37 weeks, 3 days pregnant: 18 days to go!

...or so they tell me. Really, we're looking at anywhere between 2 and 4 weeks. Please, not 4!!

My last appointment was pretty uneventful, and they should be from here out. The only large piece of news was that I am Group B Strep +. It's not a huge deal; about 30% of women are. In a healthy adult, this means nothing; there are no symptoms. But, very rarely, a woman with the bacteria can pass it on to her baby, and this can cause very serious problems like brain damage, meningitis, and even death. But, not to worry! In order to avoid these tragic outcomes, I just have to show up at the hopsital early and get put on a penicillin drip for at least 4 hours before Sophia is born.

We had our 4th and final baby shower yesterday (Sunday) with our small group from church. It was very sweet, and we got some extremely creative gifts. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera, so no pictures!

I've been getting a lot of comments that I look ready to pop and that I look much bigger than I did even two weeks ago. I must say, I agree. I'll see if Brian will take a couple pictures this week so that I can prove it to y'all. Our final birth class is tonight: the one I've really been looking forward to. We have an hour of practice labor, and then we get a hospital tour the second hour. Then, with all our classes done and all our showers attended, I can tell you that I am more than ready for the labor to begin! I am so excited to see our baby girl and to start getting to know her. Besides, a couple extra weeks postpartum before starting rehearsals at the end of August would be nice :)

Take care!

36 Week Appointment Update

4 weeks left until Sophia is due! (Which, of course, means anywhere between 2 and 6 weeks).

We had our final Maternal-Fetal growth ultrasound. In an unexpected turn of events, our "little" girl now weighs in at an approximated 6 lbs, 6 oz! I don't know what percentile that is, but it means she would be "average" for 37.5 weeks gestation. We thought we were going to have a little peanut, and we just might end up with a big girl. It all depends on when I go into labor, really. The waiting game begins.

After that, we had our appointment over across the way with our normal caregiver. We've now joined the "Weeklies Club," meaning we've begun our weekly appointments. We went over our birthplan, and I got a culture taken to see if I test positive for Group B Strep. Everyone please pray that it comes back negative, because I really don't want to have to show up early on in labor to get hooked up to an IV to receive antibiotics. I'll let you all know the results once we get them back. I also got checked for dilation, and there's nothing to speak of as yet. Of course, that's no indication of when I'll go into labor or how fast it will progress, but just thought I'd share the news.

Love to all!

35 weeks tomorrow!!

Well, as of tomorrow (Friday), I'll be 35 weeks pregnant. That leaves only a month until Sophia is due to be born! We're having a great--if slightly stressful--time getting all the final details in order. The nursery is pretty much complete. We just have a few minor things like, oh...installing the carseat to do still. But, we'll get there. We're getting very, very excited about welcoming our little girl into the world. Oh, yeah, and I turn 23 on Tuesday. Funny how you forget these things, isn't it? :-P

Here are some pictures of what I look like now. The belly is getting very large!