December 19th - Where did you go?

Our hastily packed bag has been set aside.  After a few days, I finally got tired of it taking up my space.  Our toiletries are strewn about the bathroom counter.  Tiny pink clothes remain folded and neatly stacked in the top drawer of my wardrobe closet.  Yes, my due date came and went.  Just as my mom came and went, trying to time her visit from rainy Portland just right.  And just as contractions come and go in a teasing, almost torturous manner each day.  "Longer, stronger and closer together."  Naw...they usually don't even last long enough for me to bother timing.

I was due on Christmas day.  I was born 12 days late to my mother who spent only an hour or so at the hospital before I arrived.  Maybe this is payback.  Maybe I will have a short labor too?

The entire reason I switched doctors is because I was unhappy with how quickly my previous one rushed into induction shortly after a due date without even bothering to check on the baby or look for signs of due date inaccuracy.  Having been induced with our first daughter, this feels like a test to see how serious I am about avoiding induction until medically necessary (such as the placenta starting to lose it's ability to support life around 42 weeks).  At this moment, my resolve is stong.

Might we spend Christmas in the hospital where our 2-year-old is not allowed to visit?  I hope not, but perhaps.  Might I have to return all of our cute "baby's first Christmas 2009" stuff?  It's looking like a stong possibilty.  Or maybe I'll keep it as a momentum.  Hmm.

Either way, I pray every day for excrutiating labor pains.  Bring it.