Anticipation

I think Carly Simon or someone had a song by that name...but anticipation is what we're finally feeling in regards to the birth of our daughter!  We are 2 days shy of 36 weeks (which seemed an impossibility 12 weeks ago!!) and awaiting her arrival basically at any point!  We never got to experience this feeling with Nicholas- even as we were rolling down the hallway for our emergency C-section there was the feeling that it just wasn't time (which it wasn't!)...so this is all new for us....and pretty exciting!

We had a doctor's appt today and everything was good news.  She looked great on the ultrasound- she's still a big girl, measuring about 6.5 lbs and in the 75th percentile!  My cervix has dramatically thinned out from last week, changing from 30% to 80% and this has likely all changed since I began sitting up on Thursday, but it's still closed...and at this point, it is what it is.  She has to come out at some point!  So we have another appt scheduled for Monday with the idea that she will come sometime next week, if not sooner!

I'm excited...and according to some people, I'd be crazy not to be!  Not only is there the idea of welcoming our daughter into this world in the next week (which is exciting enough!), it means the end to this 12+ week stretch of bedrest, uncertainty, discomfort, and fear.  And honestly, I couldn't be happier to leave that all behind!  Alex hasn't quite caught up to the excitement level yet.  I think he was having a small panic attack in the doctor's office and basically wanted to revoke my sitting priviledges then and there- thank goodness our doc stepped in and said I was still allowed to be upright!  He is having a hard time focusing on anything other than the fact that she's still going to be between 3-4 weeks early.  But honestly, I don't think it was ever in the cards for me to carry a baby for 40 weeks, even if my body didn't suck at it as badly as it does!  Common sense says that someone my size doesn't carry babies in the 75-90+ percentile without them falling out at some point!  And our doc today said that her chances of going to the NICU at this point are between 2-3% and that drops to 1% by next Thursday.

Her nursery for all intents and purposes is ready (with the exception of some minor decorating touches that we've been saving until I can get up and about)...the alcove in our room where she'll be sleeping for the first however many months is all set up.  Her clothes are washed and ready to go.  The diapers are all stacked.  Her hospital bag is packed.  So is mine (something we never did for our stay with Nicholas!).  So I guess you could say that we're as ready as we can be.  Will we ever be truly ready?!?  Probably not.  We're nervous about the idea of changing our zone coverage into man-to-man.  Supervising Nicholas sometimes feels like it takes an army, so adding a newborn into the mix is a little daunting...but a change that millions have done before us and will continue to do long after our children are grown.

And speaking of Nicholas...I get the feeling that he knows big changes are in store.  He's been very clingy lately.  He again doesn't want to separate at school- something we thought we were past.  He doesn't want to fall asleep by himself anymore- needing 'cuddles' from whomever he chooses that night.  He's seeking attention (which is crazy b/c he gets tons of it!)...he will ask for timeout, when told he hasn't done anything wrong to deserve timeout he will promptly go and do something to earn one, and then seem pleased as can be that we now have to punish him!  Maybe kids and animals have some kind of secret sense- Finn knew we were pregnant with Nicholas long before Alex and I did and now Nicholas seems to know that his sister's arrival is near.  I guess we'll never know!

Anyway, my guess is that our daughter will be here sometime in the next ~10 days.  That's crazy!  But crazy wonderful!  And we haven't had a whole lot of wonderful to speak of recently...so it's time to count our blessings!  I'm excited to meet her...I'm excited to put these last 3 months far, far behind us...I'm excited to complete our family!  Stay tuned...