He told me he was coming on the 31st, but I guarantee you nothing is happening this weekend. He's just hanging out and taking up all the space in my body – he hasn't even dropped down yet. He's still kicking up a storm, however, and getting hiccups at least twice a day.

I had a dream last night that my Obstetrician lived across the street from me and came over to tell me my house had been ransacked by bears. While he was here he decided to give me a quick check to see if I was progressing (of course I wasn't). Who knows what that could mean?

Gloria felt the baby yesterday when I was at her school – he was wiggling around a little, nothing dramatic. But you can pretty much feel him any time now, he's so close to the outside.

So, yet again, we're just waiting. I got my gowns in the mail yesterday for the hospital, so now I can pack my bag. We also got the attachments for the car seat to sit on the stroller. I think we're completely ready, at least with all the stuff.

Another day, another update with no real information. Jack is staying put as far as I can tell. I am getting contractions every now and again, mostly when I'm tired, but nothing overwhelming. My hands and feet continue to act like water balloons if I so much as walk across the room.

The birth plan is written and will be submitted to the doctor next week. Luckily he offered to select a nurse for me who would be more open to natural birth. Now I'm just waiting and hoping everything will go as smoothly as possible.

I seriously doubt the baby will be here any time soon.

We just got back from the doctor. He listened to Jack's heartbeat which sounds really loud and fast. He checked me out and nothing is progressing, so he doesn't expect anything to happen soon. Based upon the fact that this is my first baby and I am not doing anything, he thinks I will go the full 40 weeks. But he also said things could happen sooner, there is not a good way to tell. We go back next Wednesday to get checked again.

We had to go to a cocktail party last weekend, which is about as fun as going to the doctor. It was in North Scottsdale and it gets a little chilly up there at night. We had dinner with my parents ahead of time and I needed to keep warm, so this outfit was born:



I think it suits me.

I did take off the flannel shirt and purple socks for the party, but it was tempting to just leave them on and let people comment at will. The worst thing was I could have easily gotten away with jeans, which is the only thing I really wear anymore.

Another cocktail party tomorrow night for the Heard Museum. Didn't pregnant women used to enter some type of confinement period where they weren't considered to be acceptable in public? I'm thinking of reinstituting that rule. I don't think I belong in public, unless I'm knitting of course.

To answer Alison's comment, a Doula is a labor support person. She is there to offer advice and guidance during labor and delivery, as well as beforehand. She and I talk about fear-releasing techniques, breathing, stages of labor, things like that. She will be there during the entire process to make sure I'm comfortable and doing what I can to have a natural birth. The goal is to have as little medical intervention as possible and having a doula increases my chances of getting through this without drugs.

I am having a few preliminary contractions, but nothing big enough to worry about. They have to get much stronger in order to cause labor to progress. So we sit and wait. My favorite thing.

Well, today is the big day. Jack is considered full term - he's completely formed and ready to live in the outside world. Now we just have to convince him of that fact. He and I have been chatting regularly about how great it is here and how much he's going to like to meet his dogs. He's not convinced. I may have to have Joe talk to him.

We went to the doctor today and he checked me out - I am not anywhere near being in labor. He thinks I will go the full 40 weeks, which is still another 4 weeks away. After I pass 40 he will want to talk about inducing labor, but I don't think it will get to that point. I'm walking, drinking the tea, taking baths and tonight I will have Joe rub my ankles. There are pressure points in your feet and ankles that can induce labor. At this point I'd be happy if he would just drop so I could breathe again!

Danielle our Doula came with us to the doctor. She was very impressed with him and I'm glad they got to meet beforehand. He is going to select our nurse in Labor and Delivery to be sure we get one that is willing to work with a Doula. Some of them get a little territorial and offended by Doulas, and we definately don't want that.

Danielle brought her baby Andrew with her - he's five weeks old. The dogs went absolutely crazy with a baby here. Lucca barked and growled and had a small anxiety attack. Guido cried a lot an hopped around. I don't think they knew what it was. It should be interesting to see how they react to Jack. Hopefully they will get used to him after a while and not bark at him constantly!

So now we just wait. and wait. and wait. I'm going to pack our hospital bag and make sure Joe has all the necessary phone numbers and email addresses. We still need to put the car seat in and set up the diaper genie.

I'm just going to hang out and enjoy the rain - I'm loving this weather and I'm so glad it's cooling off!

Jack just keeps getting bigger and bigger with no signs of budging from his little nest. We go to the doctor tomorrow afternoon to take a look at his progress and check to see if I've started the labor process. After that I will be going every week to see how I'm doing.

Parley asked me yesterday if I am scared of all the pain. Surprisingly I'm not. I figure it's going to last for no more than a day or so – I can do anything for a day, right? I'm not looking forward to all that pain, but I think it will be manageable. I am really going to try and go natural – no drugs, no breaking of the waters, no induction. From what I understand, recovery will be much easier if I'm able to do all this. Really I'm more worried about taking care of the baby after all is said and done – I know nothing about children. Literally nothing. I've read about a zillion books, but I'm guessing there is a lot more to it than can be found in a book.

All this time I thought I was eating voraciously for my own enjoyment. Turns out, Jack is used to his scheduled feedings. I only ate one breakfast yesterday and then went to Edward's wedding - the ceremony started at noon, so I thought I'd be okay. Cocktail hour and four toasts later, and we didn't eat until almost three in the afternoon. Jack was not pleased. He banged around inside of me like a caged animal demanding his lunch. And just for extra punishment, he didn't stop when I finally got around to feeding him. He mamboed his way late into the evening. He sure showed me. Now I know why I've gained so much weight!

We picked up the pictures for his room yesterday as well – they came out great. The prints are by an artist named Anna Choi in San Francisco. Joe picked them out when he was up there this summer. The frames are from the Great Indoors and I think they did a fantastic job. Here are the pictures:

The curtains and bed skirt should be done sometime this week, according to my mom. Then I just have to move out the filing cabinet and the room will be ready. I don't think there is anything left to buy just yet, but I'm sure that will change once he's arrived. At least we're ready for him to get here.

I may have had some contractions this morning - Julie described them to me because she's been having them for a while. When she went to the doctor Thursday they confirmed the contractions were the real thing, just too far apart to mean anything. I woke up about 5 a.m. with very low pains that lasted for less than a minute. So maybe it was contractions, or maybe I am just full of wishful thinking.

Jack continues to be very active - he likes music and Joe's voice especially. When he hears a new person though, or someone who isn't around a lot he hides. I think he's shy. He's also growing a lot a getting very heavy. I wasn't meant to carry around this much belly I don't think!

Jack is active as ever - he really enjoyed the music at Lux Coffee Bar last night. I went there with my knitting friends and at first they had the debate on, but when they turned on the music he started to dance. He seems so big now - I know I am going to be shocked at how small he is when he finally gets here.

My mom felt him kick for the first time this week. She gets really close to my belly and talks to him and I think he gets scared because he holds really really still. I made her be quiet when he was moving around and she got to feel him. It was pretty cool - you can really feel his limbs and everything. Okay, it's not always so cool, sometimes it's a little creepy. Like an alien has overtaken my body.

After next week he is what the doctor calls a "take home baby". If I go into labor after Thursday, the baby is developed enough that he wouldn't have to stay in the NICU nursery, he would just come home like any other baby. Hard to believe.

We are going to Edward and Amanda's wedding this weekend. They have been living in Hawaii for a while, and I never told them I was pregnant. They are going to be surprised when they see me! I look like a completely different person.

So we're just in a holding pattern now, waiting for the guy to arrive. I am tired most of the time and napping a lot. I keep dreaming of sleeping on my stomach, but that day is far off.

I go to the doctor in a week and we will discuss labor and delivery. My doula will be there and so will Joe. He's going to start checking to see if I'm dilating at all, which according to Julie is pretty painful. They started checking her last week and she said they about had to peel her off the ceiling. But I guess it's the only way for them to tell how close you are to delivering. Yuck.

Writing this will be much more exciting when he's here. More pictures, more actual activity, less sleep!

We went to the doctor today, it was very uneventful. He listened to Jack's heartbeat and verified that his head is down. I told him I'm not sleeping, I can't breathe very well, my ankles and hands are swelling, I'm tired all the time, etc. He said everything sounds normal and I'm progressing just fine. We go back in two weeks when he'll start checking for dilation - I'll be 36 weeks by then and the baby will be completely formed.

I measured my stomach last night - supposedly if you measure it in centimeters it matches how many weeks pregnant you are. It was exactly 34. I was hoping he was wrong about the date, but it's looking like six more weeks is what we should expect.

I'm so relieved the weather is starting to cooperate. It has been a long hot summer carrying this belly around, and at least now I don't feel sticky all the time. I'm even wearing jeans! Thank goodness for Old Navy and their cute maternity jeans – my mom just bought me another pair, so I should be set for the remainder of the pregnancy.

I've gained more weight than is recommended, but not by a lot. I'm just glad the baby is healthy, I can worry about dieting once he gets out of me and I can actually see my toes again.

I'm going to try and video the baby moving next time he starts ballroom dancing in my belly. He is a very active child and it's amazing how much of him you can see from the outside. He seems quietest when I'm in a noisy room – when I was at knitting the other night I think he fell completely asleep because I didn't feel him at all. But as soon as I got in the car and it was quiet he was up and about, kicking my lungs like usual.

I got email from my mom yesterday asking if she could hold the baby yet. I wish! It would be nice to hand him to someone else for a bit right now, he's really getting heavy. I know everyone is excited to hold him – he is going to be a very popular baby.

I think I need a good Halloween costume – maybe I'll just paint myself orange and go as a pumpkin.

I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a routine check - I'm hoping he can take a peek and make sure Jack is in a good position. So far he feels like he can still move around quite a bit. He's basically moving all the time now - I really don't think this kid ever sleeps!

The nursery is almost completely put together. We just need to hang the curtains and get one last piece of office furniture out of the room. Once that is done I'll post some pictures.