Happy due date to me!

Nope, no baby yet. We had our 40-week appointment today, and nothing much is happening. The little dude still seems comfy, though, so we're just going to hang in there and wait it out unless something changes. At my last appointment we had tentatively discussed booking an induction for the 13th, but the more I thought about it in the week since then, the less comfortable I felt. I just really don't feel right yanking the kid before he's ready unless there's a medical indication that we should. Our OB -- love her -- was totally on board. When I told her I was nervous and uncomfortable about booking an induction, she immediately said we didn't have to rush into anything. She scheduled us for a non-stress test and an ultrasound next Wednesday. If everything looks good and the baby is still happy, we're allowed to wait another week -- with two additional tests in between -- before we have to be induced. I'm hopeful that he'll get a move on by himself before then. Perhaps I'll even end up with a January 13th baby after all...which would be kind of cool since my birthday is March 13th and MB's is December 13th. Ask me again in a few days if I'm still cool with that idea, but for now I feel fine. As long as he stays healthy, fantastic. Okay, and it would also be nice if he didn't spend the next week getting gigantic. That would be REALLY NICE.

It's probably against some Pregnant Lady Code to say so, and I know I've been damn lucky to have such a positive experience, but I have absolutely loved pregnancy. I have felt great through 99% of the last forty weeks. Even though I'm feeling a bit ungainly now, I really have enjoyed seeing my belly grow and never felt whale-like (though I'm sure I look it these days). I had to wait a long time to feel the baby move -- I didn't feel him for the first time until my 22nd week -- and I adore it. From his early kicks and jabs to the more languid stretches he's doing now, I can't get enough. As excited as I'll be to meet him, I know for certain I will miss feeling him bopping around in my belly. My favorite baby thing has to be the hiccups. For several weeks, he got them almost every evening, and it never stopped being funny. They've tapered off lately, but last night he got them while I was finishing up in the shower. I stood in the warm water, hands on my belly, and just felt ridiculously content.

He's such a mystery to me right now. I know he'll have his own personality and his own temperament, and I can't even begin to imagine what he'll be like. Will he be bald, dark-haired, blond? Will he have MB's eyes, like I'm hoping? For now, I'm really trying to treasure every day I have left of him being my constant sidekick. As people like to point out, he'll never again be as portable and easy to care for as he is now, and it'll never again be this easy to hold him close and safe. I definitely have moments where the bigness of this really hits me and it's terrifying, but mostly I'm just so very happy and so very grateful. I'm absolutely stunned that this first stage of our journey together is almost over. The time has gone so fast, and it's hard to wrap my head around the reality that he could truly arrive at any point.

I don't really know how MB is feeling, but we seem to agree on a few points -- we don't really feel fully ready for this, but at the same time we're as ready as we'll ever be and excited. This has definitely been our craziest adventure yet, and it's really just getting started.