Progress!

We are officially 6 days from Delivery Day, if Rachel were to arrive exactly on her due date. I went to the doctor yesterday, and I am pleased to report that I am finally making at least SOME progress. I am dialated 1 centimeter and 50% effaced. Her head is still down, which is good. For those of you who don't speak labor speak -- I have to be 10 centimeters dialated and 100% effaced to give birth. I am considered to be in active labor somewhere around 3-4 centimeters. The more effaced I am, the sooner I can be expected to have the baby. However, some women are 60% effaced well before they deliver, and they stay that way for several weeks. You can be dialated for a month before you deliver, as long as you don't progress into active labor.
So, although I am happy to be making progress, it isn't a tell-tale sign that I will be going into labor anytime soon either. As you can see, the belly is still about the same size it was at 37 weeks. All told, I have gained 45 lbs since my first appointment, which isn't awful, but it is about 20 more than I would have liked. :)
The other news from the doctor is that if Rachel does decide to bake in the belly for a bit longer, we have scheduled an induction for Tuesday, June 24th. That doesn't mean she will come out on the 24th, but at least we have an end date in sight. The doctor likes to give her about a week to come on her own, and after that she worries about the baby getting too big or the fluid starting to decrease. So, Duane and I will be parents in less than 2 weeks now! Hopefully Rachel will come on her own before the induction -- I haven't heard good things about being induced.


The other big news is that Wednesday was officially my last day of work for the summer. I have 5 carryover vacation days that I need to use, so I tried to schedule them so they worked right up to my due date. As you can see, I am thrilled on my last day of work, whereas Kim is less than thrilled to see me go. After I have used those days, I will start my official maternity leave, whether Rachel has arrived or not. I get 6 weeks of paid leave through my work, then I am using a combination of vacation time, floating holidays, and COMP time (remember when I was working 60+ hours a week?...NOW I can cash in!) to take the first few weeks in August off. I am excited to spend the summer learning how to be a mommy and bonding with my daughter (not to mention trying to knock off some baby weight!).
Each day, I wonder what she will look like and my heart fills with love. I am starting to drive more defensively too -- I keep getting angry at people who drive too fast or too unpredictably, thinking "HEY! MY DAUGHTER IS IN THE CAR HERE BUDDY!" Duane and I are so excited to finally meet this little miracle we created together. :)