Less Than One Month

It's happened every week since we found out we were pregnant. I get dreamy, thoughtful, grateful and extremely humble.

Calculations tell us that the baby ages another week on Wednesdays, according to my menstral cycle. So on Tuesday nights, I lay awake in bed, thinking about the baby and how she will age another week the very next day. Eight weeks becomes nine weeks, eleven weeks becomes twelve weeks. Sometimes, 40 weeks feels like forever. Especially when we were only six weeks along, I was sick as a dog and we couldn't say why. But now at the cusp of 36 weeks, 40 weeks just doesn't seem long enough.

With the boys, each week was a blessing. We had no idea how long my body would be able to rent space for two little ones, so my doctor was extra cautious. He took me out of the classroom by 20 weeks and I had the rest of the time to... well, rest. I didn't have any other kids and my husband still went to work every day, so it was just me and the boys. In utero. Eating, sleeping, and growing. I remember hoping they stayed inside until I had my next doctor's appointment. And then I'd start looking forward to other growth milestones... 24 weeks... 30 weeks... 34 weeks... 37 weeks. Each time, I'd be grateful they were still cooking inside and wondered how much longer I could handle my new tenants. They were born at 38 weeks. And don't you know, I had reached each of the milestones I was hoping for! (I even made it to the month of May, which I was really hoping to do!) We didn't spend any time in the NICU and I got to take them home just three days after my OB snatched them out from inside of me. That was God's mercy, for sure. It's not uncommon for many mothers of multiples to have to evict their little ones from utero much sooner for many different reasons out of their control. I've often thought it fitting that the Lord would use your child's birth as the very first time you realized how little control you really had over that little one! 

Tomorrow, we will be 36 weeks along. My computer tells me that in four days, the baby will be considered full-term. How can that even be possible? Didn't we just find out we were pregnant? This pregnancy has been so different than how it was with the boys. I was sick this time around and have had minimal sonograms and appointments for my "normal pregnancy" versus the High Risk pregnancy with the boys. I feel like the baby is breech because of how she moves, whereas the boys were always head-down and constantly getting at my ribs. There's only one baby in there and she has sooo much more room to move around than the boys ever did! And perhaps the biggest factor: I have two other toddlers. I'm not reading books about breast-feeding or taking classes at the hospital. I'm researching opinions on potty training, strong-willed children and introducing a new sibling to the family! My days are filled with paint, PlayDoh and playdates. Sooo different than the first time around.

So as I lay in bed tonight, my mind wanders to the next milestone: 36 weeks. Woah. She'll be here in less.than.one.month. I'd love to make it to the month of April (our due date is April 5th) but of course, my body wouldn't mind if she wanted to come sooner! We've come so far in a relatively short amount of time. We'll get to meet our little one very soon and I'll forget what life was like before she joined our family.

In less than one month.