Any day now...

Well it's Wednesday, 4 days before my due date and so far there are no signs that Baby Duggan wants to come out and meet his parents yet. Maybe it's this heat wave we've been having, I wouldn't want to enter the world on a day when it's 95 degrees and sticky either! I've been trying to tell the baby "it's OK, Mommy made Daddy buy a new air conditioner, the house is nice and cool now" but I guess he isn't convinced.

We had my 39 1/2 week Doctor's appointment yesterday and it was uneventful. The good news is that I had not gained any weight which is a miracle considering I ate my way through the Holiday weekend. The bad news is that my Dr. didn't want to check my cervix and instead said we'd do it at my next appointment Monday. I shrieked "but I'm due Sunday" and I think my doctor actually laughed at me. I thought they would be used to seeing hysterical pregnant women ready to do anything to get their baby out, but maybe I am the only one. I told the receptionist as we checked out that she was welcome to induce me if she wanted in on some action which incited laughter from the nurses, but I was being totally serious. I AM READY NOW.

I have been having some cramping and pressure that is pretty intense and uncomfortable but certainly not all that painful and definitely not regular like contractions. I guess we just have to wait and see what happens. To stay occupied, I increased our Netflix account and now we have a movie to watch every night this week which helps keep me from obsessing about all the new feelings in my uterus. At least I am a gifted sleeper! If sleeping were an Olympic event, I'd be on my way to Beijing right now. I have been getting as much shut eye as possible before Baby Duggan arrives and robs me of it.

I have no other news to report but you never know, it could be any day now! Enjoy the 39 week update...

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

How your life's changing:

At each of your now-weekly visits, your caregiver will do an abdominal exam to check your baby's growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether your cervix has started ripening: softening, effacing (thinning out), and dilating (opening). But even armed with this information, there's still no way for your caregiver to predict exactly when your baby is coming. If you go past your due date, your caregiver will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it's safe to continue the pregnancy. If you don't go into labor on your own, most practitioners will induce labor when you're between one and two weeks overdue — or sooner if there's an indication that the risk of waiting is greater than the risks of delivering your baby without further delay.