38 Weeks!

Our little girl is the size of a pumpkin!  Oh my gosh!  She is somewhere between 6 and 9 pounds and between 19 and 21 inches long!  We already know she's got a full head of hair, which could be more than an inch long at this point.  She is getting closer and closer to being here, and I can't wait!  If you haven't read about our little adventure last night, you should.  We thought she was coming, but it was a false alarm.  No worried, though.  We got a practice run in and are now just waiting for that moment when she decides to come for real.  :)  We are at 38 weeks today!  :)  How exciting!!  She is officially 1 whole week past full term!  Just getting bigger, stronger, smarter, and healthier the longer she waits.  Her and I are both very healthy and doing great (which we confirmed last night at the Birthcare Center).  Only 4 more days until out next doctor's appointment.  And then we'll see if she's getting more ready to join us.  :)  It's still hard to believe that she could come any day.  When I feel the slightest twinge I wonder if it's time yet. 

I think I'm getting even more anxious as I look at the schedule for the next couple of weeks.  I only have 1 day off between now and her due date.  I only have 2 days off between now and a week past her due date, when I said I would stop working whether she was here or not.  All of that work seems very daunting.  However, since we're down to 5 people and some people are wanting to take their vacation time before they lose it, it puts us into a scheduling bind.  So that's why I'm working 6-7 days/week, 40-44 hours/week, during the last 2-3 weeks of my pregnancy.  *sigh*  It will all work out.  And I certainly don't want to leave my co-workers in a lurch, but I feel like they are depending too much on me and asking too much of me for me being this far along.  But I guess I can't change that now, just have to deal with it.

Our trial run went well last night.  :)  Michael and I stayed very calm.  We picked up the last few things we needed to pack and got everything loaded into the car.  Michael said he felt like he needed to be driving crazy and speeding, shouting, "Where's the Hospital!?!?" while I yelled in pain.  :P  But that was not the case.  We casually loaded up all of out things, took a quiet evening drive to the birthcare center, casually checked in and waited to be taken to a room, calmly walked to our room and began the procedure of checking the baby and me.  Not at all like it looks in the movies.  Now, things may be a little different when I actually go into labor and I'm having contractions that I can't walk or talk through, but last night was a very calm and peaceful process.  :)  It makes me feel less anxious about labor and delivery.  It made me feel like everything was going to run smoothly and without incident.  It was very nice.  :)  We will see how the actual day compares to the trial run we had.  ;)

I am so excited to meet our little girl!  Going to the Birthcare Center last night just makes me more excited for the day when she decides to come!  I can't wait to see her for the first time!  I can't wait to hold her and to hear her voice!  I'm excited to see her tiny fingers and toes.  I want to know what color her hair and her eyes are.  I'm anxious to see the look on Michael's face when he holds his daughter in his arms for the first time and gazes into her beautiful face.  :)  That moment will probably make me cry.  I'm tearing up a bit just thinking about it.  ;)  I'm excited for Michael to be able to go out into the lobby where all of our friends and family are patiently waiting, to announce that he's a Daddy, and to invite them all back to our room to meet his daughter.  :)  It's going to be amazing!!  That day is going to be so special!  I can't wait to show off our perfect baby girl to all of our family who show up to the hospital to meet her on her birthday.  :) 

I know not everyone is used to going to the hospital and waiting to meet the baby the day she's born, but it's something I'm looking forward to, and I hope that we have more friends and family than there are chairs in the waiting room!  I want EVERYONE there the day she's born!!!  :D  So please don't be shy and think, Oh, I'll just let them have some privacy.  We plan on staying home and having plenty of privacy the first few weeks of her life.  That day in the hospital, WE WANT ALL OF YOU THERE!!!!  :D  We will have lots of time together to get to know our little girl and to have time to ourselves.  On her birthday, we want you to share in those moments with us.  Even if you can only stop by for a few minutes, please come.  :)  We would GREATLY appreciate it.  :)

All of that being said...  Please do not come and visit us the first week that she's home.  That time is strictly reserved for Michael, the baby, and me.  We want to spend time with her and each other, learn about her, and quietly enjoy our first week as parents on our own.  I know people will be anxious to see and meet her, and that's why we encourage you to come to the hospital.  Michael is going to get 1 week off from work to spend with the baby and me, and I don't want anyone else interupting our time together.  Please don't call and ask if it's ok for you to stop by, because we'll say it's fine, because we don't want to upset anyone by saying no.  Now, if we call you, that's an entirely different story.  ;)  Things may not go the way I plan, and we may want visitors, so by all means, if we call, you are more than welcome to join us.  But as for right now, I think I will want that week with Michael.  So join us at the Birthcare Center, and we'll see you again at week 2.  ;)  Also, keep reading the blog here, because as we struggle through the first week of parenthood, we might decide that calling everyone and asking people to come over is too much work.  We might just post here on the blog an open invitation.  At that point, it's your job to come over.  :P  Not to demanding am I?  Well, if you didn't know that about me already, I'm glad that I could enlighten you.  :P  Not only am I demanding, but also stubborn and opinionated.  But I feel like as the woman who's about to have a baby, that it's ok for me to have certain requests.  ;)  We'll see if this feeling wears off after she comes, lol.

Alrighty, this has gotten far too long!  :P  We are very excited to have made it to 38 weeks!  Our little one is healthy and so am I.  This makes Michael and I very excited and happy.  This pregnancy has been a blessing!  We can't wait to meet our little girl!  We hope you'll join us that day.  :)  Happy Friday, everyone!  Only 14(ish) more days!  :)  We will keep you posted!