Any Day Now...

We are so excited to meet our baby girl! Although her due date is still more than a week away (October 13th) we are hoping we won't have to wait that long. I must confess that pregnancy is much less fun toward the end, but I had it so easy at the beginning that I suppose I have still been very fortunate. I think nature's mechanism for guaranteeing the survival of the species is to make the mother so uncomfortable toward the end of gestation that she will do anything just to get the baby out, even go through painful labor! At this point I would welcome some honest-to-goodness pain if it means getting past the constant discomfort of back pain, heartburn, and the other delightful alterations to various bodily functions. Yeesh! The first 7 months seemed to fly by, but now every day seems like a week. Thank goodness humans have a much shorter gestation than many other mammals though, such as the African elephant... almost 22 months on average, BLECH! But then again they have 200 lb. babies, so I guess it's a good thing they have so much time for all those cells to multiply.

I've experienced so many strange and wonderful things over the last few months, especially the physical changes caused by this new precious life. Between moving to Colorado in May of 2007 and January 2008 I had lost 40 pounds and was feeling healthier than I had in years. After I found out I was pregnant in February I kept waiting for morning sickness or some kind of unpleasantness to make an appearance but I just felt better than ever. I felt so good I couldn't believe I was really pregnant! At first it seemed like I would never see a visible "baby bump", in fact I was more than 6 months along before I was showing enough that people could tell for sure. Now of course it's unmistakable! Every little milestone has been so thrilling, even the day I looked down and realized I couldn't see my feet. And I remember being so amazed the first time I felt the baby move, in fact the first flutter happened the day of my 20-week ultrasound (the same day we found out we were having a baby girl!). But the best part by far will be seeing her little face and hearing her cry for the first time. That will be the most beautiful sound in the world!

Yesterday was my 28th birthday, and I found myself paying extra attention to every twinge and sensation in case I was going into labor early. Not that I would mind in the least sharing my birthday, but I don't suppose most kids would be thrilled about being born on the same day as their mom. Now just to make it past my sister Cara's 10th birthday (tomorrow) and then any day for the rest of October is fair game. My birthday present to myself was this blog, which we can now use to post pictures and updates as all the excitement unfolds, so keep an eye on your email for the next few days for baby's first pictures!

We are so thankful for all the love and support we have been getting from friends and family... this baby will be so blessed to have all of you in her life!