Oh, hello, 37 weeks, pleased to meet you! (on the otherside of pre-term)

37 weeks was my goal, and here it is!  In all its big 'ol belly-heartburn-stomach acid in the mouth-up 27 times a night-sore pelvis-achy back-feet in ribs GLORY!!

The positive side?  Still without a stretch mark, clear skin, thick hair and more than acceptable weight gain.  And, of course, the healthy baby boy evolving in there...

Man, it feels good to be on the other side of "pre-term!"

One glorious body memory I will take with me is the living, the evolution of this impressive baby growing business.  Each week a milestone in Life: pregnancy, childhood, marriage...

The sigh of relief to meet a new day, to check off another week, each doc appointment met with "normal" results, to greet my husband home after each trip (and still pregnant!), witnessing my son lift up his shirt, stick out his bare belly and say, "Oh, baby brother!"

The good stuff ain't always the easy and fun stuff, but what makes it good is that process and the processing through it...

I dig on gratitude when I'm sitting/walking/standing/lying down in an ever-increasing awkward state.  Because, really...there's a life doing the same thing in my body.  Awkwardly twisting to find the most optimal comfort.

There's a LIFE.

The weeks and days before Milo arrived I didn't spend much time on thinking about how life would change. I just assumed he would fit neatly into our lives. 

He may have come barrelling down the turnpike at breakneck speed, smoking cigarettes and blaring The White Stripes just to drop his baggage off in the foyer and then prop his feet up on my couch and sing merrily, "Hi, I'm here. What's for dinner? TAKE CARE OF ME NOW"

And I would stand with confusion staring at all the accessories I felt was necessary to acquire in order to fully parent and think, "Now what?

What child is this?  And when is your real mother coming to take you home?!"

Motherhood, the first time around certainly did not (and never will) define me. But motherhood, most certainly invited me, encouraged me, demanded of me to define myself and to open my consciousness and accept that LOVE doesn't come from one particular party.

And I've had alot of party...

There was a time when carseats, cheeto cheesed-out fingers smeared on the windows, and a $100 worth of diapers (pull-ups and newborns!) in the trunk of my car would have seriously cramped my swagger...

Now?  It's a new kind of party...the party that actually loves me back...

The next task for me as I enter the Grand Finale is to continue to "let go."  Somehow I've come this far in my life (as a mother, wife, woman).  I made up this saying when I was 23 that went something like this, "I didn't drive 2,550 miles on good looks and charm."  I came this far just fine.  More than fine, actually...

I need to continue to let go and continue trusting in the process, in the unfolding...This baby will arrive in his time, at the right time.  He already belongs to this family.  Always enough love...

37 weeks

Still to go: 3 weeks-ish

which is:
21 days-ish

the baby is as big as a:
watermelon (19 to 22 in, 6.5 lbs) estimated

total weight gain:
22 lbs

measuring at:
38 weeks

Group B Strep test is:
NEGATIVE!

AND HOLY SHIZ, YA'LL....

I'm 3cm dilated and 75% effaced!!