Okay, okay, I know I haven't exactly made it to my "due date" yet (Monday), but I'm not going to lie - I'm getting pretty anxious.� After all, your due date is really only the date that falls in the middle of when you're expected to deliver (between 37 and 42 weeks), so technically "any day now" has been going on for 18 days already.� Less than 10 percent of mothers actually deliver on their due dates.� I think I'm allowed to be anxious.� I've been adding the disclaimer "if I haven't had Baby Lump by then" to everything I say for the past two and a half weeks.

Everyone keeps saying I'll go into labor when I least expect it, but honestly, I'm ready and expecting it all the time, so I hope that doesn't mean I won't go into labor on my own.� I even have the Contraction Master bookmarked on my browser just in case James and I are incapable of doing simple calculations in the chaos of the moment.� I've speculated that Baby Lump may just be trying to steal my birthday (next Wednesday, January 14) - what a little thief!

Anyway, if by Monday I haven't had Baby Lump, my doctor wants me to schedule my induction to occur between weeks 41 and 42� (January 19-26), which gives me mixed feelings.� For one thing, labor that is induced is much more intense and difficult to deal with, which doesn't exactly support my plan for an unmedicated birth.� On the other hand, it does mean there is an end in sight - I'll get to choose which day I'll meet Baby Lump, and hey, I won't be pregnant anymore!� (Although it does kind of mess with the unbiased nature of the birth stats guesses, date-wise.)

In any event, James and I are ready and raring to go.� My bags are packed, we're stocked up with supplies (thanks for all the gifts, everyone!) and mentally, we're both prepared to be parents (as much as we're going to be anyway).� We still haven't decided on a boy's name, but we've got a few top ones picked out and pretty much agreed to decide when we meet him, if that's his flavor.

Any day now! (crossing fingers)

Oven Timer: 39 weeks, 3 days

Happy New Year, everyone!� We had our fingers crossed that I'd give birth before midnight last night so we'd get a tax deduction for 2008, but alas, Baby Lump apparently wasn't ready.� Instead, James and I spent our New Year's Eve evening out on a nice little dinner-and-a-movie date.� We opted for some Italian fare at Papa Razzi in Boston's Back Bay - where we caught a bit of the First Night parade - and then saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a long one, but we liked it!) at the theater near Fenway.� We were even back at the apartment in time to watch the ball drop.� I hope everyone else's New Year's plans weren't ruined by the Boston snowstorm - I modified my New Year's outfit by wearing a dress with tights and my bright red galoshes (picture) because of the snow.� It was quite a fashion statement :o)

[caption id="attachment_505" align="aligncenter" width="511" caption="James and me before our New Year's dinner-and-a-movie date."][/caption]

We may not have had a real baby to join us in celebrating the New Year, but we did have a baby to hang out with on Christmas day.� I mentioned before that my oldest sister, Adrienne is also pregnant.� Well, since we didn't want our unpregnant sister, Lauren to feel left out, Adrienne bought her an instant infant ("cute as a friggin' button, with all the fun and practically none of the poop") this Christmas.� Needless to say, Instant Infant got a little curious as he was checking out the apartment on Christmas day ...

[caption id="attachment_501" align="aligncenter" width="741" caption="Instant Infant welcomes diaper changes and even helps with the dirty dishes!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_502" align="aligncenter" width="672" caption="Instant Infant enjoys hanging out in the bathroom, likes sports & apparently is not afraid of heights."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="aligncenter" width="455" caption="Instant Infant already comes Web-savvy!"][/caption]

Oven Timer: 38 weeks, 3 days

[caption id="attachment_483" align="alignleft" width="318" caption="Oops ... ? (hanging out in the triage room)"][/caption]

Well - I've made it!�� I'm 37 weeks pregnant this week, which means I'm officially full-term and Baby Lump could grace us with his/her presence literally any day now.� So hey - how about a dry run to the hospital?

Yesterday, I had sort of a suspicion that I was leaking some amniotic fluid, which is well, not good.� It wasn't really concerning me that much, but James basically forced me to call my doctor anyway just to be safe.� The nurse I spoke with was a little concerned, so she advised us to head on over to labor and delivery.� I was really nonchalant about the whole thing since I was convinced everything was fine; we grabbed our hospital bags, hailed a cab, and I shot "Look what you made us do" looks at James all the way to the hospital.

Well, I was right.� Everything was fine with Baby Lump.� It was basically a waste of time.� Although it was pretty cool to be hooked up to the external fetal monitor and get a practice run under our belts.� Thanks to the tour we took a few weeks ago, we knew just where to go and what to do.� And yes, James was correct that calling the doctor was the right thing to do - it's better safe than sorry!� Let's hope when it's the real thing, James and I are just as calm as we were yesterday (but can we have less traffic, please?).

Oven Timer: 37 weeks, 2 days

That's right!� My hospital bag is officially packed and ready to go for my mad dash to the hospital when the time comes.� A special thanks to all my Twitter pals and their awesome packing suggestions (see right).

Some other awesome news:� My friend, Justina, whom I graduated high school with and whose baby was supposed to be due two weeks before mine, just gave birth yesterday morning to an adorable little baby boy named CJ (Charles Joseph) - 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 19.25 inches.� Justina's labor was induced, and it sounds like she took the super-fast progression of her labor like a champ.� Congratulations to Justina and Frank on their new baby!� Check out Justina's blog - I'm sure she'll be posting CJ's birth story at some point, and I'm very excited to hear all about it!� It only makes me even more excited to meet my own little Baby Lump soon!

Monday I had my 36 week appointment, and my doctor said everything is going well with Baby Lump.� She also indicated that even if I end up delivering late, she highly doubts that Baby Lump will reach the massive weight James was when he was born.� According to her estimates, Baby Lump will be a maximum of 9 lbs.� Still a big baby, but definitely nowhere near as daunting as 11 lbs! � Unfortunately though, the results from my Group B Strep test came back positive.� My doctor didn't seem too concerned.� Apparently 10 to 20 percent of pregnant women will develop the infection, and they're not really sure of the cause.� Basically, it means I'll need to be injected with penicillin through an IV every four hours during my delivery.� So much for my perfectly normal pregnancy.� Oh well - things could definitely be worse!� Let's just hope for the best and that Baby Lump isn't the one in 4,000 babies that gets infected!

Oven Timer: 36 weeks, 2 days