36 weeks!

I hope I’m not boring you with my weekly pregnancy updates, but I have to share this good news: I am 36 weeks pregnant today and I still haven’t turned into a water-retaining blimp.

I have a good friend who is also due the first week of March, and when I talk to her on the phone, she sounds so tired and complains of being huge and uncomfortable. She’s ready to be done with her pregnancy. I am, on the other hand, elated. Oh, I have trouble sleeping, certainly, and the indigestion is constant and uncomfortable, but still, I’m elated. I’ve never done this before—it’s as if this is my first pregnancy. The movement and how big the baby feels—these things are new to me, and I’m so grateful that I’ve made it this far.

The truth is that I could still develop preeclampsia, but now that the baby’s lungs are mature, it wouldn’t be the tragedy it would have been if I had become sick a few weeks or months ago. But making it this far also makes me think of those of you who had to live through the NICU twice, those of you who developed preeclampsia more than once (Denise and Jen, in particular), and those of you who lost your babies due to preeclampsia. I want you to know I’m not taking my 36 weeks for granted. I wish you could have experienced this, as well.