36 Weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at how much bigger he has gotten in just 4 weeks!!

31 weeks 5 days

35 weeks and 5 days

I can't believe it! I'm 36 weeks pregnant! There were so many days where I didn't think I could ever make it this far and here I am. I'm finally at the last baby on my ticker above :)

I went to the doctor yesterday and we came up with the game plan for this week. Basically, I stopped taking progesterone yesterday, so that should help my contractions to be able to break through when they decide to start. So far, there have been no major contractions through this pregnancy to require any other meds, so the progesterone seemed to keep me pretty calm. I did have two or three small contractions during my NST yesterday, but they are still pretty minor, so we'll see how things go during this week.

The NST went well. They had to "zap" him to wake him up and once that happened he did a great job and they got what they needed for him, so Matt and I were really happy about that. The ultrasound was good too. We did not get any pictures, since he is so crowded in there right now. We did get to see him breathing, which was really good news! The amniotic fluid level was good for the gestation and his placenta is starting to show that he is getting older, all of it was normal for this point in the pregnancy. The technician also said that his heart was perfect! We also found out that his approximate weight is 7lbs 2oz already. It could actually be more or less, since this is only an estimate. I'm measuring at about a week and a half ahead, so it seems to be pretty accurate. When my doctor measured my belly he actually laughed and I told him "that doesn't sound good"! He is still amazed how big this baby is getting and how well we have been doing, he gets so happy to see us each week!

On Thursday, I am scheduled to go in at 11:00 with my cerclage being removed around 1pm. He told me that he will try to get the cerclage out without any medication, but because the surgeon that put it in is so good, he is doubtful that he will be able to do that. So, I will be prepped for a spinal, which means I am finally sleeping in!! I can't eat or drink after midnight, so I am going to stay asleep for as long as I possibly can. Plus, I figure that I will need the extra rest in case I would go into labor. If I do go into labor soon after the removal, they will keep me there and they will not stop me from having the baby. If I would not go into labor, we'll go home and wait it out. Then we'll make the next decision at my appointment next week, whenever that would be. It sounds like if I go to far, it will have to be a c-section, due to his size. So, we are hoping that it will happen in the next week if it doesn't happen this weekend. But, obviously it is out of our hands and we'll deal with whatever comes our way.

We have almost everything ready to go. I packed the baby's things and Ethan's activity bag yesterday. Today, I'm going to work on my bag and get it packed with what I will need, other than any daily items and those I will make a list of, so that we don't forget anything. Matt will pack Ethan's overnight bag tonight or tomorrow, so that he is also ready to sleep wherever he would need to.

It is so weird to switch gears from keeping this baby in, to pushing the baby out!! We are all ready for him to come. My diabetes is still difficult to control at times, and the only cure is to get him out of me, so that has also motivated us to feel ready for whenever it happens. We are getting more and more excited everyday!! We'll try to keep you updated if things change over the next few days. Hopefully, we'll have some good news soon enough!!