Boredom

It's hard to explain just how boring life can be even in the midst of relatively oppressive exhaustion and nine-months-pregnant determination to work as close to full time as possible.  I'm staying busy, yes...work, and trying to get in enough naps to keep my body relatively prepared for labor at any time keep me occupied for most of the day.  There's also a seemingly never-ending supply of dirty dishes and carpets in need of vacuuming and laundry in need of washing, to fill in the spare minutes and hours between work and sleep. 

I've spent the past eight and a half months trying to emotionally and physically prepare for parenthood, and I've come a long way.  Almost all the baby laundry is done; we have the vast majority of the baby gear we will need for the first few months.  And I'm really, genuinely thrilled to meet this little person.  It's hard not to be impatient when he or she has been my constant companion for going on nine months. 

It's also hard not to be unbearably bored with this whole business of still being pregnant a week and a half after the start of early labor.  I've gone on with my life despite the increasing exhaustion and discomfort, but it's really getting hard to care about much anything other than delivering this baby at long last.  It would be lovely to be able to carry on as before, but that's easier said than done while contracting!  I've given up on vacuuming the carpets and sweeping the kitchen floor; even showering has taken the back seat to lying in bed idly playing on my phone.  The dishes still get washed, but I lost interest in behaving civilly a week or two ago, when the symptoms of early labor started.  I've timed my contractions so many times over the past week and a half that I no longer consistently remember to do so (though I try to time them at least once or twice a day).  And with the rate at which my attitude towards labor's imminence is going south, I'll most likely end up delivering this baby on our living room floor because it would take transition - esque intensity to convince me that it's the real deal and not just another false alarm. 

I spent so much time trying to be prepared to meet our child that I never bothered to prepare for the reality that my due date might come and go without yielding a baby.  It's still five days away, but I'm no longer holding my breath.