3 weeks to go.....

I am ready to meet my son. Just saying or thinking the words brings bubbles of excitement and fear to my huge belly, but I instinctively know this is only the beginning. It must be mother's intuition that's telling me, I don't have that much longer left before he's here.

I had my first real taste of labor this weekend -- when I woke up late Saturday night with painful contractions. Rick and I laid in bed during a huge storm, with the power flickering off and on, trying to figure out what to do. He was ready to go to the hospital -- I wasn't at all sure. But they were definitely not like the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had at my parents' house a month ago. These lasted 2 hours, pretty irregular but painful, before I was finally able to drift off to sleep.

We're hoping to have more answers as far as labor and delivery on Tuesday. I will be 37 weeks, technically full term -- all we're doing now is helping him gain more weight. He's been perfect on ultrasound. But my body is starting to give out -- I'm swollen everywhere and its not going away. I'm having all kinds of back and hip pain, and forget about trying to get comfortable. I'm now going for weekly lab tests and made good friends with the nurse who always draws my blood. I'm also going for weekly non stress tests and taking my blood pressure at least twice a day. I'm a walking science experiment and the only way to solve it is to get the baby out. Still no official diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, but my doctor believes its only a matter of time and that I definitely won't make my original due date of August 17th.

Meanwhile, I've been banished to the couch, except for work. And while I thought I had another few weeks in me, I realize now I need maternity leave to start yesterday. Even though I want the most time off with the baby, I can't keep my current schedule going much longer. I am anxious to find out exactly what plans my doctor has for me, and how this whole thing is going to turn out.

We had a great turn-out for our Joliet baby shower this weekend -- so many people came and we left with two cars' worth of stuff. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives who are just as excited about our baby as we are. Stuff like this really helps keep my spirits up when I get frustrated on bed rest. We certainly appreciate all the good thoughts, well wishes, texts, emails, phone calls and offers for takeout. It warms my heart like nothing else, and I'm sure Rick would say the same.