39 weeks...and counting!

Yes, it really is true. There is only one week left till the official due date. Of course it's really up to this baby when he or she will decide to come out and meet us.

People have been asking me if I feel like I "just want to get the baby out" now because of feeling big and encumbered in my movements, etc. But I actually haven't.

Between being a little nervous about labour and birth, having some things left to do, and wanting my baby to be good and ready before he or she comes out, I have actually been more interested in the baby staying IN!

In ancient Hebrew culture, the Jewish faith, and in parts of the Ancient Christian tradition, the number 40 symbolizes fulfillment, completion, when applied to a period of time. The formal length of a pregnancy is 40 weeks. I like this association.

Now as the time of completion draws near, I do find myself longing more and more to hold this baby in my arms, find myself welcoming the increasing discomfort I am beginning to feel as signs that my body is readying itself for the great work of birth that is to come, find myself looking forward to that work, though not without a little healthy trepidation. No rite of passage should be embarked upon lightly I suppose.

Now I'm telling my baby,

Try and stay put until your Oma comes (this Monday), but otherwise, I'm ready when you are!

There is a dear and witty elderly Russian lady in our Church whose name is Vera, and she kisses her hand and touches it to my belly whenever she sees me and her eyes twinkle and she says to the baby "be good!" She is wishing me a good labour. And she's right--a baby being born plays an important role and works very hard in the process of labour and birth. Studies show that babies stretch out their legs to help propel themselves down the birth canal; also they have instincts which cause them to turn their heads at just the right angle as they pass through one part of the pelvis to another so that they can fit perfectly through the funny inner shape of the pelvis. Also it is certain hormones released by the baby which help to trigger a woman's body to go into labour.

It will be a joint effort between the two of us, as we are supported and upheld by Matthew, my mother, the midwives, and the Love and Mercy of God, not to mention the prayers of so many generous people in our church, and beloved friends and family near and far. This baby is not being born into a bleak world without love.

Vera's advice to us with her shower gift was typed with an old-fashioned type-writer on a pink slip of personalized note-paper and read:

The Baby is the Boss.
BUT, this is a SECRET which he should never know, and always assume that YOU are.

We are getting ready to have our lives completely de-centred and re-centred on this new person who will be totally vulnerable and completely dependent on us. Somehow we have been given the privilege and responsibility of protecting and nurturing one of God's treasures... It's an overwhelming thought.