I am so, so happy for Melissa that she now has what she keeps calling “a light at the end of the tunnel”.

Jeanne

With everything you’ve been through (including originally being told that September 26th was the date), it’s a bit surreal that you now know tomorrow is the day, isn’t it? I know you have been looking forward to this very much! After such a challenging pregnancy (understatement of the century), I hope that tomorrow goes very smoothly.

I can’t wait to hear once Chloe is finally here! I will be thinking about you tomorrow!!

Jeanne

TOMORROW! TOMORROW! OMG, It’s going to be tomorrow! Looking forward to it with joy and a bit of mixed anxiety. I know all will work out in the end.

Thank you everyone, and especially Jeanne, for supporting me throughout this extremely difficult journey. Your help has made things all that much more possible for me to get through each day with almost a smile, but always at least a chuckle.

I’ll be sure to update just as soon as I can, if I deliver naturally I expect to be released 24 hours after her birth. If I need the c-section, I’ll be holed up for 4 days. Let’s hope for 24 hours!
.-= Melissa Ralston´s last blog ..The Fertility Journey: Oh How Things Change =-.

SIX MORE DAYS

Jeanne

I’m sorry you’ve had to go through so much but happy that I was able to be helpful in any way.

Thank you for explaining to people why “books are dangerous” for you. I figured no one would know what you were talking about.

Hopefully you’ll get your prize books soon. It’s so odd that they got shipped back to the return address. Enjoy your Dalai Lama book. Sorry you couldn’t find the Patrick Swayze book. I know you have admired him for a long time. From what I understand, he became quite a conservationist after traveling to Africa. Apparently, he was very concerned about how humans care for the Earth. I’d like to read Michael J. Fox’s book too. I like books like that too.

Take care,

Jeanne

“Once you choose hope, anything is possible”. — Christopher Reeve

I love the way you write letters to the kids way before they’ll ever see them. I think it’s really sweet. Don’t pressure yourself about getting letters written to Chloe before she’s born. You’re sick and you’ll have plenty of time for letter-writing. So try to rest. I know you’re sick of that word by now… but try.

Jeanne

I wish I didn’t win the award for most complicated pregnancy, believe me. It certainly has been a roller-coaster of a ride though hasn’t it? From the onset of bleeding at 6 weeks when I discovered I was pregnant and they discovered the hemorrhagic cyst, to the development of the partial bowel obstruction and it’s removal at 24 weeks, to the fainting episodes from low blood pressure and their resulting injuries, it’s been a ride and a half. A ride I certainly won’t miss when it stops!! My pregnancy has been anything but “normal”, just a series of “flukey” things that all converged together at the wrong time. There really is no other way to describe it. But through it all, you’ve been there for me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. It would have been a long, hard summer without having had your support.

Just to let your readers in on our little “inside” book joke: I’m a Klutz. Yes, with a capital K. I’ve sustained quite a few book injuries over the course of the summer. I’ve fallen into bookcases, cutting me pretty badly on one occasion. I had Jacob’s bookcase collapse on my hand as I was getting out bedtime stories. I’ve walked into a few bigger books breaking toe-nails. It’s as though I look at a book and it’s going to find a way to hurt me somehow! The ironic thing is that I won one of Jeanne’s blog giveaways which was a collection of 2 books. I ventured into the bookstore today and I didn’t get hurt. I even managed to buy one of the books I was after (by the Dalai Lama) although I couldn’t get the second one I really wanted “Time of My Life” by Patrick Swayze and his beautiful wife Lisa. I also am looking forward to getting Michael J Fox’s book. I’m having a current fling with uplifting autobiographies of ill people apparently!

Take care,
Melissa
.-= Melissa Ralston´s last blog ..The Fertility Journey: The End is in Sight =-.

I also thank you for your continued support and for creating a prayer chain on my behalf. While I might not be an “overly religious” person per se, I do believe in the power of positive energy and prayer certainly is one of those forms. During my travels in Korea and Japan, I came across the idea of a Buddhist Wish Tree which I adopted. My wish tree became some tattered with time and cluttered with wishes that I then found a little “Buddhist wishing well” where I put in special wishes for other people’s healing. I have already put one in for everyone that has responded.

It is difficult being a chronically ill mom to a chronically ill child (let alone one on the way) but we do what we have to do in order to adapt to the way life is. Jacob has never known a completely healthy mommy, but I try not to let my limitations really be known to him. He’s just coming to the age where he recognizes that mommy can’t always go to the playground, etc., but we do other equally special things together. It’s ironic that I was thinking today of writing a special letter to Chloe about being chronically ill and allowing my blog readers to have a “preview”. I wrote letters to Jacob during that pregnancy, but haven’t had as much a chance to write letters to Chloe as I would have liked. Hopefully I’ll get it done before she is born!!

Many kind thoughts and warm hugs coming your way,
Melissa
.-= Melissa Ralston´s last blog ..The Fertility Journey: The End is in Sight =-.