24 more days!

well, i had a dr. appt today and expected to be more dilated than i was last week... i have been having contractions (painful but not yet regular) for a few days, so i was surprised to find out that there had been no change in that category. there also has been no change in the "Lexi's growth category", which is of slight concern. my dr. said that Lexi's probably just fine and that she'll just be a little baby, but he's sending me to have a sonogram on thursday just to make sure that she's growing like she should be. if there IS something wrong and she's not growing like she should be, it would most likely be the fault of the placenta and not something wrong with the baby, which is slightly reassuring. still, if there WAS a problem (my placenta not getting Lexi enough nourishment), then i would have to be induced within a day or two so that she could start getting nourishment outside the womb. it could also be an issue with amniotic fluid, which would also require me being induced... scarier options are that there could be a partial placenta abruption which could be keeping her from getting oxygen and nurtients and, well, the list of scary things really goes on and on and thinking about them and talking about them just plain freaks me out. i wish my sonogram was sooner than thursday! i'm praying that there's nothing wrong... hopefully the situation is actually nothing and she can continue to cook in there for at LEAST another 12 days.
Lexi has actually been measuring small consistently from the beginning, so we've always known she was going to be a bit on the little side... the only concern this week is that there had been no change in her size since LAST week and that she is now measuring 3-4 weeks smaller than she should be. when i asked just how big my dr. thought Lexi was, he said that the average baby is about 6.25-6.5 lbs at this stage and that she's not even 6 lbs. itsy bitsy girl! heck- maybe i'll just have an itsy bitsy baby. anyway, your continued prayers are appreciated! i'm sure she's just fine and that God will help her to grow a lot before our appt on thursday and continually until she's ready to be born. Lincoln and i sure are ready for her to get here, but daddy isn't! he wasn't "ready" for Lincoln, either, but sure didn't take long to adjust :) ...seriously, if you've never seen him have any good quality time with Lincoln, let me just tell you that he is an unbelievable father. he makes my job as a mom a LOT easier!
a bit about Lincoln now. he is spending most of the week with his Nana because her church is having Vacation Bible School and she is actually teaching the 3-yr-olds class. so i have a lot of time this week to get house cleaning and organizing done before the insanity of fireworks begins on friday. i have gotten the house "presentable" at least 4 times already for the guests i know we'll be having when Lexi's born, but having an almost-4-yr-old certainly doesn't make the job of keeping the house clean very easy!
Lincoln has decided that it's "too hard" to clean up his messes. my solution to that problem was that we get rid of all his toys so he didn't have anything to clean up anymore... he didn't like that idea and said that he could try harder, even though he still thinks it's "pretty hard" to clean up. ...what a tragedy!
love to all of you and i will blog on thursday after my sonogram!