Almost there...

Well, it’s been one eventful week.  Despite my better judgment, I made THE spiciest Chili on Tuesday night.  I mention this because I think it was the source of the contractions that started soon after, followed by perhaps a bit of the – TMI ALERT – mucus plug.  So I immediately called my OBs office and by 10 p.m. we were in Labor and Delivery.   Mind you – we were not even ready yet.  We had a stack of Christmas cards to be signed and mailed on the table, housecleaners coming but still 3 days away, no bag packed, no car seat in the car yet.  And most importantly, I needed a haircut.  

As a nurse escorted us from the Emergency Room to L&D, he noted, “You sure seem pretty calm.”  I told him it was because I had no idea what was going on really and no idea what to expect.  Being clueless really helps in moments like these.

We arrived through the double doors and it was oddly quiet.  Brett and I laughed later because I think we both expected it to be utter chaos.  Imagine…as we walk in, we announce we are having contractions and some disheveled nurse throws her papers and files in the air “A baby is coming, a baby is coming – what to do, what to do??” But no, they just took us to a very nice, large birthing room.  Immediately Brett asks, “Is ALL this necessary, I mean, we are just here to have her checked out?”  First sign of nervous jitters that I have seen out of him.  The nurse explained that they had no triage rooms and not to worry, this room would be fine.  Not a big deal. 

So we got comfortable, they put monitors on me and my large belly and we waited.  Yep, contractions were happening.  Luckily, one of the other OBs from my OBs practice was on call and he came to check on us.  Well, my cervix to be more precise.  Yep, 70% effaced and something about a fingertip.  I have no idea.  And, nothing was presenting – I think that means there was nothing trying to escape my womb.  This was good news.   “It appears your body is getting ready for labor, although you aren’t exactly in labor,” he said.  “But, I would like to keep you overnight and make sure that you don’t progress given that he is transverse and with the cord and placenta lying low.  If you do, we might be looking at a c-section tomorrow – so no food, only water.”

WHAAATTT????!!?!?!  And again, the list of all that I had to do ran through my brain.  Okay, okay, so yeah, we might have a baby tomorrow – good God! What??!?!  And then I let it go. 

By now, it was midnight, the roads were supposed to be getting icy and I was fine to crash there.  But given that we brought nothing with us, dutiful husband went all the way back across town to get a few things so we could at least feel halfway human in the morning.

Brett was back by 1 am.  Made his comfy bed on the couch in the room and we both tried to get some sleep.  At least twice I heard the festive cries of newborn babies – it was a pretty sweet sound. I imagined how relieved and ecstatic those families must have been and for a moment, I think I was ready if they had come in and said we would need to do the C-Section right then.

However, that was not the plan for this little guy.  I, of course, was up early – only 4 hours of sleep for this girl! And waited until 7 am when the nurse and doctor came back in to check.  Things had stayed relatively the same, including the fact that I was still having contractions, but luckily they weren’t causing the cervix to change.  We could go home and wait to hear from my OB, who might want to push things up if she is concerned. 

So we packed up.  Added bonus – a ‘snow day’ was called at school so no work for me!  Can you guess what I did?  I got those Christmas cards signed and mailed.    And then I took it easy.  I reminded this little guy that he did not need to worry about coming out to meet us, that we would come and get him in a week.  So sit tight.  We would be there – no doubt. 

And so we wait.  Our C-Section is scheduled for 7:30 am on Wednesday, Dec. 18th.  This is my last day of work, well partial day of work and then I will hopefully have a few days to get all those last minute things done and taken care of.  Don’t worry, the haircut happened – for Brett, too.  So at the very least, we now look quite photogenic.  My bag is packed.  The cleaners come today and aside from Brett’s stocking, I am both ready for this baby and for Christmas.   Brett is sad to see this belly go, who knew?  But I am going to relish being able to touch my toes and pick things up off the floor.  

It is hard to believe that these 9 months are coming to a close.  I can remember those days when I felt the pain of thinking we would never have a baby or start a family.  In fact, there are still blogs I read from other women, still struggling with infertility and I can feel and hear that pain they have - it's still so familiar.  I hope that their struggles will pass.  I can't imagine a worse place to be.  I, we, feel such gratitude that this little guy is coming to us.  What a blessing he is to us, already.  

We will keep you posted.  Pretty exciting times.