38 weeks, 2 days, 3 centimeters, 80% effaced, and counting....

I haven't written anything about this pregnancy yet, and I'm running out of time.  It's been so busy and fun, and not to mention an interesting way to begin a marriage and get to know my husband.  We got pregnant 2 weeks after our wedding a the end of December just as my most difficult semester in school was beginning.  Then we went to Tonga for 3 months.  I knew we'd have lots of "getting back to our roots" experiences and that we'd meet lots of Noke's family, but I didn't anticipate our pregnancy playing much of a role in those experiences.  I felt like it really shaped our experience there.  Everyone took extra extra special care of me.  We got plenty of interesting advice about prenatal care.  And we always had a happy conversation topic.  While we were in Tonga I missed a few things from home: the pile of pillows on my bed, fast food, ice (I like my drinking water freezing cold), and time/work saving modern conveniences like a washing machine and car. But, even though I missed those things, the more overwhelming feeling I had was respect and admiration for the people in Tonga, how they love each other and how they loved us so unconditionally having never met us.  I was also overwhelmed by the beauty of the land and the air and the human relationships.  I craved bad food all the time but had no choice but to eat fresh, organic food everyday.  I'm convinced my pregnancy would have been much much less healthy if I'd had access to what I thought I wanted to eat.  Thanks Tonga! After returning home I started to blow up and have peaked at 211 lbs! (My starting weight was 152).  I cannot wait to hit the gym in the next couple of weeks or months.  At this point, I am looking most forward to finding out whether the baby is okay.  Like most moms I guess, I have imagined every possible thing that could go wrong, going wrong.  I've questioned my own actions many times, wondering and worrying if I might have done something that could have hurt the baby...or if there was something I didn't do.  I've prayed for a healthy baby and prayed that I'd be prepared to handle any possible problems, big or small.  I've been so incredibly spoiled by my husband, I secretly am already missing being pregnant because of all the special treatment he gives me.  He does more taking care of the house-dishes, cleaning, folding laundry-than I do.  I get my feet tickled and my back rubbed all the time.  And he tells me I'm beautiful even though I feel like a whale.  I'm so grateful for him, I can't believe how lucky I am.  That's all I can think of for now...can't wait to see our daughter!