Baby McL: 3 weeks to go

Well, here I am...

3 weeks to go according to our due date, shorter according to Dr.R. For those of you who want these details, keep reading...

We had a great appointment on Friday morning. Honestly, it's the first time that I'd come in with some questions and with any discomfort. The rest of the pregnancy had been so great and I knew with some new significant changes, something was happening.

I hadn't gained any weight this time, but I'd definitely dropped. (There are about 25 stairs up to my office at church since it's on the balcony of the foyer and I'd been getting a little winded at the top with the new low pressure from the baby's dropping!) Between taking the 3 flights of stairs to the doctor's office (still trying to avoid having to take the elevator), getting up from the toilet after "giving my sample", trying to get my shoes, socks, and clothes off and put on my sheet, and getting up on the table for my exam, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by my body. Feeling like this is a real tension for me b/c I love the baby already and I love the experience, so I don't like to acknowledge that some days lately have been hard! I don't want to be ungrateful, you know?

Anyways... when the doctor came in, she could tell that I was a little overwhelmed and teary eyed and said she had a surprise for me. When we listened for the heartbeat, one of the nurse's recorded it. A few minutes later, they came in with a gift bag. It was a beautiful little stuffed bear that you squeeze in the belly and hear our baby's heartbeat - SO COOL! We've enjoyed showing it off - what a beautiful sound, a beautiful gift on many levels.

She started my exam by measuring and said that I'm all of a sudden measuring ahead of schedule. She continued to do the internal exam - I'm 2 cm dilated. This wouldn't be uncommon for my week and for a first baby, but I was also thinning and soft. She said I'm progressing fast and that's uncommon for a first baby - yea! She then told us that she didn't think there's any way we'd go to our due date. She thinks within 2 weeks from last Friday we'll have gone. Jeff was supposed to go out of town for a conference next week and all along she's said that's no big deal. This time she said, "unless it's earth-shattering for you to miss it, I wouldn't recommend going". So... we're really feeling like baby is coming soon now! She wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that the baby is head down - it is. Great news. The baby was already practicing breathing patterns (preparing for life on earth with air, I suppose???) and they said this indicates that baby is getting ready to check out too. So, who knows? It's looking like we'll have this baby sooner than we thought! Keep checkin' back here...

Also... here is an "in progress" pic of our nursery...