It's official...

My C-section is scheduled for next Thursday June 28 at 9am. I found out yesterday afternoon but I think it hasn't quite set in yet. While I am thrilled to meet my son, I feel overwhelmed that I have "more to do" to prepare. Like what? honestly, there really isn't much. We are picking our glider up tomorrow morning, I have 2 co-sleeper sheets to wash, need to buy an iPod shuffle for his lullabyes and I need to buy him a pair or 2 of newborn size pants (I wasn't expecting him to be so little at birth - 6lbs as of Wed). Otherwise, it is stuff for me that I need - a robe and slippers, a few items to return at the mall, some make-up (not for the hospital, but for the weeks I am home before I am fully mobile again), packing my hospital bag, I would like to get his quilt finished (well, at least get the quilting done and backing on) and IJ and I would like to go out to dinner and a movie since this will be our last weekend as just the 2 of us.

I can't believe I am days away, just 6 days.... this journey has been so long - 26 months actually. I admit there were times that I doubted this would happen, that I would actually become a mom. Those days weren't many and weren't often but when they hit, they were brutal. But I try my best to focus on the best days - our second egg retrieval when we had 12 eggs, the day we got the call from the fertility clinic that we were pregnant, the day of our first ultrasound, the first time I heard my baby's heartbeat, the day we found out we were having a son, the day of my shower and all the love that filled that room. And the best day is yet to come - next Thursday morning.

There are so many people I am thankful to have had supporting me throughout this process - while I never name any names on this blog, I will say this:

My OB office - Thank you Dr S and Nurse J
My Fertility clinic - Thank you Dr H, Dr W, the best Phlebotomist ever, the great ultrasound tech I saw almost daily and the nursing staff (except the girl who gave me my IV for retrieval #2, no thanks to her - lol)
My friends at work - LH, LC, MR, KF, SC, MF, TA, KT, SS - their daily encouragement definitely made those shots a lot easier to handle
My babycenter.com girls - I could not have gotten to this point without their support
My church family and friends praying for us

My family. Even though none of them could fully understand our process and all the IVF terminology, my mom and sisters were great. My aunts and cousins who knew about the second cycle were amazingly supportive.

And last but definitely not least, my husband. While I know exactly how this process made me feel, I don't think I will ever really know how it affected IJ. I know he was always being strong for me and not letting me see his own frustration month after month of us not being pregnant - and especially after the first IVF cycle failed. He put up with so many mood swings the fertility drugs caused me to have. And bravely stuck me with needles full of thick oil every night for weeks. He has rubbed my swollen, pregnant feet almost daily for weeks and done so much around the house so that I could rest after work. He's been reading the books, hanging things in the nursery, installing car seats and putting together toys. And I know he can barely hold in his excitement to meet our son next week. I am so glad to finally be able to give him a son.