There's a light at the end of this tunnel ...

Lots of big news to report:

I endured my VERY LAST injection of 17-hydroxy-progesterone Friday morning. I will really miss seeing my sweet home nurse, Sharon, each week .... she always gives me a comforting word of advice and straight answers to my questions and concerns. However I will most definitely NOT miss the 40-foot needle, the bruises, and certainly not the limping that takes place for days afterwards.

ALSO ..... I'm excited to say that Jamin will almost definitely be arriving within the next two weeks ... we have an induction date!!! Dr. Garcia wants to induce tentatively on Friday April 10 (which is Good Friday -- how cool is that?) I will be 36w2d at that point. Due to the medications I'm taking, particularly the heparin, he feels the safest route is to get Jamin OUT as soon as his lungs are mature and ready.

The plan at this point is to do an amniocentesis in the morning of Thursday April 9th. This test carries risks, along with the largest needle known to man .... both of which scare the crap outta me. But it also will tell us the level of Jamin's lung maturity. We should have the results back by Thursday afternoon. If all looks well with his lungs, we will go forth with the induction on Friday morning April 10. Dr. Garcia says I'm "ripe and ready to go" (his words), so he anticipates that the induction will only require a small dose of pitocin to get the ball rolling, at which point I should labor and deliver quickly.

I am so eager to meet Jamin, and to end what feels like the world's longest pregnancy rollercoaster ride!

In the meantime, I'm slowly scratching things off my "must do before the baby arrives" list, and praying that Jamin actually WAITS until April 10th. My contractions have really been borderline out-of-control for the last 3+ days ... upwards of 6-8 per hour ... so I am practically holding my breath.

I'm in great need of your continued prayers! Please pray specifically for (1) a safe amnio procedure (2) mature lungs by April 9th; (3) no spontaneous labor prior to April 10th; and (4) comfort for our fears.

More updates soon!!!