Full term

I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant now; full term, for all intents and purposes. I can't believe we're already here.

I have to say, I'm more prepared than I've ever been at this point in a prior pregnancy. The diapers, blankets, burp cloths, and gender-neutral baby clothes have been washed, and I've rearranged books in order to free up a bookshelf for storing it all. The infant car seat was vacuumed and scrubbed and is now sitting in the back of the van (not quite installed, but close!). Daniel assembled the bouncy seat while I prepared the bassinet the other day. I even have the majority of the baby's things and my things collected for the hospital.

In the past, I always thought I ought to wait until the last minute for such preparations so that I wouldn't get overly anxious for the baby's arrival. Unfortunately, this resulted in not being quite ready the past two times I've delivered! This time I figured I'd better not put it off as long as I usually do. By Tuesday evening, all the critical things were taken care of. (Of course, there's still the list of things I'd like to do, like getting a couple bushels of apples and canning applesauce/freezing apples, etc., but all the necessary stuff is done.)

And now I'm finding that, quite contrary to what I'd always thought, I just feel ready-- not at all anxious. While I am very excited for this baby's arrival, I also love our family right now, and instead of having what I need to do hanging over my head, I feel free to really enjoy these last weeks.

I do ask that if you think of us, you pray. Yesterday I found out that I have fairly low levels of amniotic fluid, and it was confirmed today. On the amniotic fluid index, my fluid measured at 6.7 (generally it seems that 10-18 is "normal," 6-10 or 22-25 is "concerning," below 5 or above 25 is "dangerous," to give you a frame of reference). Unless my levels increase, I will be having bi-weekly non-stress tests and weekly ultrasounds from now until the baby is born. If my levels decrease to 5 or less, doctors will most likely want to deliver the baby since I am full term anyway, which is less than ideal in any situation but especially in light of my desire to VBAC.

Oh, and it's not too late to vote if you haven't yet! I'm waffling more than I have the whole pregnancy about whether this baby is a boy or girl. I almost gave in yesterday at the ultrasound, but I knew the lecture I'd get from Daniel simply wouldn't be worth it!