The three 'S's - sauna, siivous ja seksi

As our due date came and went last week without any indiciation from Peanut that she was ready to head out anytime soon, we gained some local advice from work collegues and friends about how to hurry along the process.

The solution lay in the Three S's - sauna, siivous and seksi.

Sauna - the most Finnish of institutions - its our local steam bath. A standard feature in virtually every home and apartment complex, the sauna holds a mythical place in solving many - almost ANY - problem that we face through life. Even at our wedding party, we were given guidance that our marriage would survive any bump along the way that could be solved with Sisu, Spirits or Sauna (another magical threesome!).

Sauna's also have played an important role in childbirth in the years before everyone lived in cities or near hospitals. It was often the most sterile and cleanest environment in the home, thus serving as the place where many babies were born.

But, I don't know that I'm completely sold on the idea of a very, very hot steamy room in relaxing me at this point. Nine+ months is not a comfortable state to be in no matter the temperature. Heating up above the 60C seems like the wrong way to go. There would be sweat rolling into all those new pregnancy induced wrinkles, dimples and corners. Yewww....

Then again, I have yet to try it. Maybe its just what is needed to relax the back aches and still loosening ligaments. Unfortunately, we don't have a sauna in our apartment so a hot shower will have to serve as my substitute!

Siivous = Cleaning. Yes, I admit the 'nesting' instict took over at some point in the last weeks of pregnancy - for both me and my husband. I've been driven to organize, sort out and rearrange nearly every shelf, closet and box in our home. He's diligently vaccumed and mopped every last corner and put his handywork skills to work building a changing table top and creating a bathtub hanging system. Last week, I found myself ironing everything in my husband's closet and even shining his shoes (they were looking so dusty in the recently mopped hallway!). Now the only thing left are our two kitty-cats who don't realize how close they are to getting a bath.

Evidently, the cleaning is either supposed to get mom moving enough to get baby out or its just a sign of the impending birth. Either way - I'm still in one piece and running out of things to clean!!! Ahh, but, the windows - I haven't washed the windows yet.....

Seksi - yes, sex. When I first heard this idea, I thought this must be a list created by men. Supposedly there is something in the semen that stimulates the hormones that start labor. So goes the wives tale that is not exclusive to Finland.

Now, my husband has shared several males views he has heard about sex with a highly pregnant woman - somewhat incestuous, concerns about disturbing the baby and requires creative navigation. And certainly from the highly pregnant woman's point of view its not too much more exciting since at this point its very difficult to move in any direction in any position . I'm not sure who's idea this was!

And, should all that fail, a collegue of my husband's suggests a PlayStation2 to help the time fly by.....