Grateful

I've been very grateful over the last couple days...

~ For this fantastic weather. There are so many people out there who are upset about having a cooler July than I can ever remember, but I know I, for one, am incredibly thankful! I keep saying that it's God's way of really looking out for me and all the other preggos out there. My biggest fear when we got pregnant was whether I could handle the heat of the summer...and the great news is that I haven't had to! We even sat outside by the firepit on Friday night--I had to put on a sweatshirt and it was WONDERFUL.

~ For the movement of my baby. Yesterday I had a bit of a scare that something was very wrong with baby after she hadn't moved in awhile (I couldn't remember the last time I felt her move). My mom was trying her hardest to feel the baby move one last time (this child is definitely mine...whenever anyone WANTS her to move, she won't...), but baby wasn't going anywhere. Even after a cookie, a sip of DH's Pepsi, and laying on my side for a good 30 minutes, I wasn't getting much of anything. I was really starting to get scared. I then got a bit of ice cream and within minutes felt a familiar little bump. Hiccups. I cried because I was so relieved. She then started moving around and has been fairly active all day today.

~ For being able to plan. For once in my life, I was going to be okay with not having control over when baby came and with not knowing what was going to happen. But now we know that baby will be here in ten days or less. I will not be going past my due date. I will not be delivering in August. Yes, I could still very easily go into labor before the scheduled C-section, but I'm okay with that. At least we have a deadline. We KNOW we will be parents on or before July 29th. We know all our work HAS to be done before July 29th.

~ For our friends. I don't know what I can say about them. They love us and our baby and want the best for all of us. My quantity of close friends may be small, but the quality is grand. I also pride myself on trying to be nice to everyone and through this have gained a lot of great people in my life. To all of you who have supported me and been there--thank you.

~ For our families. Both sets of families already love this little girl immensely. I know she's going to be surrounded by love the second she enters this world. I know many people who don't have the support of a family around them and I realize how incredibly blessed all three of us are.

~ For my husband. He has been incredible over the last 9 months, the last 3 years of marriage, and the last 7.5 years we've been together. He is my best friend, my partner in life. He is my rock. I look forward to taking this next step with him and making him a daddy.