Update

OK, here's my pregnancy update, and sorry, no photos :( I'll post baby shower photos as soon as I get them from my friend, but as for today, you'll just have to read.

This might just be a bunch of numbers to some of you, I'll try to summarize at the end. I'll try to leave out any "tmi" details. I am 38.5 weeks along, meaning my due date is in 10-ish days. Last week I was dilated 2 cm and 50% effaced. Mia's head was a little off to the side, but pretty low. My midwife was super excited about my progress and said that I probably won't last until my due date.

This week I'm almost 3 cm dilated, and 75% effaced!!!! And to top it off, Mia's head is WAY lower than last week (I didn't know that was possible without her popping out) and she's presenting perfectly. And to top all that off, my fundal height is 4 cm lower than last week, meaning she has dropped quite a bit in preparation for delivery.

SO... I'll explain for those of you who are like me and feel like you just read a bunch of Greek. Dilating before going into labor is pretty exciting for a first time mom. Some moms get stuck at like 2 cm and don't ever progress any more before labor starts, but I'm progressing before labor even begins so that is SUPER awesome. Especially for a first timer. Being 75% effaced means that almost all my cervix "stuff" is gone and as soon as it's 100% gone, Mia comes out. Once again, many moms don't efface at all until labor begins, so I'm really lucky to have progressed so far. The fundal height is the distance in cm's from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. It's usually the number of weeks along you are in cm's. For example, last week I was 37 weeks, and 37 cm's. But when the baby gets ready to come out, they often drop making your measurement less. So today I should have been 38, but I was only 34 meaning she's moving into D-Day position :) And "presenting" means how she's positioned for delivery, and there is an ideal way to "present" and some not-so-ideal ways to "present".

Let me make this clear: I'm not like "super prego" or anything and it's not like I have any control over all this. So I'm no better than any other pregnant chic, I just happen to be super LUCKY at this point. I figure I deserve it for how crappy I've felt for the last 9 months where other moms have enjoyed pregnancy. Right?!?

And to clarify another point, I could still go full term or even late even with all this progress. Every pregnancy is totally different and unpredictable. However, the odds are pretty good that we'll be having a baby super soon. My midwife says she'll be shocked if she doesn't see me before next Monday. AHHHHH! That's crazy.

And one more thing, there are some tips that my midwife has given me the last few weeks to speed up the labor process that I thoroughly believe are part of the reason I'm progressing so quickly, but they might be a little "tmi" for general reading, so email me if you want to know the tips. They've worked for more than just me, and my nurse who just had a baby used these tricks and went into labor naturally 2 weeks early. Awesome. So I'd be happy to share and see if it works for you too :)

So pray for Joel and I. I think Joel's almost more nervous than I am, it's very cute! We will try to post as soon as anything changes and will definitely be sending a mass text message. If you don't think we have your number, email it to us soon so we can add you to our mass text. And providing she doesn't resemble me as a baby TOO much, we'll post photos soon after birth too :) If she looks too much like I did, we'll have to wait until she "ripens" a little. I was hideous.

Thanks for checking in on us and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. I'm so excited!!!!!!!