Bah. I was so sure he was going to come this weekend. Anyway, here are some late pregnancy observations I have made.

Late pregnancy is:

1) A bit like trying to sell a house, in as much as you try to maintain a state of household perfection at all times - because who knows when you're going to have a viewing / have a baby and so be unable to hoover for three weeks? Yesterday I did a load of laundry which contained 4 items - daft. Also we have a new hoover (one of the dyson ball ones) which I am slightly obsessed with as it looks a bit like the Starship Enterprise.

2) A great motivator to get properly caught up at work. I am completely up to date on the everyday stuff (for instance, I've done the 2008 financial year end, not usually due until next March, plus my tax return, the spring 09 catalogue, the website refresh, all the bank recs, all the bills for the near future, all the filing and paperwork, most of the current editing and layout work, and so on). For how long can I maintain this state of Email-and-list-zero, though?

2) A bit like being a bouncy castle, because all your edges are rounded and overinflated, and you're being kicked and punched and bounced on with abandon. And you're bright yellow. (Not that last one.)

3) Painful. Don't get me started on the horrors of heartburn, which I have never suffered before and hope never to again. But that is nothing compared to SPD. I have had it (a kind of pelvic girdle pain) for the last two and a half months. It means that I can't walk without my pelvic bones and muscles hurting, and it's only getting worse. For the last few weeks I've been enjoying very fractured sleep, as pressure on the pelvis makes it worse - and of course lying prone results in pressure, no matter how many funny shaped cushions you use. I'm told it magically disappears after birth - but not for everyone. I hope it does as I have about a tonne of excess fat to lose and need to be able to run...

4) Illuminating, of others. I've been amazed, and sometimes quite entertained, by the shockingly personal/rude/misinformed/patronising/irritating things some people say/do. Things like 'was it planned?', 'oh, you're having a homebirth - but how will you feel if your baby dies?' and worse. Go to any pregnancy website and read what shockers pregnant women report - and rest assured, I've had them all.

5) The most astonishing thing? I've loved it all. Despite the pain, the discomfort, the tiredness, the frightening weight gain (although I haven't weighed myself since February, for mental health preservation reasons), the daftness of others, the worry of impending parenthood, it has been the most wonderful experience, and completely at odds with whatever other people have said it would be like - just like when we started Snowbooks, in fact.

And now I'm ready to meet my baby - not least so I can stop doing bank recs every other day in case he arrives. Please send eviction vibes this way.