Today I am...40 weeks pregnant.

Wow, my due date. The long awaited 2/11/11. Unfortunately, it's just another day today and the little guy shows no signs of moving out. Had another doctor's appointment this past week where she informed me that I hadn't made any progress. She is already throwing around the word "induction" which I don't love. Especially since I'm sure, if he had his way, the lil' one would come out at 42 weeks. But modern doctors don't really let moms go to 42 weeks so we'll see what happens. In the mean time, it's time to bring on the natural labor induction techniques! Truthfully, I think all of these are complete b.s. but it makes me feel proactive. So far it's included evening primrose oil tablets, raspberry leaf tea, bouncing on an exercise ball, spicy food, the "maternity" salad from a famous LA restaurant, and a prenatal massage. But today I also tried acupuncture. I went to this place that specializes in pregnancy acupuncture and wow, it was cool. I don't think it'll automatically induce labor, but you can certainly feel those needles doing something. The feeling radiates down your feet and up your arms. At the very least, my acupuncturist said it should make my labor easier if I do have to be induced. We'll see...

That's about all that's happening here. We threw a Superbowl party at our house last weekend and that was our last hoorah. Now we're just playing the waiting game. Not something I'm very good at. Here's a picture of me "waiting" this morning, at a full 40 weeks.

And now, for the weekly stats...

How far along: 40 weeks

Baby Development: Nothing new except he's as big as a small pumpkin. That's giant. Again, I'm worried he'll be huge but I guess there's not much I can do about it now.

Baby Movement: He's got peaks and valleys. Sometimes he moves a lot and at other times he has slow hours/days. But we're doing our kick counts.

Water Intake: My acupuncturist immediately could tell I wasn't drinking enough water. So I got busted. Going to try to do better.

Best Moment this Week: Getting a massage at the spa. Not as good as a "real" massage because they're scared to press too hard on a giant pregnant lady. But still, amazing.

Current baby/pregnancy worry: Oh man, where do I start? I guess mostly worried about having to be induced and then having a c-section. Though I'm trying to tell myself that tons of women have inductions and/or c-sections and they are fine and all they care about is that their baby is healthy. So we'll see what happens...

Symptoms: Still have heartburn. This sort of shocks me. I thought at the end the heartburn was supposed to go away but maybe the lil' guy hasn't dropped enough. Doesn't matter what I eat or what time I stop eating before I go to bed. Guaranteed to wake up with heartburn between 12 and 2am.

Sleep Quality: Not bad actually. Sleeping pretty soundly aside from the three trips to the bathroom.

Food Cravings: Not so much cravings...but we've just been trying to eat all these inducing foods. It's not working.

What I Miss: Having a back that doesn't hurt all the time. I used to think it hurt but this is way more achy.

I'm Looking Forward to: Meeting the little guy very very soon!

Trying to Get Done Before Baby: I honestly think I'm done. We did our taxes, completely redecorated the guest room, washed all the baby clothes, cleaned our house top to bottom...we're ready!

John's POV: "The kid missed having a pretty rad b-day. 2/11/11? Come on. And since 2/12/11 passed, and we’re pretty sure Valentine’s Day is going to come and go with us just staring at Lisa’s belly for umpteenth consecutive night, there’s not a lot of cool b-day options left. Though I think he can make it to 2/21/11 or 2/22/11. Though those are more like pathetic luggage codes than anything else. As far as the old wives’ tales regarding the onset of labor, we are truly willing to try anything. Eggplant Parm? OK. Cactus tacos? Sure. Orange soda? How much and how often? I’m looking forward to perpetuating the inductive powers of whatever dish Lisa coincidentally consumes on the day the baby decides to descend. It’ll likely just be the 98th breakfast burrito she’s had during her pregnancy. So yes, eat 98 breakfast burritos and that kid will shoot out like a rocket."