An Early Christmas Gift?

I was very eager to see my doctor today, and get some news on my latest progress.  It seems as though the uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful "practice" contractions I've been having over the last few days have helped the dilation process even more...I'm now 1-2 centimeters dilated!  The doctor could feel the baby's head during my exam, and said he has definitely dropped more since last time (that's a -1 pelvic station, for anyone who understands all this preggo jargon!).  Doc said that's good news, because some of the initial labor "work" is already taking place - hopefully that means that the real thing will go pretty smoothly and naturally.  Dr. Palermo is predicting that I'll go into labor sometime during this week, and maybe even this weekend!  Luckily, my last day of teaching is Friday, and Mom and Dave are driving up on Thursday.  Dad and Mary are just two hours away, and Marshall's parents live locally, so I'm hoping everyone will be present for the big arrival!  I'm crossing my fingers that I at least make it until this weekend...until then, I'll continue to waddle a bit slower and keep my feet up :)