We're Having a Baby This Month!

I woke up this morning, and the first thing on my mind is that it's now September.  I leaned over and told my husband, "We're having a baby this month!" (he acknowledge it, and promptly fell back asleep).  We made it to September!  It seemed so far away when we found out we were pregnant back in January, and now here we are! 

And how different it is for me to cross the threshold into September this year, compared to last year.  My post from last September 1st was even entitled "Wake Me Up When September Ends"--I didn't really mean it, but I knew that it would be hard to get through some painful anniversaries at this time last year. But with the support of this community, my family and friends, and my faith that God had some sort of plan in place for me, I made it through those dates...and have since made it through the weeks and months that followed, growing each step along the way.  And now on this September 1st, I anxiously look forward to the arrival of our Baby Girl at the end of the month--this month!

And if turning the page on the calendar wasn't a big enough milestone and reminder for us for how far we've come, I also had my 36 week appointment today--the first weekly appointment!  I knew that I would be scheduled to come back next week, but it still made me smile when my doctor said "See you next week!".  This was also the first time when she gave us the "if you go into labor...here's what to do" speech.  We had heard it all previously in the lamaze class--but again, it's nice to hear it coming straight from her, and it makes it all so much more real.  To top it off, she did an internal check, and said that I'm just barely starting to dilate (not quite a fingertip--but definitely softening).  As she put it:  "You're exactly as you should be for having a baby later this month".

We're not due till the end of the month, and I'm fully aware that our Baby Girl might choose to stay put for longer than 40 weeks.  I trust that God will prompt her to make her appearance in His perfect timing, but I admit that I'm secretly hoping that she comes in September instead of October.  For starters, I'm excited to meet her.  But my husband's birthday is in September, and I think it would be special for her to have the same birth month as him (just as I have the same birth month as my mom, and my brothers have the same as my dad).  And of even less significance--I think that the September birthstone (Sapphire) is nicer than that of October (Opal).  I know that this should be the last of my priorities, but I have a beautiful Sapphire ring that I received as a gift for my undergraduate graduation from my parents, and I would love to hand it down to her with some significance.  Like I said--I trust God's perfect timing (but I'd appreciate any prayers that His timing bring her around her due date in late-September).

It's such a blessing to make it to September!  But as I look back on the last year, and the year before that, I recognize just how significantly God has changed my life through the losses, the trying, the waiting, and now the excitement.  I'm not the same person who I was when we started trying in 2007, and I really hope that I have become a better wife, daughter, and friend through the journey.