Getting There

It is the beginning of a long holiday weekend. Monday will be my last vacation day until the baby arrives! I am trying to save up my paid vacation time so that I can use it while on maternity leave and am hoping that I am able to work until the very end of my pregnancy. Right now Keith is golfing and I am about to get ready to go see Megan.

Megan is my dear friend from college who grew up in Milwaukee. She coincidentally ended up marrying Tony, who grew up in Oak Brook, just miles away from my hometown! Lucky for me, they ended up living in Downers Grove and we now live just a couple of miles away from eachother. Who would have ever thought?! Tragically, Megan was diagnosed with leukemia at the end of June, when her newborn son was only about 7 weeks old. She has gone through 2 rounds of chemo and is coming through it like a champ. Although she is constantly tired, she was able to get through the treatments without any nausea and the doctors are speaking very positively about her being in remission and don't think she will need a bone marrow transplant. Currently her white blood cell count is low which landed her in the hospital last week and she is due home tomorrow. So I am going to visit her this morning. Her spirits sound pretty good and she is really being a hero right now considering what she is going through. She has 2 little boys at home; Mason is 2 and Michael is now almost 4 months. She is exhausted from treatment and very susceptible to any and all illnesses. Can you imagine, with 2 little ones at home?? Her chemo is over for now but she will be monitored very closely for the next several months. She and her husband Tony's lives have been turned upside down and they can still maintain positive attitudes and keep their priceless sense of humor intact. Please keep them in your prayers!

That certainly does put things into perspective for the rest of us. Jumping into a topic like the crib seems trite. But let me try. We got the crib on Thursday and it looks great in the nursery. I will let Keith share the story and the photos on his next blog installment, because he did all of the work and there is a cute little story to accompany it.

Although there is still of a bit of waiting to do, I think the time will fly until October. I have my work shower next weekend and our family/friends shower the following weekend. I am really looking forward to them! Surprisingly, I am not nervous about labor and delivery. Maybe it doesn't seem close enough yet? I just keep thinking that it is a means to an end and we cannot wait to meet our boy! I hope I can keep that perspective while I am going through labor. The only real pain I have to compare it with is getting my wisdom teeth pulled and having ACL reconstruction on my knee. Both were painful; both were treated with painkillers (and still painful at times)! 90% of people I talk to tell me to take the epidural. Considering how I have dealt with pain in the past, I have a feeling I will. BUT I am trying to keep an open mind about it and see how it goes. My only problem with epidurals is that it can slow down labor. So many people that I know have progressed nicely with labor until they get the epidural. Then it slows down, they are in labor for 20 hours, and end up with a C-section anyway. That is a complete generalization but it seems more and more common now. They say labor never goes the way you plan it, so just try to relax and go with the flow which I will try to do. Thank goodness Keith will be there to remind me since he is the calm one!!!!!!!!!!!