41 Weeks and Counting...

Well, the due date of June 20 has come and gone, but there is an end in sight for this pregnancy along with the beginning of a new life in the near future. I passed the nonstress test today at my appointment, and the fetal heartbeat still looks good. There were even a couple of contractions that showed up on the monitor, so there was some progress made in that department as well. However, I am now measuring at 42 weeks and still only dilated 1 cm. Since my body seems a bit confused about what to do yet, we made the decision to be induced tomorrow, June 28. The longest the doctors will let me go before induction takes place anyway is Thursday, and I figured if there hasn't been much progress yet after this long, another 2 days is not going to make much difference, and most of all, I am ready to meet this little guy!

While I had really hoped my body would go into labor naturally on its own, the idea of induction is now much more appealing to me, being the planner that I am, and knowing when this is going to be taking place. I won't have to make the decision about exactly when to go into the hospital while in labor or be in pain on the long ride there or be in labor in the middle of the night; at least, I hope not with our arrival time of 6:00 a.m. at the hospital. Plus, I think June 28 is a nice even number for a birthday, and my mom mentioned it is my great grandma's birthday, which also makes it a special day. Hopefully Elijah will cooperate and be ready for his birthday tomorrow:)

Nine months seems like a really loooong time...

39 Weeks

While it seems like I have been pregnant FOREVER at this point, the end is in sight with the due date fast approaching in less than a week on Monday! At my last 2 appointments, the cervix was still closed but thinning out, so there has not been as much progress as I would have hoped, but everyone keeps telling me he will come out when he is ready.

According to Ian, Elijah has the perfect environment right now; in his words "climate control and a self-feeding system," so he thinks that Eli is perfectly content to stay inside for a while longer yet.

While brainstorming ideas for this blog post, I have compiled a list of things I will miss and things I will not miss about being pregnant:

Things I will miss:
*Watching and feeling Eli's little movements
*Knowing I am carrying a human life inside me
*The easiness of taking care of a baby still in the womb
and taking him everywhere with me
*Listening to the heartbeat at the doctors' appointments

Things I will not miss:
*Rotating from side to side sleeping at night
and still not finding a comfortable position
*Itchy abdomen
*Frequent flare-ups of heartburn
*Waddling instead of walking
*Bumping into things with "the bump"
*Abstaining from fruity cocktails (especially in the summer:)

Even strangers are starting to get curious now...The following are some random conversations I have had recently or overheard relating to these last couple weeks of pregnancy:

In the elevator going to my doctor's appointment last week:
Nice young lady: "Usually I don't ask this, but how far along are you?"
Me: "38 weeks."
Nice young lady: "Wow! You are really out there!"

Also in the (much more crowded) elevator on my way to yesterday's appointment:
Middle-aged lady with a teenage son: "When is your due date?"
Me: "A week from today."
Middle-aged lady with a teenage son: "It looks like it!"
Me: "Well it sure feels like it too!"

Last but not least while navigating my cart down an aisle in Wal-Mart past a mom with 3 young kids:
Toddler boy speaking loudly in my direction: "Mommy, there's a BABY in that belly!!"
Me: No response. Just smile and keep walking.

Now that the nursery is ready (since February), the house has been cleaned, groceries stocked, childbirth class attended, pregnancy books and websites read, hospital bags packed, car seat installed, special prayers and blessings from Father (times 2), and countless of my own prayers said in hopes of a safe and healthy labor and birth of our baby boy, I think we are ready for this life-changing experience. Ian has even conquered his to-do list I created for him. I'm still waiting for that final nesting instinct to kick in, but in the meantime we will continue to enjoy our life as a couple before we become a family of three.