Baby H: Birth Story Pt 1

Now you see why I never had a 37 week post until now?

On Tuesday 2/11, at 37 weeks exactly, John and I went to the perinatologist for one last ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech before scheduling a c-section. For all of the ultrasound appointments, we were lucky enough to schedule them for 7:30/8 AM and then we had a little ritual of stopping at Dunkin Donuts and then heading our separate ways to work.

This ultrasound showed what we expected- the baby was still breech despite my four chiropractor appointments, laying upside down, etc. The baby seemed to look fine- we saw it practice breathing, etc. Once the tech left and the doctor came in, they discussed the baby's fluid levels- they had been low 3 weeks earlier (7/8 out of 20- anything above 5 is "normal"). Today the tech measured them at 7ish again, but when the doc went to measure, he only could find 3 or 4.

After confirming everything else, the doc turned to us and asked what we were doing that day. John had his notebook in his lap and was making lists of stuff to buy for the addition construction. We looked at each other and said we were about to go to Dunkin and then work. The doc said, "No you aren't." Both of us assumed he would just want to do a little more monitoring to see if they could find more fluid since the tech had seen more.

Then the doctor said, "What do you think about having a baby today?" Um cue me pooping my pants. We were expecting to have another couple of weeks!

The doctor explained that at this point, the baby was 37 weeks (basically full term) and had done basically all of the developing. With the low amount of fluid there was more of a chance of the baby squishing the umbilical cord since there wasn't much to keep it floating off of the cord.

The doctor actually sounded pretty urgent and wanted me to get to the hospital ASAP. I had a cheese stick and coffee in the car on the way to the appointment at 7:30 am though and before the surgery I wouldn't have been able to eat for 8ish hours, putting us at a 4-5 PM delivery time. While the two of us sat there staring at each other freaking out, the doctor called my doctor and left messages for her. After that, the peri sent us on our way and told us that my doc would call me to give us any details.

So.. I got back in my car to head home instead of to work. (Good thing we had done all of my project hand offs the day before!) I called the office and my boss to let them know that I wouldn't be in (LOL) and John headed to his office to get his work computer. I called my mom (no answer) and then my dad to let them know that yep.. today was baby day.

On my way home, the doc called me and told me to report to the hospital between 12 and 1 PM. That gave me like 3 hours to do whatever I needed to at home. Once I got there, it was a mad rush of random spot cleaning and packing. Luckily, I am an anal list maker and had lists for what we needed to bring and what I wanted/needed to do before going to the hospital. Those couple of hours passed in a blur of shaving my legs on the tub edge, and scrubbing the tub as best I could at the same time, sweeping/swiffering, washing dishes and running the dishwasher, changing the bed sheets, etc.

We also paused right before leaving to take this picture that turned into the 37 week picture.

Soon it was 12 and we were ready to make the 20 minute drive to the hospital...