I recently came across a BabyCenter.com pregnancy journal entry (“Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda”) in which a mom-to-be outlined things she should have done differently during her pregnancy. I could certainly come up with my own list (watched the scale more carefully, worked out past the second trimester, etc.) – but, in an effort to be positive and celebrate the one-week-before-due-day marker, I thought I would put together a list of things that I think we actually did right. I’m happy that we:

-Bought our house and moved when we did. Packing and unpacking in July (when, in retrospect, I was barely pregnant) was a breeze – but doing so anytime beyond the 8th month would have been a huge pain.

-Got all our baby stuff together relatively early. We had a lot of the essentials purchased months ago, and our nursery put together about three weeks before the due-date. I know some people are superstitious about getting things done too early – but the thought of scrambling around at the last minute (or after the baby arrives) sounds a little awful to me.

-Took several trips (both big and small) throughout the pregnancy. I have fabulous memories of our first-trimester trip to Prague and Montreal, as well as our little summer and fall get-aways to Phoenix and elsewhere. Knowing what was in store for us over the next 18 years or so, I didn’t feel any guilt at all about floating around in the pool sipping virgin pina coladas or getting pampered at one of our favorite Scottsdale spas. All those pre-natal massages were nice, too.

-Launched this website. It’s been a fun way to keep people updated on things, and it makes far-away family and friends (of which there are many) seem closer.

-Waited to have a baby until we were both really ready to have a kid. Being parents is a huge commitment and lifestyle change (or so they tell me!), and I think it’s important that we both felt confident, capable and excited by the time I got pregnant. (Okay, Q was probably more of all of those things than I was – but I wasn’t too far behind.)

-Got married in the first place. We’ve had a lot fun together, and I’m assuming these next few years – with the new addition to the family – will be just as great. Q is going to be a wonderful dad.

-M

Well, we made it to week 40!  Today marks the end of week 39 and the start of week 40, meaning we only have one week left to the due date and Michelle is a full 39 weeks pregnant.  Check out the BabyCenter.com update on the right for more information.

Michelle still looks great and if she lets me, I’ll put up some week 40 pictures.  I did manage to sneak one picture of her during week 39 (while she was posting to the site, of course):

One more quick note from the past week.  Yesterday, Michelle went to get a prenatal massage at my chiropractor’s office (we call her Dr. B) and while I was there, I met with Dr. B.  She said most women at 9 months that come in look like beached whales, but Michelle looked great and she couldn’t believe it!  Actually, most people that see her can’t believe how good she looks…

Jon Q