There's a tight pain in my back that doesn't bother me when I'm sitting down (thank God), but makes me walk like a sailor when I try to move from place to place. At least my stiff-hipped, rolling gait is amusing to everyone around me. I'm not quite sure why I feel this way; it could be a very early sign of labour, but more likely it's just muscle fatigue. We got about 6 hours of sleep last night, and I'm just not as flexible as I'd like to be these days.

(Heh. The Boy is always so wide-eyed when I tell him that I felt a contraction or some other sign of pre-labour that I can't keep anything to myself...and yet I'm trying really hard to look cool about the whole thing. I desperately want to avoid the whole anxious first-time mother vibe, so I tend to downplay the signs & symptoms & anxieties. The Boy is convinced that I'll be so "whatever" about the start of labour that we'll be quite a ways progressed before we even page Hectate. That would be nice.)

Of the seven couples in my prenatal group, 5 babies are present & accounted for. Only two babies remain within. So hurry up, Sprout! It's time!

I didn't end up seeing Down By Law on Friday. Apparently there was a problem with the Film Society obtaining a good 35 mm print, so they chose not to run it at the scheduled time. Instead, I drove over to Dirk's, ate one slice of cold pizza, and watched Spider. It was kind of amazing - although we made wisecracks throughout to diffuse the tension, it was exactly the kind of film I'd wanted to watch for free. Without Tom Waits, of course, but you can't have everything. At least I got to see Miranda Richardson's assets again and again and just in case I had forgotten the sight of her nipples, one more time.

We sit in silence as Yvonne (MR) gives a handjob to Gabrielle Byrne under a bridge. She suddenly whips her arm towards the camera and flings a handful of what is presumably semen into the canal.

The Boy: Amoret, I told you that I didn't want to rent a romantic comedy.

Noizangel & Spherewalker's wedding reception took place on Saturday night (coincidentally, on the 4th anniversary of our own engagement.) I had a great time. Random people were satisfyingly shocked that a girl who was due to have her first baby the day before & had moved out of an apartment that morning decided to make a 2 hour drive through the snow for a wedding reception. I got to kibbitz about labour with Acidic Jew & lecture Lain & Gwen on the difference between a doula, a midwife & an ob/gyn & watch everyone light up the dancefloor. Spherewalker beamed like a torch. Noizangel danced & drank & radiated joy for all of us.

The Boy & I ended up driving everyone back to the hotel - and it's not an easy task to gather up 7 drunks at 1:30 a.m. and guide them over the icy streets to safety. I was amply compensated, though: I got to wear the veil & dunk my feet in the heart-shaped jacuzzi & gossip until 3:30 in the morning. By the end, I was wallowing fully clothed in the tub - Fear & Loathing without the drugs & filth.

Of course, I felt like scat the next morning...but it was so, so worth it. It was even worth the hour before we arrived at the hall, when we got lost on in the cold on a dark country road due to my inability to record accurate directions.

Booty Call: Day 268 - The umbilical cord is 20-inches and will support baby through birth until the lungs take over.