry leaf tea
• Reflexology
• Going for a long walk

And the conclusions of our (not very scientific) survey: it's all a load of rubbish. Looks like these babies will only come out when they are good and ready...