34 Weeks

YAY! The big milestone has been made. While we of course would prefer her to be born full term, babies born after 34 weeks tend to do as well as full term babies in the long term and since I got the steroid shots her chances of having any sort of breathing problems are that much smaller. What a tremendous relief.

I also had a great check up today. I saw Amy, my favorite of the 3 midwives, who lifted my spirits as always. Not only did I learn that she is a fellow Ole alum (um ya ya!) but she was very optimistic and upbeat about the baby. Having made it to 34 weeks I get to give birth at West Suburban which is the local hospital a mere mile away instead of the scary big downtown hospital. A midwife will deliver the baby, instead of whichever OB is on staff at the said big scary hospital. When listening to the heartbeat Amy felt the baby for size and apparently she's "not scrawny". She estimated that she's right around 5 pounds which is great news as this is the benchmark for most babies to leave the hospital. I am just so relieved I cannot even express it.

Of course now after being up so much this morning and with all of the excitement I'm definitely feeling it. My back is killing me and my stomach muscles are not happy. Lying down all the time hasn't made them work like they should and they're straining to hold up my big belly when I'm walking around. Still, I'm thankful to get to feel all of this discomfort because it means the baby is growing well and getting big and strong!

To top it all off two of my sisters are in town for the weekend (we miss you Kelly!). It's great to have so many babysitters for Ainsley (I think she's forgotten that I'm even here) and distractions for me. AND as a final testament to how amazing my sisters , Julie stopped by Molly's cupcakes (I saw them featured on a cupcake show on TLC) downtown on her way back from a friend's house and brought 6 amazing delicious cupcakes. I can't wait for dessert!

Only 3 more weeks until full term!