It's time to come, Samuel!

What, you want pics? How about these: http://purewonderphotography.com/blog/?p=722?? We took maternity pictures recently, and we are so thrilled with the sneak peek the photographer, Erin, posted for us. I can't wait to see what she does with our little man's first photo shoot!

If you haven't noticed, my due date is swiftly approaching. Mr. Samuel is around 6.5 pounds currently, according to Dr. Sebestyen. A bummer note: I found out last week that I have pregnancy-induced hypertension (high blood pressure). I have always had terrific blood pressure and am thankful for that thus far. Unfortunately, this almost always gets worse during pregnancy until the baby is delivered. It can progress to pre-eclampsia, which my mom had with my older brother Larry. This is very dangerous to mom and baby. I had some other lab work done, and the data that came back was "gorgeous" according to the midwife. So that's good. However, we are still very likely looking at induction. The OB would rather me deliver while I'm healthy instead of waiting until this thing progresses.

This all hinges on many things. I'll do more lab work at the end of this week to make sure those numbers haven't changed. In the meantime, I'm supposed to be doing everything possible to get my body ready to either start labor on its own (PLEASE oh please), or to be ready for induction. This runs the gamut from herbal techniques and acupuncture to squats and partial bedrest. Some of you are lucky enough to get the real insider scoop on what all I have to do, and to the rest of you, I have to say, you don't want to know!

Either way, in the midst of this, I'm thankful! Thankful that after Samuel being breech at 32 weeks, he's now been head down for a month. Thankful that if we had to get him out of there now, he'd be perfectly healthy. Thankful that I changed OBs - I LOVE this new OB and their approach to educating their patients and working WITH them. Thankful that Samuel will be here soon. Thankful for my mom, Nancy and Bruce, Ryan and Melissa, other family and friends, and our church body who have almost single-handedly provided all the material things we could need for this little human. Thankful for my husband, to whom I need to butter up because he has a lot of work ahead of him before Samuel gets here.

If you think about it, please pray my health would stay where it is rather than getting worse. I feel fine, but those dang numbers are what concern the doctors and midwives. The longer my numbers stay stable, the longer my body has to spontaneously combust - I mean - go into labor. Please pray that if it's the Lord's will, we could have the blessing of Samuel coming on the scene, healthy, and very soon!