38 weeks

Phew! We are at 38 weeks, a place we never actually expected to reach. But we figure the extra incubation time is probably good for the baby anyway. Hopefully (fingers crossed) this is the last weekly picture update though! Cause we know you all would rather see pictures of the baby anyway. :)

37 weeks

I am officially full term today! We are so anxious for this little girl to come, we can hardly contain ourselves! We have our bags packed and we're pretty well ready to walk out the door at a moment's notice. Now the difficult thing is to occupy myself while I wait. If you know me you know how impatient I am. The wait to go into labor is just about killing me. Being incredibly uncomfortable sure doesn't help either! But I know she will be worth it so it's tolerable.

36 weeks

Well, here we are! 36 weeks! Today we hit our very last milestone before our baby could be born. We now get to join the "any day now" club! This week my doctor removed the cerclage. It hurt like crazy but at least it didn't take her very long. She showed us the surgical string they used to stitch the cervix shut which was kind of interesting. It looks sort of like a thick, bright blue, dental floss. Anyway, after she removed the stitches she examined me and said I was dilated 1 cm and 80% effaced. Bummer. We were sort of hoping I would be at least 2 or 3 cm. Oh well, I guess this just means that our baby has a bit longer to fatten up before we meet her. The really good thing now is that I have been released from bed rest! Malone and I have been going for walks, and it feels so nice to be independent again. But we are so excited for our little girl to come. Of course, being excited and nervous and anxious just makes it feel like time is going by slower.

35 weeks

Well, this week I have been sick, sick, SICK. I managed to catch a cold and I just can't seem to shake it. It makes all the pregnancy symptoms extra uncomfortable. Good thing we're almost at the end right? Anyway, here's a picture. Please ignore my puffy puffy face, my stretchy pants, and red nose.

Our Friends

Last summer Malone and I were able to attend a conference about adoption. While we were there we met some really great people. Two of these people are Savannah and Josh. They have been hoping to have children for a very long time. They've tried to conceive on their own and they've tried to adopt. Last fall they were selected by a birthmom. Just today I found out that their birthmom has backed out on them. My heart breaks every time I hear of a situation like this. Although we respect that only a birthmom has the right to make a decision about placing her child, we also understand how horrible it is to be the couple who gets the short end of the stick. Anyhow, the purpose of this post is not to bemoan our past experiences. We have grieved and moved on. However, moving on from such an experience isn't easy, and I'm sure Savannah and Josh are really in need of extra prayers right now. So please pray for them. I know they're not sure exactly what they will plan to do now. So maybe the best thing would be if we pray for them to find the solace they need and be led to the path which will be best for their family. Thanks in advance!