2 weeks to go! (Or is it??)

It's been a few weeks now since I last posted - far too long, but things have been pretty busy as we've made all the final preparations for the arrival of the baby. Some of our major accomplishments over the past few weeks include:

1. We finished our childbirth education classes. We even received a certificate that proves we're allowed to be parents. There wasn't really a test at the end, so I suppose just about anyone gets this certificate. But we did learn quite a lot, and the classes ended up being much more fun and informative than we had expected.

2. We completed an infant CPR course. Hopefully we'll never need to use what we learned in the class, but it gives me a sense of peace knowing that we have at least some idea of what to do should an emergency arise.

3. I took a breastfeeding class. It's amazing how something so natural needs to be so explicitly taught and can be one of the most frustrating/confusing/defeating parts of mothering for so many women. The instructor assured us that if you can just get the baby to latch on properly, everything will go smoothly. I'm hoping that we're able to do that because breastfeeding is something I feel pretty strongly about.

4. We set up all sorts of baby paraphernalia that had been sitting in boxes, such as the swing, the bouncer, the stroller, the monitor, and the play yard. All the gear is officially ready to rock and roll, complete with about 20 D batteries and all.

5. Mike installed the car seat and the bases in both of our cars. He was pretty shaken by all the horror stories everyone tells about improperly installed carseats, so he triple and quadruple checked them. I must say, they seem very secure.

6. I finally packed my hospital bag after saying I'd do it for about a month without any action. I can finally say that we're ready to go at a moment's notice.

7. Mike dug us out of a number of snow storms. Last winter, I really did help shovel on a regular basis. But I must admit that I've greatly enjoyed my convenient excuse for being unable to shovel the driveway!

8. Mike and Larry finished laying all of the hardwood floors and installing the new hardwood stairs. They're absolutely beautiful! They make all of the rooms look so much bigger, cleaner, and brighter. Now all that's left is the finish work -- such as putting up the baseboards and filling in nail holes on the stairs. Those things can wait, though. The thing we wanted most was to have the floors done in time for the baby's arrival, and that goal has officially been met.

So, as you can see, it's been a busy few weeks! We've both also been very busy at work, preparing for our upcoming absences. My replacement began today, so things will officially be covered from this point on whenever I should need to take off. Mike has a big project due Thursday, and that will be his last major assignment until after the baby's arrival.

What hasn't been accomplished over the past few weeks? Well, having a baby, for one! The doctors have said that the baby could pretty much come any day now based upon how my body is preparing for delivery. At my appointment on Monday of last week, the doctor thought there was about a 50-50 chance the baby would be born in the next week. Well, alas, a week has passed, and the baby is still squirming around inside of me. I have another appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see what the progress shows at that point! Another task that hasn't been yet accomplished is the hunt for a childcare provider. I continue to spend hours calling around to family childcare facilities without great success. It turns out that it's very difficult to find infant openings. However, I have managed to set up four appointments for this week, beginning tomorrow. Hopefully something promising will turn up soon!

At this point, the baby is fully developed and considered full term. All he's doing now is putting on weight. He's about the length of a leek now and weighs about 7 pounds. He dropped into the birth canal last Sunday, so I'm feeling more pressure and my hips are pretty achy and sore now. That also means that his feet are propped directly against the top of my belly, which makes for some uncomfortable kicking and stretching action! I just can't wait until we can see those kicks and squirms as opposed to just feeling them!