Tuesday is the due date!

...or Wednesday, like my doctor just told me at my last appointment. Which is seriously confusing because for nine months I've been telling people June 20th. And now it's June 21st. And I know it's just a date. And I know it's really just a rough estimate. And I know babies come late. I was just down this road 20 months ago with Hattie, 10 days late.

But let me tell you, that does not stop a woman from hoping the baby might come on Father's Day. It seemed so perfect. And we do have a streak of barn animals being born on holidays, so a human birth seemed possible. Plus my hips are complete jello, ready to do this thing. And I've put up with 8 weeks of "due any day now!" so that it felt like maybe it could come a wee bit early.

But no. Ivar was one day early. I think Elsie was two days past her due date. And Hattie a whopping 10 days past hers. The plus side is that I clearly have a very cozy and comfy womb that my kids enjoy for the full 40 weeks. And that is a gift. But I am ready now.

Rory has been working like crazy lately and told me Friday that he was hopeful to have a few nights of good rest and days of rest before the baby came. The next morning he said he'd like to move the cat back from the barn into the garage which I took to mean, "let's clean the garage all day." Which is my love language. So I did. I hit that garage like a woman in her 39th week of pregnancy, loading up the car with loads and loads to take to giveaway. But Rory was confused as to how I jumped from "let's move the cat back into the garage" to "please move this, and that, and lift that and that for me..." We had a nice talk that night where he explained People over Projects. And I tried to argue that sometimes Pregnancy trumps People, but he didn't buy it. We worked through it, got a good night's sleep and I'm still pleased with my clean garage. ;)

Today (Monday) I took the kids to the library to get started on the summer reading program, to the river, to a few favorite shops including the cupcake shop (where we each split a cupcake, and Hattie discovered she LOVES cupcakes and Elsie dropped her cupcake flat on it's frosting on the floor...) and then to our favorite thrift shop and to a taco stand for a cheap lunch. The goal was to exhaust myself, and we did. We came home, ate our tacos and then I decided to tackle the kid's room. Again, anything to get this party started.

Emotions are right on the edge again. On Friday we went to play with Elsie's best friends but before we left she asked me to get into my bed so we could snuggle a bit before we got in the car. She has asked for a lot of snuggles lately. It reminds me a lot cupcakes and combines. Sort of that high alert, something huge is about to happen, but we don't know when mood... I was trying to explain what a mind game this whole thing is to Rory. I said it would be like knowing you are going to have to run a marathon, but not ever knowing when the gun is going to go off.

So we'll wait. I have a feeling it will all happen soon. But I felt that way with Hattie, so what do I know? Honestly, you'd think I'd have a better sense of how this labor and delivery thing begins, but I really don't. I read through the stages of labor last night and thought, "yeah right. As if I have ever known when I was in "transition." All I remember is that I was in "pain." Ha!

And even knowing the pain that is to come, I am still ready to do this thing. I cannot wait to meet this little baby who is swooshing around. I cannot find out if we have a little sister or a little brother in there. I cannot wait to hold it and introduce myself. I cannot wait for my kids to meet this little baby and to have everyone get to know each other.

But until then, I guess I can wait. Because I have to wait! Patience, they say.