39 weeks and they are coming TODAY!!!

Today is the day!! Woo! I'm so excited and relieved to have made it to this point. We no longer have to worry about Ben and Ali missing the birth (unless I happen to give birth in the next 4 hours which is not seeming very likely). I feel like I can relax and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy and their visit while they are here. We have a busy rest of the week planned and as ready as I am to get this show going I kind of hope that (s)he waits until Saturday... or at least Friday night. Thursday we have the biophysical which will be fun. I'm so curious what they say about the baby's size. This is the 2nd ultrasound that Ali and Ben have been able to attend. Then right after that my mom, who is a maternity nurse and has also had extra training in breastfeeding, is giving me, Ali, my doula client (who is due 6 days after me) and my doula (who is currently nursing), a crash course in breastfeeding. I am SOO looking forward to this! I love learning! No I won't be breastfeeding this time around, but it will give me some useful tools in helping my doula clients learn to breastfeed and get a good latch in the future. Then Friday we have another dr's apt... hoping to get my membranes stripped, another NST right after and then that evening a party for a few of my friends to meet Ali and Ben for the first time. I REALLY don't want to miss any of those events!! So I'm hoping this baby hangs in there until then. Anyone who knows me knows that I would do anything to attend any sort of social event and this one sounds even funner than usual. :)

I have been feeling some stirrings within my body of things to come. I have been having cramping and some braxton hicks that feel more like real contractions, but so far nothing has changed. I went to the dr. on Monday on the verge of calling Ben and Ali to come only to have him check me and find out that I was not dilating yet and my cervix is still posterior. He was pretty sure I had another 2 days in me. That set my nerves at ease and we agreed that they would wait until the previously agreed upon date. I have found it so nerve wracking knowing that they are so far away. I couldn't help but read into every little twinge that I felt b/c I knew that the only chance they had of not missing the birth if this baby decided to come early, was if I recognized the early signs of labour. Thankfully since yesterday I have had little to no uterine activity (for once) and we have all been able to rest easy and know that they were very likely going to make it. This is our last week (I HOPE) and that means that the baby really could come any time. Both my daughters were early (one 5 days and the other 3 days early) so going overdue would be a new (and somewhat unwelcome) experience haha.

It has finally sunk in that this is actually happening. Feeling the cramping and braxton hicks has really got me excited to experience a labour and delivery again and although my husband and I aren't preparing for a baby we are still preparing for a birth. The waiting game at the end is SOO much fun! :) I'm excited to share this with Ben and Ali when they get here. I hope we can go and do a bit of baby shopping just to get the full experience of the final days. I still can't believe that we are finally here!! Thinking back to the first conversation with Ali and then telling friends and family and actually going through the hormones and transfer just seem so far away. We were looking at this point as a possible future outcome and praying it would happen, but really having no idea if it actually would. It has happened and we are almost done and it really blows my mind. God is so good!! It has been such a blessing to be able to join in this experience and soon welcome Ben and Ali's baby into this world. I have felt since about a year after I delivered my first daughter that this was something that I was called to do. God put the desire in my heart and this whole process has been in his hands from before we even knew it was beginning. From how we were able to meet to the moment Ali receives her little one in her arms and we hear that glorious first cry. It's blessings upon blessings that years cannot forget and I'm so thankful!!

I will keep everyone updated and post one final belly shot the day we go into labour. I can't wait!!