Final Days...but who is counting?

I am in the home stretch! My long pregnancy will (sooner or later) be coming to an end. My due date isn't 100% assured. We all know it's just a "guess date" and that some babies need to gestate longer than others...My first due date, based upon my cycles was 7/24. I liked that date! Then my ultrasound showed something quite different, giving us a date of 8/10! In my infinite motherly wisdom, I speculated that both dates were not quite right, and chose my own guess date of around 8/1!

This pregnancy has been very easy but also very hard. Fortunately, I am blessed with a body that seems to know how to be pregnant. I don't experience but a touch of nausea that is very short lived, and I generally feel quite well while pregnant. I move alot s-l-o-w-e-r, sleep alot more, and pop tums like candy, and that seems to be the extent of my physical discomforts!

But this pregnancy brought on some new, unique challenges that I never expected. At the 20 week ultrasound we discovered that not only was she a little small, but I also had a placenta previa, making for a potentially dangerous situation for mom and baby, if it is present at birth. We were reassured that most previas self correct by full term and to not worry. Life went on as usual. Until April 1st, when Joe unexpectedly lost his job....~HIT HEAD-ON BY A MACK TRUCK~ Our world crumbled and we felt the pain. On the bright side, while he was jobless for 3 months, we enjoyed plenty of quality family time that we otherwise won't have.

To add to my stress, we learned at 32 weeks that the placenta was still too low in my uterus, and now the baby was also breech. I was heading for a cesarean delivery if things didn't literally turn around. Each week that passed with her still breech caused me more and more distress. After much prayer, finally, at 37 weeks (mid-July) she turned and my placenta got the heck out of the way! Finally my emotions could settle.

July was a busy month preparing for this little one, and keeping 2 bored children adequately mothered and entertained. We kept the calendar full, while I also tried to keep the projects managed. We went to Michigan Adventure for a fun family overnighter, enjoyed lots of play dates and park outings with friends, went to a few movies, tried out rollerskating (clarify: the kids tried), and visited the library regularly. I worked hard locating lost baby items, painting dressors, sewing a crib skirt (my baby tradition) and organizing the nursery. Good thing for that last spurt of nesting energy that makes it all possible! It is now August and nothing is on the calendar but midwife appointments. She'll be here any day now and we'll be ready!