MacNut Week 34

Technically, this is what's going on this week:

• MacNut is the weight of a cantaloupe - ~17.72 inches and 4.73 pounds.
• Your child has now an excellent chance of survival outside the womb.
• Fat accumulations plumps up the arms and legs this week.
• Eyes opened when awake and closed when sleeping.
• The fingernails are now completely formed.
• Your baby may have already turned to a head down position in preparation for birth (yep!).
• The skull bones are still pretty flexible and not completely joined to help to ease exit out of the narrow birth canal. 
• The baby's skin is also becoming less wrinkled.
• Thanks to antibodies crossing the placenta the baby is developing immunities to mild infections. 

Physical:

• Weight: 153 lb (+27)
• Belly circumference: 39.75 in (+9.25)
• Fundal height: 32 in 
• Dilation: 2.5cm
• Effacement: 30-40% (*phew*...I think last week, I was checked during a contraction, that's why my cervix was so short)
• Station: -1
• Okay, don't tell anyone, but since my blood glucose level has been within range for so long, I have decided to significantly cut down on testing.  Like, once a day if I felt like I had a big meal.
• The joints in my hands have started aching a bit.  Fluid build-up is pretty typical toward the end of pregnancy.  Although my hands don't look any plumper.  My feet, on the other hand (haha, why would feet be on the other hand?), have been pretty plump unless I am paying close attention to putting them up.

Spiritual & emotional:

• Caleb's memorial service was as wonderful as a life celebration could be.  You know how when someone passes away, people would say, "S/he is in a better place"?  And sure, sometimes I feel like they could be in heaven.  But, who knows?!  Well, I am convinced that Caleb is in heaven.  No doubt!
• After the funeral, as Chin & I were driving back to Washington, I had to exclaim, "Satan lost!!"  Caleb's life and death were both glowing testimonies of God's faithfulness to those who put their trust in Him.  I can't claim to read God's mind.  But if I were to guess, I'd say He's pretty pleased with Caleb...and with our family.
• The day of Caleb's funeral was also our wedding anniversary - 7 years!  We didn't really get a chance to celebrate, but it felt fine not doing something "special" for this day.
• The days following our return to Washington were difficult.  I had to make a plan to catch up on school work.  "Did you make a spreadsheet," my friend Krista inquired.  Why, how did you know?!  I did.  With 4 tabs, in fact - one for each course I was taking.  The spreadsheet looked intimidating, but not impossible.  I worked and worked and worked 'til the wee hours of the morning and, because I usually can't sleep through the night with this hip pain, I would wake up early to get more work done.  So exhausted.  I would often skip meals without realizing what I'd done.
• Then came Thursday morning, completely exhausted after only four hours of sleep and looking ahead at a long day, I started praying.  I broke down.  What was I doing?!  Is it worth it to risk my health and Camille's well-being for some classes?  Then, I made a very difficult decision: to withdraw from all my classes this quarter.  That's 11 credits.  A full load.  Full tuition through Educational Outreach = $7.5K a quarter.  Yes, "I" made that decision.  And this decision influences subsequent quarters, too, as many of my classes needed to be taken sequentially.  This meant that I would need to wait a full year until next June to come back and complete these courses.  So, the decision to drop the current courses meant taking a leave of absence until June 2011.
• When Chin woke up and was in the bathroom getting ready, I came back into the room from the office and just sat on the stool at the foot of our bed, sobbing uncontrollably.  When Chin finally saw me, he was so concerned.  I explained to him that I had made this decision.  I was not consulting with him, but merely telling him about this life-changing decision that I had made on own.  Over the next few days, Chin had a difficult time embracing this decision.  Not because he disagreed with me, but that he wasn't allowed to be involved in the decision-making process.  I understand how he felt...and I felt badly that I did not include him.  But I also felt that it was a decision that had to be made quickly.  And Chin's personality does not lend itself to making quick decisions.  After a few days and lots of praying, Chin came to terms with the decision and agreed that it was absolutely the right one for our family.
• My advisers, professors, and classmates have been very supportive of this decision.  I am so thankful.  I'm still a bit nervous about paying the tuition for this quarter, though.
• Overall, I feel a great sense of relief after making this decision.  I get to rest for the remainder of my pregnancy.  And then I get to be a full-time mom to Camille until next June!