One More Week!!!!! :)

The final countdown has begun. Avery will be here in one more week!!! I can't wait to see what she looks like, even though she'll probably change a lot in the first couple of months. Every time I see a baby out and about I get the biggest smile on my face just thinking of how soon she'll be here!

Yesterday we went to the doctor for our weekly check up. We met Dr. Elkhari and went through the normal routine: urine check, blood pressure check, weight check, heart rate check, belly measurement, and now the routine exam to see how far I'm dilated. Everything is perfect so far. I'm dilated 1 cm. My belly is measuring a perfect 38 cm, and her heart rate is a perfect 140. We are so blessed. My comment to Ben was "We waited an hour for that." His response was that we are lucky to wait an hour to only hear good news. He is right.

So the plan is this weekend to finish up the baby laundry, do a little spring cleaning, pack our hospital bag and install a car seat! :) I go back to the doctor on Monday and then will be induced on Thursday night.

I've been at home all week, and that has been a blessing in disguise. I have been sleeping a lot, which I know has helped me relax and not feel so tired all the time. I have also been pampering myself a little. I got a pedicure and massage yesterday and I have a facial scheduled for next week. Who knows when I'll be able to do that again, right?

I've been feeling a lot more pain in my lower pelvic region lately and the doctor says that's her coming down. Her head is still down, which is good news for the delivery. The doctor says she is a very happy baby--well of course she is!! Dr. Elkhari expects her to be about 7.5 lbs. I asked how she knew that and she smiled and just said, "It's a guess." I think it's a pretty safe guess to say 7.5 because that's the average! They should just say, "I don't know."

I've been getting more questions from students at school about the baby, as my stomach is so much more noticeable now. It's hilarious, and I should be writing it all down. I had one student ask, "So, how do you know it's a girl?" I said, "Because the doctor told me so." "Well, how does he know?" "Because they ran a test," I answered generically. "What kind of test?" "An ultrasound" "What's that?" "Where they can see the baby on a TV screen." "All babies look the same when they are little. None of them have any hair," he said. "You're right Gabe. They do." "So what will you do if it's a boy?" "I'll be shocked." "Why?" "Because I have all pink clothes for him at home." "Well, that was poor planning." "Well, I guess so." LOL "What will his name be?" he asked. "I guess I'll have to name him Gabe since I don't have any boy names ready." "You could name him Jason. I know two Jason's." (that's his dad's name) "Maybe I will."

Another student said, "My mom works at the hospital in Georgetown and she said she could take some baby blankets from them for you." "Uh, that's okay. I don't want her to get in any trouble."

Another student said, "I'm going to get you a car seat for your baby." "No, that's okay. Car seats are very expensive." "No, Walmart has them" he said.

I'm going to miss those guys so much. All of these snow days we've had are going to put me back in school in June, since I get 12 weeks off. It will be nice to finish out the school year with them and get my things somewhat organized before summer. I'm sure Kaitlin and Mom won't mind to babysit a couple days for the sweetest little girl ever. :)

I'll keep you updated on any news! Please continue to pray for us!!