Could it be a trifecta?

Yesterday we had our weekly appointment and Caitlin's heartbeat sounded great! She was sleeping most of the time so they had Toni hooked up to the machine for probably close to an hour. After that, the doctor went in to check her cervix and the look on his face was initially alarming. As he examined Toni, he continued to have a a very alarmed look on his face. Then he told us why - Toni has actually begun dilating and her cervix is starting to thin in preparation for going into labor! She is currently dilated to 2 Cm's. He explained that this is a little earlier than normal but there's no cause for alarm. Usually this means we're only a couple of weeks away from delivery. He actually thinks that there might be a chance that he'll still be here for the birth because it looks like it might happen around the 4th of July! Which brings us to the title of this post. If Caitlin is born on the 4th of July, we're looking at the 3 major parts of this pregnancy happening on holidays! We found out Toni was pregnant on Thanksgiving morning, found out Caitlin was a girl on February 29th (not a holiday but a unique day) and now she could be born on the 4th of July! Further evidence that the end is coming soon occurred after Toni got back to work - she lost her mucus plug! The doctor said that today's findings are actually very good news for Toni in that if the baby comes early, the labor should be easier and if they do have to induce labor later, it will go easier because her cervix is already ready to go. He described the situation as a win-win for Toni. :)

Yesterday's appointment was exciting but also worrisome for me.. After doing the exam on Toni, there was quite a bit of blood. As you all know, I don't handle blood well. I had started thinking that I was getting over my fear of blood because I haven't been bothered by giving Toni shots for her diabetes or seeing her prick her finger several times a day. While I didn't feel as bad as I have in the past, the clammy skin, sweating, light-headedness and nausea were proof that I'm not quite there yet. I'm hoping that I reacted this way because the bleeding was totally unexpected and I really wasn't prepared to see any blood at all, let alone the good amount that occurred. I'm going to do the best I can during the delivery but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to be in the room for. I'll deal with that bridge when I get to it...

So with the end in sight, I spent some time last night getting the car seat installed in my truck. With that ready, we've now just got to get the bag packed for the hospital and figure out what we're taking with us. It really doesn't seem possible that pretty soon we're going to have a baby in our family! We're both very excited and nervous at the same time.

On the job front, I heard back from Wachovia but they decided to go with someone who's "skill level and salary history were more in line with the job". The HR person told me that the reality is, the managers felt that I was "extremely over-qualified" and felt that I wouldn't stay long because of the pay. Oh well... For now, I'm going to focus on Toni and Caitlin and get ready for the big change that's about to happen in the Vargas household. :)

We're currently in week #36. Check out what's happening here - http://www.babiesonline.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week36.asp

Countdown to Caitlin guesses. (Due date is 7/26)
Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Karen - 7/11
Mom - 7/16
Lissette - 7/16
Cuqui - 7/18
Bella and Efrain - 7/20