Parent Diaries

When you finally reach your baby's due date, you might feel relived, excited, or nervous about the prospect of giving birth and becoming a parent.

The truth is, there's no right way to feel when you know your baby is about to arrive, and everybody is different! We've spoken to real parents and asked them to tell us how they really felt when they reached their little one's due date.

Zoe's Story

"I felt exhausted, stressed and swollen like Charlie and the Chocolate factory when Violet turned into a blueberry and was being rolled around! But extremely excited to meet my little rainbow baby and to see what she looked like. It was definitely worth it all when I saw her little face."

Eliza's Story

"I loved being pregnant but there were so many symptoms that I never knew about. People don't discuss the weird stuff enough! I had a moment of anxiety around labour but that didn't last long at all. I spent most of my pregnancy really excited for labour just to experience it!"

Delia's Story

"When I found out I was pregnant I was over the moon but scared all at the same time.

Unfortunately, we had been trying for about five or six months after we lost our first little bubs, but once we passed the point of being scared, we started getting more and more excited. Now that he has arrived and we can hold him in our arms, we can't wait to have a second one already, and I'm sure we will feel just as excited as the first time."

Holly's Story

"I didn't reach my due date because my little girl came early, so my reaction was as mix of emotions.

I was mainly in shock that I was in early stages of labour, I thought I was having Braxton hicks! We went to the day assessment unit at the hospital, and it turned out I was four centimetres dilated and was going to be having my daughter later that night. Well, it was actually the early hours of the morning!

It was the best and scariest feeling, all at the same time. The pandemic made everything feel more uncertain, the fears of getting Covid and not being able to have our parents there for emotional support. But me and my partner got through it as a team, and we have a beautiful daughter together."

Christina's Story

"It was like an emotional roller-coaster. And not in a good way!

Every other day, I was switching from being so over pregnancy - I just wanted that baby out of me - to being terrified of experiencing the pain of labour.

What made me feel worse was all the stories I heard about the joyous excitement pregnant women feel close to their labour.

The excitement did eventually kick in for me, just much later than I expected. When I was holding my newborn son in my arms for the first time, the excitement of becoming a parent and getting to know this incredible human being was overwhelming."