Time flies when you run out of it

I was going to blog about a few more things before the big moment, but it came on us pretty quick.

On Tuesday the 3rd we went in for our weekly scheduled OB appointment and all seemed normal and on schedule with no concerns. Later that day we went for our last scheduled ultrasound to check the size of DLB, which if you remember is a concern due to Danielle's diabeties. The pictures were amazing, giving us a final glimpse of our beautiful baby before the due date on the 24th. After checking the heart, lungs, and other vitals, which were all awesome, they measured the abdomen, head, and the arm and leg bones to get an idea of how big and how much the baby was at this point. They estimated the weight to be 8lbs 3oz, but were concerned about the size of the head and shoulders. The shoulders are estimated in size by looking at the size of the head and belly. As with the head, the shoulders can be difficult to deliver if they are too big. The ultrasound doctor only reports on what he sees and sends it on to our OB/GYN for him to make any decisions. He said it would be sent over the next day so just to wait until we heard from him to see what was the next step.

Leaving the office I felt in my gut that the baby was getting too big, that the doctor was most likely going to have something to say when he got the report the next day. We went home to try to put the last finishing touches on the nurserynow that we knew we may not ahve 3 more weeks. That same afternoon our doctor called. The fact that he got the report that fast and was getting back to us this quickly made me pretty concerned. Danielle took the call and from what I was hearing it sounded too me that we would be inducing the birth. As Danielle got off the phone I asked if we would be having a baby next week. Instead of the excited response I expected, Danielle broke down in tears. I was absolutely terrified. Danielle doesn't break down easily. To see her this way was so different I wasn't sure what the doctor could have told her.

Induction was the plan, most likely Sunday night. What really concerned Danielle was the fact that in order to make sure the baby was ready she had to have an amniosentisis to make sure the lugs were developed enough to be ready to breathe. She was terrified that after what seemed to be a perfect pregnancy we were now faced with uncertainty. I assured her that every thing would be fine, we were 37 weeks in and that was considered full term and there were no other concerns ather than to make sure everything was ready for the big day. We talked for along time and we resolved that God's plan was already in place and He would guide us through, we would continue to put our trust in Him.

On Friday we went in to the hospital for the test. It took place in a small room in the Labor and Delivery floor of our hospital so we were able to get a look at how it all worked. Danielle was quite worried about having a needle put into her womb to extract amniotic fluid and we heard the needle was quite daunting. She was incredibly nervous. As it urns out the needle is rather long but very thin so she barely felt it. The doctor liked the looks of the fluid but we would have to wait for the official results to know wether we induced Sunday or waited another week. Due to the possibility of the test inducing labor we had to stay there for about 2-3 hours to monitor her contractions.

While she was having contractions, they were barely felt but we had to stay to keep track of them.. As we were waiting we heard a few women in active labor. HEARD THEM. We have been told that almost all women who are able to get epidurals do get them, so most likely the sounds we were hearing were from women that were already supposed to be drugged up. There were sounds that seemed to come from animals. Animals in a lot of pain and not being shy about letting the world know. Not what either of us wanted to hear, especially Danielle. I know I wanted an epidural, hopefully Danielle would change her mind as well.

You see Danielle had decided to do the delivery 'au natural'. Her mother had done it, so why not her? I really wanted her to not have to endure that pain but since she had made up her mind I decided to do my best and support her in that. Up until the point she changed her mind. Hopefully and mercifully. I didn't want to imagine the sounds she may express her discomfort with. It could haunt the baby. Or the daddy. Or the couple taking a simple test in the other room. Or the daddy.

That night we got the call. Lungs like a marathon runner, Sunday night at 12:30 in the morning was the start of the big day. The countdown had begun.