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I've been meaning to write a pregnancy update, and since I left work early today for a routine doctor's checkup, here on my nominal due date, now seems as good a time as any.

How I'm feeling physically: surprisingly well. I'm tired, of course, but most of the time manageably so. (Occasionally, maybe every week or two in the last month, I have gone through phases of about twenty-four hours where I am just so overwhelmingly tired that all I want to do is cry. I do a lot of lying down then, which works.) Over the last couple of weeks, I've had some carpal tunnel trouble, but digging out my old wrist braces to wear to bed has helped that a lot. (The swelling and stiffness in my hands varies from day to day, but can be worked around. My feet, weirdly, are better than they were.) And while FutureBaby has definitely moved very low, I'm not even finding that very uncomfortable: sometimes my hip bones complain about the extra weight when I'm sitting, so I shift position or lie down, and so far that's okay.

(I'm really looking forward to sleeping on my back again, though, as my pre-existing jaw, hip, and acid reflux issues do much better in that position.)

If I haven't gone into labor by next Monday, they'll do a fetal non-stress test to make sure FutureBaby is still okay, and if so, schedule an induction for the end of the week.

How I'm feeling emotionally: basically okay, though in a more complicated way than Chad, as much as we both love and want FutureBaby. For one thing, my imagination insists on being very concrete, but I also don't want to set up expectations about unknown things. And since we can't know FutureBaby's personality, all my parenting-imaginations stop at the "Do you know, they must be fed every two hours?" [*] phase for lack of information, if that makes sense—which is not the most fun thing to dwell on, so I try not to. For another, I am somewhat anxious about labor and delivery, and for all that I immediately follow anxious thoughts with "yes, but [positive sensible thing]," I'm finding that doesn't work as well as just not thinking about it.

Which is a long way of saying that I'm keeping calm by living in the moment, which leads me into the practicalities—

How I'm feeling logistically: prepared. At work, I still have useful things to do, but if I don't show up one day, everything can be finished without me. I've finished reading the second draft of Chad's book and the pages for yhlee's auction consult. The rearranging of the house is done, the car seats have been checked by our friendly local police officer, the cross-stitched dragons for the nursery are off being framed [**], FutureBaby's clothes and bedding have been unpacked and washed and put away along with the rest of the baby supplies, the fridge has leftovers and leftover-generators in it. Our parents have directions to the hospital, the dog-sitter is on call, and while I've chosen not to pack a hospital bag yet, I know what's going in it.

Other than day-to-day housekeeping, then, I've pretty much completed my outstanding obligations, which is a lovely feeling: I can, you know, read books and leisurely cross-stitch a ten-year-old unfinished project without feeling like I'm squeezing out time to do so. And on that note, I have Suzanne Brockmann's latest from the library, and I'm going to go lie on the couch and read it. Well, after I put another load of laundry in the wash.

[*] A line from Victory of Eagles that made me giggle unreasonably.

[**] At the usual eye-popping price for custom framing. If the store hadn't been having a 50% off sale, getting those three little dragons framed would have cost more than the crib.

Reminders: no horror stories. No unsolicited advice (and nothing in this post is soliciting advice). And I assure you that we have been repeatedly told that (a) becoming parents will change our lives and (b) don't worry, everything will be just fine, and so you really needn't feel obligated to tell us again.