Sooner It Is

First things first. Tomorrow I reach 37 weeks, so my daughter will be considered full term and can arrive at any time. This news provides me both with anxiety and a great sense of relief. Relief because we made it and anxiety because she may come sooner than I was prepared for. Still, I doubt that I will somehow get more prepared in the next 3 weeks, so I suppose I am as prepared now as I'm ever going to be.

I am also less anxious this week, as we have finally acquired the last of the truly necessary baby items--a car seat we can bring her home in! After three baby showers, we have been graciously gifted with so many wonderful things for our daughter that I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. Her room is almost completely set up and ready for her arrival--even if the cats are not. I finally quit freaking out about the "what-ifs" and washed some of the new items so that we can actually use them. It's been such an amazing ride so far, it's hard to believe that this part is almost over and "the rest of the story" is about to begin. It just turns out that "the rest of the story" is going to happen sooner, rather than later.

Sooner? Yup--based on my doctor visit today, when I learned who "won." First, because she's my official doctor, her opinion rules. Yay! This was the answer I was hoping for. Second, because I am an insulin dependent diabetic, they will induce me sometime in week 39--provided my dear daughter has not decided to arrive sooner. Whether we are closer to the front end of week 39 or the back end of week 39 will depend in part on my visit next Monday, when my doc will check to see if I have started making any progress on my own.

There are good and bad things about induction. The good--we're almost guaranteed to get my doctor for delivery, and I will know what day things will happen (again, baby willing). Also, she will definitely be here for Thanksgiving, so I don't have to worry about my family showing up and me being at the hospital giving birth. The bad--induced labors tend to be more difficult and more often lead to additional interventions and c-sections. Obviously there are plenty of women who have induced labors who don't have problems, and that will likely be my experience, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious about the idea that medicine will jump start the process rather than letting it occur naturally. Still, the planner in me can't help but be a little excited about this turn of events, which only leads me to believe that she'll come early just so she can do it on her own terms. Honestly, I'm a little afraid of the stubborn wars I sense in my future.

Ultimately, however, all of the information I received today and the emotions that have come along with it have left me feeling like a kid playing a game of tag. Ready or not, here she comes.