Ch..Ch...Ch..Changes!

That was the theme of today.  Lots of new things have begun for me as of today.  A couple of major things include the following:

• Today my pregnancy is officially considered to be full-term.
• Today was my last day of work as Director of Human Resources for my current Company.

The first is a lot easier for me to come to terms with than the latter.  Drew and I recently decided that it is best for our family right now for me to take a couple of years away from the executive HR role that I have held for the past 6.5 years in order to focus on our family and raising our children during these important first years of their lives.   I plan on consulting in my field of Human Resources on a part-time basis for the next couple of years in order to maintain my skills.  Plus, I love what I do so much that I cannot imagine completely giving it up.  But, God has plans for us right now for me to be available more both mentally and physically for our family for the next couple of years.   I have had a very difficult time trying to find balance between work and home-life ever since Luke was born.  No matter how many hours I worked, the difficulty I found was in trying to give 150% as an employee, 150% as a wife and 150% as a mother.  As a "pleaser," I never wanted to sacrifice in any of the areas, which could really create some stress that I brought on myself.  Although it is a major leap of faith for our family, resigning my position will really help me have more time to focus on raising our children, which I feel is a huge responsibility and the most important and rewarding job I could have. 

On the pregnancy front, I had my 37 week check-up today.    I am officially considered to be "full-term" now, although my 40-week due date is 1/11/12.   We are really hoping our little girl will wait to make her arrival until January.  If she waits until 39 weeks gestation to make her arrival as Luke did, she will be here around January 4.  That sounds like a pretty good birthday to me.   I have guessed she will be born on 1/7/12 all along (7 is my favorite number).  So far, there is no dilation of the cervix, which is great!  At my 36 week appointment last week, they ran several standard tests.  One of the tests they administered was the Group B Strep Culture.  About 25% of normal healthy adult women have the bacteria in their system, although a lower % of pregnant women carry it (about 10%).  You can actually test positive at certain times and negative at others.  Therefore, studies show it is best to test between 35-37 weeks gestation, as that is the best indicator of whether it will be present at delivery.  Unfortunately, my test came back positive.  This means that I am a carrier for the Group B Strep this pregnancy, and I will need antibiotics administered intravenously once every 4 hours in the hospital once I arrive until the time she is born.  This is to try to prevent as much as possible our little girl from acquiring Group B Strep disease during the delivery process.  We are going to pray that the bacteria will not be present at the time of delivery and if it still is, that it will not affect her.  I have read about Group B Strep disease in newborns, and although rare, if they do acquire it, it can be extremely serious and even fatal.  The doctor didn't seem concerned at all--perhaps she sees so many of these cases and very rarely ill effects.  

Other than that, everything else seems fine.  I feel like she got a lot bigger in the last week, but my OB doctor says she's measuring right on target.  I am feeling much better lately as far as the contractions are concerned; however, I am getting very little sleep.  When I do sleep, I wake up every two hours.  But, I am more prepared this pregnancy for what to expect, and know this is nothing compared to when baby arrives.   So, I am looking at this as exercise or training for the marathon of hard work and lack of sleep that will be present for quite a while after baby comes.   

Here is a 37 week pregnancy belly photo:

Before my last day of work

And, here are some pictures of our very feminine-looking nursery.  We are hoping the ultrasounds were correct in indicating this baby is a little girl: