I'm officially in the home stretch.

• I'm now considered full term since I'm 37 weeks.
• Two weeks ago, I was already dilated and a "thin cervix" which I did make the Dr repeat because it isn't often I hear my name and thin in the same sentence.
• This week, although my blood pressure is still in the healthy range, it sky rocketed for me. The Dr isn't TOO worried but if it continues to increase, then she said we would talk about moderate bedrest and possible induction.
• The baby has dropped and is in position.

All of the things have made me realize that this baby can be here at any moment. I know I could be pregnant for another couple of weeks but I also know that this baby could come anytime now. It's exciting and scary at the same time. I feel like I have so much I want to do before the baby gets here but I have zero energy lately. My house is completely unorganized and I'd be mortified if people came over and saw it in its current state. We still haven't put away all of our baby gifts or figured out where we are going to put everything we need. I haven't started preparing meals for once the baby gets here. I'm nowhere near done with my scrapbook that I desperately want completed before the baby arrives. The carseat isn't installed. The curtains aren't made. I still want to do some finishing touches to the baby's room. The list goes on and on. It's easy for me to get overwhelmed when I think of the long list.

However, then I think of what IS done and what truly NEEDS to be done before the baby comes. Aside from the car seat, everything that needs to be done is done. Most importantly, Mike and I are ready. We are so ready to meet this little guy/girl.

So whenever you are ready baby, Mom and Dad are ready for you! Just possibly sorry in advance that you aren't going to have brown polka dots on your walls :)

As promised, here are the adorable onesies and burp clothes that were made at my shower last week.

What a busy but fabulous weekend!

This entry will be shorter than I want but I don't have much time before I have to stop stalling and actually start getting ready for work.

Saturday was my 2nd baby shower and was given by my mom, Merridith and Janna. (Thanks again girls for everything!!) It was for my mom's side of the family and not only did we had a good turn out but we had a great time. At least I did :) My favorite part was we had people decorate onesies, booties, and burp clothes. They turned out wonderfully! I took pictures of each one and will post the pictures later when I have more time.

Mike had told me on Friday that he had a surprise for me for Saturday night and all I knew was I was needed by dinner time. We ended up eating at Reds on the River in Rockford (http://www.reds-live.com/home.html) and then we stayed downtown at the JW Marriott!! (http://www.ilovethejw.com/index.html) The hotel is worth all the hype it has earned. It was a nice relaxing romantic evening. The perfect last weekend out before the baby.

Thanks to everyone who had a part in helping make this an extra special weekend!

I intended to keep my mouth shut about this for a little longer but we've already spilled the beans to a lot of people, so I'll share here too.

We had a make-up ultrasound session last week!!!

As all (?) of you know, our scheduled ultrasound was a terrible experience. Janna spoke to her friend Missy, an ultrasound tech, about our experience and she graciously offered to have us come back. Well -- life became busy especially with Mike's job situation, so we weren't able to go until last week. It was such a great experience. We were a little nervous to go as we REALLY didn't want to find out the sex and thankfully it's still a surprise for us!

Since I was 32 weeks, the baby was quite cramped in my stomach. So although, the baby looks very developed which is great for pictures, she had a hard time getting good pictures/angles. Mike and I thought it was perfect though and are incredibly grateful to Missy.

The first thing Missy said when she saw the profile was "well there's the Slot nose." Mike's excited that the baby may have my button nose. There's another shot where it appears the baby has Mike's dimples, which I'm really excited about :) We caught the baby yawning and we watched it probably 3 times. We then switched rooms to have the 3D ultrasound done. It was truly amazing!! We thought the normal ultrasound was fantastic but it's nothing compared to the 3D.

I'm not sure how to post a video of pictures, so hopefully this link will work.

http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh268/kristimcwilliams/UltraSound2/?albumview=slideshow&direction=reverse

1. Getting out of bed easily
2. Putting on my shoes and socks without grunting or getting out of breath
3. Going more than an hour without needing to pee
4. Bending over for any reason
5. Sleeping on my stomach
6. Rolling over in bed easily
7. Walking up the stairs without feeling like I need to stop at the landing to catch my breath
8. My once spot-on memory
9. Having full control of my emotions :)
10. Having a flabby stomach - I think that was better than my now ROCK hard stomach

I had more but see number 8 :) Any mom's have any other good ones to add ...