I passed my Nurse Practitioner board exam & 6 more days to go until the due date!

Wow! Today is week 39 & 1 day of my pregnancy. The due date is approaching whether I am ready or not. I haven't had much time to think about giving birth so soon since I've spent the last couple of weeks studying for my Nurse Practitioner boards. I haven't posted the fact that I was scheduled to take them TODAY at noon for fear of disappointing so many people if I didn't pass. Well, I should have trusted in my studying-under-pressure abilities more. I PASSED!!! Yes, I can legally call myself a certified Adult Nurse Practitioner! Even with all of the baby's kicks & hormonal shifts I was able to cram my brain with knowledge about treating hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking addiction, renal failure, neurological disorders, different STDs, & interpreting various skin lesions among many other things. I know, it was crazy to study just a few days away from my due date, but there was no way I was going to do it with a crying baby on my hands. All of my husband's daily reminders (I prefer this term to nagging) have paid off! The exam was about 3 hours and contained 175 questions. Now the next step is to request the American Nurses Credentialing Center to send a Verification of Certification letter to the Washington State Nursing Commission in Olympia stating that I have passed the exam & certified. Once the Commission receives this request, I will get a prescriptive authority. This means that my hubby was not too far off advertising my ability to hook up his male friends with Viagra. :-)
I am getting more uncomfortable by the day. I go for a 30-40" walk & then pay for it by aching all day long. I get up to empty my bladder at least twice at night & I can't sleep for long stretches of time any more. I had my 3rd labor preparation acupuncture session on Friday. My acupuncturist did not want to be too aggressive (like using electroacupuncture) since I needed to make it for my certification exam the next day. I am more hungry than usual & crave cheesecake, chocolate & milk shakes. Also I love apples! According to one of the Medscape articles eating fish & apples during pregnancy may have a protective effect against childhood asthma & allergies. Perhaps it is wise to listen to your body's cravings! So far I've gained 32 pounds, so still have room for 3 more pounds to fit the criteria for ideal weight gain during pregnancy (25-35 pounds)! :-) I have not packed my hospital bag yet - I must be in denial.
I did a reading today using my Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards. Interestingly, I picked the following 3 cards at random:
1) Green Tara (meaning: start delegating, don't try to be a superwoman, ask your partner for help),
2) Ostara (meaning: this card signifies pregnancy, it's an opportune time to make life changes), and
3) Freyja (meaning: make a bold life change, take a risk, appreciate your body). According to Doreen Virtue, based on the Law of Magnetic Attraction, the cards are attracted to a person's current thoughts & beliefs creating insight into the direction of relationships, careers, finances, health & other areas. The reading fit my life situation perfectly!
Tomorrow we'll be celebrating my husband's Mom's birthday & my passing of the boards. On Monday Yong will undergo the US Citizenship swearing-in ceremony. My hubby & I look forward to sharing this special day with her. The next person to become a US citizen in our family will be me!

Only 2 more weeks to go!

Today is week 38 of my pregnancy. I can't believe I am almost there! Our life is going to change forever in only 2 weeks! I have been experiencing a major nesting urge. During the last few weeks we have redecorated our house, washed all of the windows, pruned the trees, had a furnace check up, organized my office, washed floors & all of the inside doors & panels, cleaned out the fridge including freezer, ironed a pile of clothes left over from my school days, repotted & fertilized house plants, & prepaid our bills for October. The nursery painting & decorating was finished about 2 months ago. We have so many baby items, our 3-bedroom house seems a lot smaller all of a sudden!
I am feeling reasonably well. It has been an uneventful pregnancy with the exception of ankle swelling I've started to have last week. Good timing since my last day of work was last Wednesday! :-) Little Gerry is definitely dropping into my pelvis more (compare the photos of me wearing turquoise pajamas on 9/5/07 to today's photos). I can feel the ligaments stretching & pelvis widening. Although I am able to continue daily walking, I sure feel it in the mornings. It takes much slow breathing & position maneuvering to get out of bed due to sharp ligament pain in my groin.
I am frantically reading everything I can get my hands on about labor, postpartum & baby care (see my list of favorite pregnancy, labor & postpartum books below). I don't think I'll ever be ready, but reading helps to relieve my anxiety somewhat. I really place high hopes on hypnobirthing to assist me in natural labor, & have been listening to hypnobirthing CDs daily (see Pregnancy, Labor & Postpartum Resources below).
I had my 2nd labor preparation acupuncture session with Diana Ferdana today. Its purpose is to help open up proper energy channels & to improve the flow of stagnant chi (or energy) to facilitate the birthing process. I can't say enough about Diana's tuning fork, visualization, aromatherapy & Tibetian bowl techniques! My husband and I had our last of 7 Great Starts birth preparation classes last Tuesday. Look forward to seeing everyone's babies at the reunion sometime in November! We also had a birth planning meeting with our doula, Audra Sanderhoff, last Saturday. We have discussed our birth plan & preferences in detail, & I am confident in Audra's ability to help us achieve the best possible birth outcome. Last week we have toured the birthing suit at our hospital & had a car seat properly installed by a technician. All set to go!