Thankful Thursday

Can I just say how thankful I am for the calming spirit of Priesthood blessings. Last night I woke up after an hour of sleep and had some really gnarly contractions. They were regular and frequent and I thought - ohh man, I don't want this yet. Our support doesn't come for two weeks and Andy has so much to do at work and I haven't even packed a hospital bag yet. On the issue of the bag- I know I should but I am so lazy! Plus I have tickets to New Moon tomorrow! :)

Anyway I did all I could to remain relaxed during all the contractions and then looked at the clock and realized it had been 3 hrs already since I had woken up at first. I woke up Andy and asked for a blessing so that I could feel some comfort about the situation because really if it was the right time for the baby to come then I knew Heavenly Father would help things work out.

The moment the blessing begun I felt so calmed and content. It put me in a good frame of mind and reminded me of what I needed to do at that point. After the blessing I put on my hypnobirthing and got into relaxation mode. That helped so much with the contractions - they were not painful anymore, very manageable. I was eventually able to sleep and they went away as far as I know except for the occasional one I felt when I woke up to go to the bathroom or roll over.

This morning I still have the occasional contraction but I think the labor has stopped. I usually have a few of these episodes in the weeks before the baby comes but what made these different is that they were really strong, take your breath away types. In the times before they were more like the harmless Braxton-Hicks ones. Is it because this is my third baby? Seriously - I have been waiting 6 yrs for a good owners manual on pregnancy.

In light of last night, I am especially grateful that my Group B Strep culture came back negative. Yeah for not being Strep B positive! That makes one less hiccup on the labor plan to throw things askew.

Also I am so grateful that my order of delicious Florida grapefruit should arrive today - and if not today, definitely tomorrow. We order a half-bushel from Pittman & Davis every year around the holidays. My mom used to get a gift box of them from my Aunt every Christmas and it just doesn't feel like the holidays without them. Whenever we are home for the holidays we order some for us. This year we got it for Thanksgiving so that I could delight in them early. That is another reason I cannot have this baby yet.