One week until the due date!

I have come to realize that increasing discomfort and fatigue must be what helps to overcome the general fear of the pain of childbirth.  Let's just say, I feel very ready to get this over with.  I also feel very ready just to meet our little girl face to face after all these months of dreaming of what she'll look like and how it'll feel to hold her in my arms.  Just one week to go, if not sooner....or later, oh how I hope it's sooner!  (By the way, we are conducting a contest to see who can guess her birthday, weight, and length...please see the info on the left in red.)

I have to acknowledge how grateful I am that I have had it relatively easy up to now.  I never experienced a moment of morning sickness and I never really got very big until this last month, so I feel lucky in that respect.  We have had no complications or scares of any kind, and for that I feel truly blessed.  I guess I'm just anxious and tired of feeling fat and sluggish at this point.  Carrying 30+ extra pounds on my short frame is wearing my joints out!  The doctor's appointment yesterday showed that all is well...the baby's heart rate was at 150 bpm and all measurements and tests were on track.  The next appointment is on April 17th. 

In the grand scheme of things, this discomfort is a small price to pay for the joy of having a child.  Sometimes it's hard to really see the big picture when you feel like this.  Having a healthy baby is a real miracle and I should never take a moment of this time in my life for granted.  With every painful pounding from the inside out that she is giving me, each time she plays the xylophone with my ribs, her broad sweeping movements that make my belly bulge left to right, and each time she wakes me up in the middle of a nearly sleepless night, I try to take it all in so I can never forget what it is like.  This may be the only time in my life to feel these sensations.  This may be the only child we have, who knows?  The older I get, I know this is a reality we are facing.  But who knows what the future will bring....more kids?  Another girl?  A boy?  Time will tell.