33 wks: There are Mountains Ahead!

I dreamed last night that David Bowie came to my baby shower. He looked a little more like Michael J. Fox- but I knew in my heart it was Bowie. I've heard pregnancy dreams are weird but my question is, what's weird about David Bowie coming to my baby shower?

Actually, there's probably a better chance that he will make an appearance at the party than I have at finishing my "to-do (before baby is born) list." Especially at work, I feel like I'm shoveling snow while it's still dumping out of the sky. My friend Alli Rogers wrote a song that keeps popping into my head that says, "The mountains before us shall become a plain in our eyes." Which is a reference to a Bible verse (Isaiah 40:4). Thanks, Alli/Isaiah for the comforting image. I'll go with that one (rather than the shoveling one).

Not to alarm anyone, but yesterday I went to the hospital for half of the day. I was having some weird pains and symptoms throughout the previous night so I they wanted to make sure I wasn't going into preterm labor. As it turns out, I am not- I just have an extremely active baby and an "irritable uterus." All tests indicated a happy and healthy baby... so I can't ask for anything more. There is one test that predicts with 98% accuracy if someone will go into early labor within the next 2 weeks and the result was negative... whew (still time to set up that crib)!

Now I can be 98% certain for the next 2 weeks that all the cramping /tightening/ breathlessness/ belly pain/ swelling/ swirling sensations and general discomfort is just part of the experience that women everywhere keep telling me to cherish and enjoy. What was that thing about the mountains and plains?... ah, yes- I'll focus on that.

Grant and I watched a beautiful and inspiring documentary about birth. I keep thinking of the look on the parents' faces when they get to see their child for the first time. It was incredible to witness the women coming to the end of such an intense and painful journey (unsure if it was possible) to the beginning of something as sacred and amazing as a new life. That will be a good moment... probably the best yet. Keeps me rolling (okay, stumbling) forward.