Ready to Pop!

39 weeks down. 6 days to go (give or take, of course). There are so many thoughts racing through my mind these days. The carseat is installed, the baby room is done enough, so many people have helped us celebrate and blessed us with things to prepare for his arrival, things at work are getting put into place and we are waiting. My last doctor's appointment was Wednesday and I was told that "he's in the chute and ready to go." I was even dilated half a centimeter. He is in perfect position and really low which explains my recent discomfort.

38 weeks and feeling good!

I have had such a great pregnancy! I was blessed to not have really any morning sickness and my symptoms have been relatively mild. However, the last couple of weeks have become a little bit more challenging. I am having a bit of difficulty sleeping due to frequent bathroom trips and general discomfort. I'm still working full time and I'll admit, it's sometimes hard to stay awake! I went on 3 2.8 mile Mt. Tabor walks this week and I actually still feel pretty good doing it! Though, that walk was MUCH easier 2 weeks ago. We're 6 days away from the due date and I imagine that my comfort level will get much worse before it gets better.

In the midst of discomfort and waiting, I have been reflecting on my pregnancy. I am utterly blown away at what my body has done these past 8 1/2 months. I think back to the tiny amoeba that I saw in the first ultrasound. The largest part of the little peanut was his heart and I could see it just beating away! Fighting for LIFE! It was hard for me to believe that he would actually continue to grow, but he did! Then at 18 weeks we saw him again. We saw his little spine, his face, his feet, and we found out that he was a boy! I remember the first time I felt him kick, on July 5th, and how shortly after, he began responding to my touch. And by what can only be understood as a miracle, this long process has brought us to where we are now... with a fully developed baby- wrestling my ribs for space, ready to be born any moment. I've had many moments of surreal joy and a few moments of fear. The reality that even though he's tucked away inside of my body, there's next to nothing that I can do to sustain his life but simply be-- and that the God who knit him together in my womb loves him even more than I do. It's reassuring. It makes me feel small and insignificant. It forces me to trust that same God.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

As we're waiting for the arrival of our son, I feel like I am someplace right in the middle of excited and terrified. In the middle of ready and not ready at all. We've been talking about getting ready for the baby for months! We need to do this and we need to do that. Most everything is already done, so lately it's become smaller, funnier things like "You need to cut your hair, we want the boy to meet you when you're clean cut." And, "We need to clean up the counter, we don't the boy to think we're messy." I guess it's more funny than anything, but I want to make a good impression. :-) Oh, this pregnancy thing totally worked in my favor the other day! I needed to take my car into the shop to have a few things done. I called and when asked when I wanted to bring it in I said, "as early as tomorrow." The service guy said, "well, tomorrow's pretty busy, how does next week look?" My response was, "here's the thing... I'm about to have a baby..." Immediately he said "How does tomorrow morning at 8 sound?" Haha-- perfect.

There's nothing I want more right now than to hold this little guy in my arms. Eric is beside himself with excitement too. When I am at work, he'll text me every few hours, "is the little guys still content in there?" "Any contractions?" etc. It's pretty cute. As soon as we found out that we were having a boy, we started talking names. About 4 months ago already in our quest, we stumbled upon a name that we decided to "try on." I am happy to report that we are IN LOVE with his name and cannot wait to announce it to the world when he's born.

More than anything, we are thankful. We feel like we are getting the BEST GIFT EVER this Christmas. We know we don't deserve it, but we are so grateful for the gift of this little blessing that has already brought us so much joy. We couldn't be more grateful. I can't even think of how to express how grateful I feel.

And... we wait. It's strange to think that we it could happen at any moment. That as soon as tomorrow, we could be holding our little one and life will be changed forever. We can't wait to meet him. We can't wait for you all to meet him. Please pray for a safe delivery. Pray that I would be strong and focused and that we would be able to welcome him into the world well. Thanks for taking this journey with us into parenthood! We'll need your support as we try to figure this whole thing out.