The Fam

We just got the call that the third fetal lung test was good, so we’re back on for having the baby today. (Yay!)

We were also told that the hospital does not have any openings at present, so they’ll call and tell us when we can go. (Ack!)

On pins and needles….

Tomorrow may or may not be Z day. The Mom had the fetal lung development test this afternoon, and failed two of the three criteria to have the baby tomorrow. They’re going to check the third piece, but that means sending things out to an external lab, so we may not hear anything until tomorrow afternoon.

At the earliest, we may be able to have the baby tomorrow afternoon or evening. If that doesn’t work, we’ll shoot for next Wednesday no matter what.

We’ve just returned from the hospital. Yes, it’s not the due date yet. No, he wasn’t early.

There’s nothing quite like having your wife wake you up at 4AM to tell you she’s been awake for a couple of hours and hasn’t felt the baby move. I couldn’t decide to jump in the car or throw up first. We tried to be rational, using all of the techniques they use at the checkups to make the little guy move around. First (before I woke) was ice water, milk, and soda. Next, we tried the spoons, which involves placing one spoon with the concave side on the belly, then whacking the everliving crud out of it with another. (I hate the spoons. It hurts my ears, I’m convinced the kid will have tinnitus from birth.) Still nothing. As a last resort, we tried the shower with hot and cold water. No change.

So, we called grandma to watch the other kid, and piled into the car. In case you’ve ever wondered, the Honda Element is incredibly stable and quiet at 100MPH+.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they hooked The Mom up to the monitoring machines and got a strong fetal heartbeat right off the bat. After several hours of waiting, The Mom was given the equivalent of her twice weekly exam, which includes a very thorough sonogram. By this time, however, the little guy had been kicking and eluding the fetal heart monitor for some time, so we figured that everything was okay. We were given a clean bill of health and sent home soon after.

I’m glad everything is okay, but I sure hope Z day gets here soon. I had a flashback to losing our last one, and that was almost too much for me.

So. Here we are. In six days, we’re going to have a new addition. We know it’s six days because The Mom is going to be induced at exactly 36 weeks. There are reasons for this, first and foremost being the fact that we lost our last baby at 37 weeks and our OB is doing everything possible so we can bring our baby home this time.

By “everything possible,” I mean it. For the last 8 weeks or so, The Mom has been going to the hospital twice a week where they attach all manner of contraptions and measure everything there is to be measured. So far, the little guy has been ahead of schedule and passing his tests with flying colors. According to the hospital, he’s actually a week or so ahead developmentally.

Only six more days. Hopefully we can stay sane until then!