CTV Toronto reporter Naomi Parness has signed off the air and has moved on to her next assignment: motherhood. While on her maternity leave, she will be filing occasional columns on the experience of this whole new responsibility. Here's her latest: 

Ok, I will admit I am a control freak. So that could help explain why the last few weeks have been so difficult for me! Many doctors say most women deliver late during their first pregnancy but that's no consolation to all of us because I have to say the waiting is the hardest part.

I know from forums I have read online, many women agree and the problem for a control freak like me is it's all out of my hands. Even though I am ready to give birth, clearly the baby is not ready to come out. I guess this is my first real lesson in motherhood: I have to give up control and give in to the fact that this child will soon control ME for the rest of my life.

The problem is I was convinced I would give birth early because I was so big (I know the camera hid this well). As a result, I am now disappointed that I haven't. Now, I am still a few days away from my due date so the baby still has time, but it's showing no signs of being ready. It obviously really likes the warm home it's been living in for almost 10 months now and it's not interested in coming out.

Luckily, I am still fairly comfortable overall, but I have developed a pregnancy-related problem (I will spare you all the gory details) but it's making it hard for me to breathe and get through each day. That makes the waiting even harder - and at times, painfully uncomfortable.

There are some moments of the day where I really believe the baby will never come out. I will be the only woman to have a baby live inside her forever. I know this is crazy, but I also know other women will agree they have felt the same way in their 39th week.

The waiting game has created quite a scene at our house. It's amazing what happens to women at this point in the pregnancy. The baby books call it "nesting;" my husband calls it "being a lunatic." After finishing work, I had this huge surge of energy and a need to get everything on my "to-do list" done and get the house ready for the new member of the family. The "to-do list" was done in a few days which left me nothing "to do" but NEST as they call it. I cleaned the fridge, the cupboards, under the bathroom sink. I threw out odds and ends we just don't need- - in fact, I threw out so much, the neighbours likely think we are moving. We needed a shelf for the family room, we got a shelf -- and it HAD to be put together right there and then. My poor husband has been working around the clock to get all the things done that I want done!

To kill time, I have seen all my friends and family for lunches and dinners. Now, in week three of being off work, I am on my second round of seeing the same people again. I make little lists every morning of things to get done so I feel like I have a lot to do to fill up my day. I feel the need to be busy, even though I know my life is about to get extremely busy.

Then of course, there are all the phone calls. I love them and wouldn't want my family and friends to stop calling -- but they call every day. And the conversation always begins with "So? Anything happening?" The best is if I call someone, they immediately think I am in labour.

Last but not least, the best part of the waiting game has to be the tips that continue to stream in day after day. Everyone is an expert and has a tip on how to help induce labour and encourage this baby to come out. From spicy food to walking to squats to other options that need not be mentioned -- one of them is how all of this began -- I have received the tips and tried almost all of them. Nothing is working. I am quickly learning this baby will come when it's ready -- not when I am. And to be honest, I don't really want to mess with Mother Nature anyway.

So, in the meantime, I have daily conversations with the baby. I tell it how excited we are to meet it and how my huge family is just waiting to give it lots of love and attention. I know once it's born, the waiting game will all be forgotten.

But the irony, of course, is that as ready as I feel, I know in a few weeks I will be right back here writing another column, telling you all at 4 a.m. during that killer feed, that as much as I wanted the baby out before, I now want the baby to go back inside my tummy!

Ah... the joys of pregnancy and motherhood!

Read Naomi's previous columns: