Monday evening... 8 sleeps to go...

      A quick little update from today...And a little trip down memory lane - the picture above is not our Ava Grace but rather the first picture with my dear Mom and I after I was born 40 years ago!  Hard to believe that both of us, Timothy and I, will be 40 by tomorrow - it's his 40th tomorrow - one last fling at going out for dinner tomorrow evening sans baby in tow.  How time flies and how slow it can go as well.  It's hard to comprehend sometimes as humans the concepts of time and years passing.  And yet, somehow, after months of worrying and waiting and hoping and praying, we are down to 8 more sleeps before meeting D.V., our second daughter, our miracle baby girl.  We are set for an induction on October 10, doesn't mean of course that she will come that day since things might not quite be ready but that's where we'll start anyways. 
    We had one last ultrasound this morning at MacMaster, one last scan to check size and how Ava is doing but all was well.  The tech was unable to get a great visual of Ava because she's much bigger than when we started so no cute pictures of her feet above her head or waving or sucking her thumb, but we were, as always, relieved to see her head down, feet sticking up in my ribs somewhere, which I feel quite often and practicing lots of breathing and having a good strong heartbeat - always a miracle to hear the sound of her heartbeat - from early on, post surgery, when our nurse practitioner would come by to check her heartbeat daily, sometimes easy to find, other times a little more finicky, to now being strong and regular.  It's now coming to the time when we think about finally holding this little one in our arms and wondering who she will look like and what her personality will be and how will delivery go and so many other questions that only time will tell us.  We met with our OB as well - relieved to hear that she will be there the morning we come in and will be on call for the evening on the 10th.  Always comforting to have a person who is familiar with our situation on board!  Our dear midwife will also be with us so we will have a great support crew.  We're supposed to call in at 6 am to the Labour and Delivery area (our other OB had said, she will be induced on the 10th unless a big busload of pregnant in labour ladies shows up before us!   Quite a visual!)  and then present ourselves at 7:30 am for the induction.  I can't say I'm looking forward to being induced - was so hoping to avoid the intensity of an induced labour but hey, guess we can't be picky at this point.  I'm getting pretty sore and ungainly at this point, though glad that I'm not as heavy as I was with Martha - looking a little less bloated this time round.  Even my rings are still fitting which I love - I sure missed wearing them when pregnant with Martha.  Our OB is guesstimating Ava's weight around 5 pounds this week so my guess as to her final weight will be somewhere around 5,5 or 6 pounds - a little lighter than her dear older sister was at 8, 5. 
    And so, we wait, we hope, we count Ava's kicks and movements, we pack bags, we get car seats ready, we wash clothes, we count sleeps, we get Martha excited about being a big sister, we organize cuddle sessions with volunteers, and we wait.  We pray for our dear little girl, that all may be well with her and I during labour and delivery and that she may be born healthy and strong, by the grace of God, for which she was named all those months ago when we weren't sure if she would make it through the surgery that would save my life.  What an emotional roller coaster the last few months have been and will continue to be.  But for this week, we focus on our baby, we get excited to hold this precious miracle girl, we praise God for His mercies and His grace to us and our family and we once again thank so many who surround us with love and care - for our family, our friends and even the strangers who knit blankets to cuddle our dear girls... thank you from the bottom of our sometimes hurting, overwhelmed, full and encouraged hearts.  God truly works through many means to give us encouragement, support, strength, joy and peace as we await our little one!!!