4 Weeks (or Less?) Left

So here we are...roughly four weeks away from the blessed event and the levels of discomfort, excitement, and even apprehension are starting to really go up. We've also been staying very busy with accomplishing a few final tasks in preparation for Olivia. First and foremost, Amanda's health and general well being. As mentioned in my previous post, Amanda is feeling the Braxton-Hicks contractions with more frequency and with greater intensity. This is not only the body's way of getting prepared for "the big push", but also giving Amanda a taste of what's to come. Today, the false-labor contractions were their strongest yet probably for two reasons: One, at the doctor's appointment today, he checked on Amanda's progress which may have exacerbated things a bit (more on the doctor's appointment later). Secondly, we had a record warm day today with highs in the lower 80s and that made Amanda one uncomfortable mom-to-be. The contractions are still erratic and "weak", so there's nothing to worry about at this point. Other than that, she's doing very well.

We've been quite busy the past few days. Saturday, we went to the breastfeeding class offered by the hospital. It was a very informative and enlightening class...maybe more than I need to know, but Amanda got a good bit of information out of it.

Sunday, we did a little shopping. We took back the Roomba vacuum (robotic vacuum) I got her for Christmas because while the concept of the Roomba is good, the functionality of it isn't. It can clean the surface of the carpet, but can't get down and deep clean...especially if you have dogs that shed. We purchased a few more baby items, then Amanda and I went to Outback for a nice dinner date. We're going to try to squeeze in a few more of those over the next couple of weeks while we still can.

Monday, we went to the hospital. Now don't get all jumpy or excited...nothing went wrong and nothing happened. We went there to get all the admitting paperwork filled out and signed so when it is time to go to the hospital, all we have to do is show up. Amanda signed all the necessary forms then we were given a tour of their facilities. I have to say it's pretty nice up there. They have private rooms with the ability to get fairly comfortable, listen to music of your choice (bring your own CDs), even take a bath or shower to help the mom-to-be relax. We also strolled by the nursery...and that's when it hit Amanda that this really is going to be happening very soon. We talked about it later at lunch how seeing those newborn babies in the nursery is the subtle scream that our time is coming quickly.

Today (Tuesday), we had our latest appointment with the doctor and he did a low-grade ultrasound. Unfortunately, we didn't get any take-home pictures with this ultrasound. He used it to make sure Olivia is in the right position (head down) and she is. He also checked to make sure she has enough amniotic fluid which she does. He also estimated Olivia's weight which is roughly five and a half to six pounds. His examination then focused on Amanda and found that she is 50% effaced meaning her cervix has started to thin out and is about half way through the thinning out process. She is not dilated yet, though. The next appointment is March 6th (this Monday) and we'll find out what kind of progress she's made. Speaking of progress, here is a picture of Amanda at 36 weeks:

Just one more thing to add...as the day gets closer, I'll do my best to keep y'all posted. However, the length of the posts will likely drop off drastically. Basically, you can expect quick bursts of information. This will likely be the last lengthy post for quite a while...so wish us luck!