Waiting is the Hardest Part [40 weeks, 3 days]

Yes, Tom Petty you had it correct all along. Sadly, I'm just coming to realize that this is the hardest part of pregnancy - the very end. I'm still very pregnant and sick to boot. I'm in pain, gross things are happening with my body, and I'm so anxious to meet this child that I just can't stand it! Mostly, I just want him here so that I know for sure that all is well and he's healthy!

I've pretty much given up hope of going into labor on my own. I'm not sure WHY my body isn't getting the message that this is the end of the road and I'm certain that the baby is uncomfortable in my ute having outgrown his home, but still no contractions :(

At this point, I'm just looking forward to Sunday. I'm scheduled for a 2-step labor induction Sunday night. First, they insert a catheter into my cervix to force it to dilate (I'm sure this will be great...) and then, once I dilate to where they want me (I'm not yet sure what this is) they'll start me on the pitocin to force active labor.

This is not at all how I wanted my labor and delivery to go, but it's not really something I can control. As long as the baby gets here and he's healthy that's all that really matters in the end. I can deal with being strapped to a bed for 12+ hours with nothing but medical intervention if it yields a good outcome.

I keep reminding myself that there's still time. Maybe the baby is just faking us out and he'll wait to Saturday night or Sunday morning and then my labor will start. That would really be nice!

The odd thing is although I've been looking forward to meeting the baby for so long, I'm 3 days past my due date and the doctors gave every indication that I would probably not even make it to my due date in the first place, it has not yet registered that we will (probably) have our baby by Monday!

Today is Mark's last day of work before he's taking 2 weeks off to stay home with me and the baby. We have today and tomorrow and then we are off to the hospital to become parents! I don't know... maybe it's because it's just so clinical and not the way I had imagined or planned for. I'm not sure at what point it will sink in, but the good thing about my brain not realizing what's going on is that I'm not getting overly excited or anxious. It allows me to keep relaxed for the time being.

I can't believe that the baby won't be here until March! At least we'll have a couple more days to get over our colds.