Still here...

9 days ago - I'm even bigger now.

Today is February 21st, the baby's official due date... and I am still here, big as a house and not in labor.  I know babies typically aren't born on their due dates, and it is quite normal for them to be a few days or even weeks late, but I really thought the little one would be here by now.  I don't have any solid rationale for it, but that's what I thought.
I've got everything done:  the baby gear is all out and in place, the house is clean, the laundry is done, we had Jack's birthday party, and I got a pedicure.  I was feeling fairly blissful for a while, with all the "to do's" done.  I was just enjoying time relaxing and playing with Jack.  Now, however, I am starting to feel extremely uncomfortable and impatient.  I have the typical list of pregnant lady complaints - my back hurts, my feet are swollen, I'm not sleeping well, etcetera.  On the up side, since the baby has now dropped as low as it can go without falling out, my heartburn has abated somewhat.
Last night, I started having some contractions - definitely something more than the Braxton-Hicks I've been having for months.  I woke up around 2:30AM, had one contraction, then another fifteen minutes later... then nothing.  I went back to sleep until Jack woke me up at seven.  False alarm - sigh.  You could say it's a good sign I'll go into labor soon, but the mere fact that I am forty weeks pregnant is a good sign of that already.
When I dropped Jack off at school today, he cried like he used to when he first started going.  That was distressing.  I don't know why, except that with the baby coming soon, maybe he doesn't want to be without me.  The teacher, bless her heart, emailed me a picture of him happily playing shortly after I left.  That made me feel a lot better.  I just think this whole impending baby thing is getting old for all of us.  Jason and I are planners, and it's hard to plan when any moment now, we're going to have another little life added to our family.  Jack keeps asking when the baby will come out, too.  I think he's convinced I secretly know the exact arrival time of the little one but am just not telling him.  After all, from his perspective, I seem to know everything else.
So, Momma Files readers, hopefully this will be my last blog before the new baby gets here.  When I feel especially impatient, I try to remind myself how hard life is with a newborn.  I also remember that this baby is going to come out in the next ten days, even if we have to induce, so there's not much longer either way.