Home stretch!

This picture is from a few weeks ago, but it's one I love and I guess I overlooked it before :)

Well, I am 35 WEEKS along now! For some reason, I have been so looking forward to being 35 weeks pregnant. I know it isn't full term, but it's pretty darn close (as in, this baby girl will be FULL TERM IN 3 WEEKS!) and I see so many children at work, every single day, who were born well before 35 weeks and are perfectly healthy, thriving kids. I really have no reason to worry about having a premature baby - my pregnancy has been perfect, my mom had great pregnancies, our family history is pretty healthy (and mom reminds me of all of these things often :) but when you work with children everyday and see so many who were born prematurely or with congenital disease, it's hard not to think about it. 

Now, my worries about having a preterm baby have gone by the wayside and so have a lot of my concerns about childbirth... because Brett and I went to our childbirth class at the hospital on Saturday :) It was a good class and gave us both an idea about what to expect in the hospital and how to suffer through  manage the pain ;) The instructor had us squeeze a handful of ice chips in our palm for 1 minute and practice our breathing (to simulate a contraction) and I thought "Well, maybe I won't need that epidural after all" until she said "This will just give you an idea of progressive pain. A real contraction is about 100x worse." Great. My name is staying on the hospital's "may go for" an epidural list!

Also, I almost forgot to mention that we had one more ultrasound last week. I know that each time I say it's the last one, but my OB/Gyn practice is pretty big, so lots of providers = lots of opinions. The last OB I saw said I needed to see a perinatologist (high-risk OB) to check the baby's heart (since I had parvovirus) and everything was completely perfect! She weighed in at 5 lbs, 6 oz. Here's her profile...

Later that week I had my routine checkup with Dr. Pare, and he said all is well! He put my mind at ease when he told me he'll do my delivery, and I go back next week and then weekly after that!

I'm still feeling pretty good, except that my feet HURT! They aren't swollen or puffy, but at the end of the day, they just ache like I've run a marathon barefoot! She is still moving so, so much and I'm having a LOT of braxton hicks contractions. Nothing regular, painful, or in a pattern, so we're good :) We are finishing up the nursery decorations, organizing baby things galore, and enjoying our time together. Each day I realize, more and more, that we are about the start the most amazing journey of our lives and we couldn't be happier. I know Brett will be a perfect daddy and I just can't wait to watch him with her!

Until then, Maggie and Gus are still our babies :)