40 WEEKS

How long are women supposed to be pregnant again? I read a few places that it is 40 weeks -- 10 months total, contrary to popular belief. Wendy is 39 weeks and 5 days along now. Mya is due on Wednesday! Of course, she'll come when she wants to come -- not when WE want her to.

This picture was taken during one of Mya's busy spells on Monday evening. At one point, she performed some of her token acrobatics, which seemed to completely reshape Wendy's belly.

We have an appointment with Dr. Russo on Tuesday morning. Wendy's hoping for a best case scenario in which Dr. Russo says we have to induce, or that Wendy's dilated and ready to be admitted. But based on the absence of contractions since Saturday, when she had nine that were about four minutes apart, it doesn't look like Mya's going anywhere quite yet. Her Braxton-Hicks contractions have become more frequent but are still very mild and never in regular intervals (except Saturday). Let it be noted for the record that daddy (that's me, kids) predicted a February 22 arrival date.

At the hospital, I'll have wireless internet access and plan to post to the blog with updates as often as possible. That means I'll post news whenever I'm not holding Wendy's hand or coaching her through contractions. (At least that's the plan!)

What I can say is that I already miss feeling Mya moving around inside Wendy's belly. I'm WAY excited for my wife that she'll be able to enjoy life's simple pleasures like sleeping on her stomach, exercising and breathing like a normal person again -- but these last 40 weeks have been so awesome, so miraculous for me. I will miss it for sure. But I'll get to hold our little girl soon, so I think I'll survive.

Remember to keep this link handy for updates. Remember -- our due date is Wednesday!