2003-09-01 - 1:24 p.m. - Cycle day: 40 weeks, 1 day

Well, here it is: the due date. We've already gotten two phone calls from friends and instant messages from both my parents checking to see what the status is. Granted, with the textbook progress my pregnancy has been making, I can see there being at least a slight expectation that the due date would really be the big day, but all reasonable evidence points against it.

I've been especially glad these last few days that I was charting when I got pregnant. If I didn't know my exact date of ovulation, doctors would say I'm at 41 weeks now, rather than 40. It makes me wonder how many women are brought in for unnecessary inductions because of misdating.

We went shopping the other day to get some new clothes for The Husband. We had this conversation about eight times:

"When are you due?"

"Monday."

"WHAT?!"

I guess my size and mobility make it pretty hard for people to believe that I'm so close to delivery. Makes it pretty hard for me to believe, too, really. Everyone seems to expect me to be totally miserable and uncomfortable and barely able to get around. I don't really feel much different than I did a month ago. There's more pressure in my pelvis when I'm up and around, but nothing unbearable. In fact, I like walking around because it makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. The more I lie around on the couch, the farther I feel from labor. It's like I can almost see the baby floating away from my cervix. I know that the baby will come when it's ready and that there's only so much I can do to influence that, but being upright and in motion, and feeling that little head bopping around, makes it seem a little closer.

previous - next