Getting Closer!!

Another week closer!!! Joseph Taylor should be here in about 3 weeks or so, and I am getting really excited to meet him! It's still somewhat surreal that all this is happening and that so much is about to happen, but I'm so thrilled about this time in our lives.

Joe came down for a visit this past weekend!!! Oh how wonderful it was to spend time together again...truly the last time before the baby is here! His trip was a birthday present to me and, though it was a short 4 days, was the best present I could have asked for. He assembled the rocking chair and installed the car seat and though he managed to get out of watching any of the childbirth preparation videos I had planned for him, we are both just about ready for J.T.'s arrival. Joe asks pretty often now how I'm feeling and if I think I'm going to have the baby soon, so he's really ready for it to happen. I went to the doctor today and he said everything looks good and I should be set to deliver around the end of November/early December, which is nothing new but still good since I'm on track. My weight actually went down since last week, a change from the 2 pounds I've been gaining each week. I've read that weight stabilization happens at the very end and is a sign that my body and the baby are getting ready, so yay! Though it could be a result of the extra exercise I got (bowling and longer walks) while Joe was here.

God has been preparing my heart for childbirth. I felt Him impress on me a couple weeks ago that if I will take up the challenge, He plans to be there in the midst of every contraction and if I am willing to persevere and work through the pain to look for Him, I will find Him and will experience the amazing intimacy of falling into His arms and drawing from His strength. I feel Him challenging me by letting me know that this can be one of the most supernatural experiences I will have during my time on earth, and that it will be up to me to embrace it. When He puts it that way, of course I want to go for it!! I want to experience God intimately in the midst of the pain, and I want to look back at my birth experience as one of the most intensely close encounters I've ever had with my King. So in these last few weeks before the big day, I am asking Him to prepare my heart so that I will have the perseverance (not usually my strongest suit) to take hold of all that the Lord has for me.

Well there are baby clothes in the dryer that need to be folded and put away to be completely ready for when J.T. gets here. I better get to that while any semblance of a nesting instinct is present :)