29 weeks

It all started on April 1st..... April Fools Day.  My wonderful husband looked at me and said, "Honey, you're pregnant" while pulling out of the Target parking lot.  I gave him the side-eye and said "ha, ha!  Not a good April Fools joke"  He said he was serious.  I started thinking... hmmm.  He's never been wrong before, so on the way home we got a test and low and behold, he was right.  Most people would have been jumping up and down excited.  I was scared.  This is my 7th pregnancy.  No, I don't have a house full of screaming rambunctious children.  I have 1... a 6 (almost 7, mommy... on November 5th, as he would say) year old son. 

My first pregnancy lasted 5 1/2 months.  She was taken away from me in a most heinous manner, but her loss changed my life in a way that I can never be grateful enough for.  She made me grow up and realize that my life at the time wasn't what I wanted, nor what I deserved, and without her I never would have met my wonderful husband.

My second pregnancy  gave me my beautiful son Boyd.... my BIIIGGGGG (24 inches long and a Quarter pounder shy of 12 pounds), healthy boy.  It happened so easily that I never would have thought we would have problems giving him and brother or sister.

2 years later, we found out we were pregnant for a 3rd time.  I went to my first OB appointment and found out during the ultrasound that the baby measured 6 weeks ( I was supposed to be 8 weeks) and there was no heartbeat.  I had a D&C a week later and was heartbroken.

Then came pregnancy #4.  I had high hopes, but it wasn't to be.  I had a miscarriage.  This one happened before I even had my first Dr's appointment.

We found out we were pregnant a fifth time and the first ultrasound showed a missed miscarriage.  My OB told me over the phone in the ultrasound room.  Pretty heartless, I thought.  Especially since we were across the parking lot from her office.  We again had to have a D&C.

A few years later, we found out we were expecting again.  Scared witless, I decided that I HAD to find a different OB.  One would wouldn't deliver bad news over the phone like she was telling you the weather forecast.  I found my current Dr.  She got me in right away and sent me straight over for blood work and and ultrasound.  I lay there in the ultrasound room, nervous and anxiously waiting my ultrasound.  The tech came in and started..... there it was.  A flicker on the screen.  It was slower than they liked, but definitely a heartbeat.  I measured 8 weeks.  She got my blood work back and my beta numbers we low, but still within normal range, so she had me going in every other day for the next week to see how they went.  I had an appointment scheduled for a week.  My numbers got higher, but didn't double.  Off to the ultrasound room again.  Sometime during that week, we lost yet another baby.  That was 2 years ago.  We figured that maybe we were just meant to have one.

Back to today....

I woke up this morning, the 1st day of my 29th week of pregnancy with the realization that in 7-9 weeks we will be in the hospital delivering our son.  That after this hospital visit, we will leave with a beautiful baby boy, not empty arms.  We have surpassed all pregnancies, with the exception of the pregnancy that gave us Boyd.  Each milestone brought us a sigh of relief.... we made it to 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks... the start of our 3rd trimester.... Here we are.... 29 weeks.  It is now becoming real.  What is also becoming real is that the nursery is nowhere near ready.  At the end of the day, we have a car seat, a bed and a boatload of love.... oh, and some diapers.  Other than that, what do you really need?