Friday, January 22, 2010

Unplanned visit to Labor and Delivery

What a scare!

On Monday I woke up feeling a bit under the weather. By Tuesday, Brian was very concerned, as I was I. In addition to having a flu bug, we realized sometime in the late evening the baby, who usually kicks and rolls constantly (even as I type this!), was still. Immediately we called our physician's office but because of the rain storms, they had lost power so we were re-directed to Stanford/Lucille Packard (our local hospital) then sent to the Labor and Delivery floor where they were waiting for us.

On the 2-3 mile car ride to the hospital, fighting back the tears (and losing the battle to the stomach flu – sorry again to Brian’s car mats and my Uggs…), we arrived at the hospital around 9:00 am thinking after a quick assessment and we'd be home in bed resting in no time. Nope. Rather, they hooked me up to a fetal stress monitor and an IV and began loading me up with fluids. I was severely dehydrated. Nine hours later and three bags of fluids, the equivalent of 30 cups of water (with anti-nausea medication), we departed the hospital.

The bad news: It was a stressful, emotional day that put us both into a bit of a scare. We both agreed that the next time we show up at Labor and Delivery, it will be in March to welcome a healthy baby into our lives.

The good news: We spent nine hours listening to our little baby's heart beat. It was the greatest lullaby I could have asked for to comfort me during that stressful moment. We also had an ultrasound to measure the fluids around the baby which meant while they were measuring fluids, we were able to gaze into the monitor and enjoy seeing our baby. The nurse took an image of the baby's ultrasound for us but frankly, it looks blobby and hard to define.

The best news of all: Baby is healthy kicking, rolling, and jabbing me in the ribs. I'm feeling pretty good myself. I still have little bouts of nausea but no complaints. Our baby is fine and that is all that matters.
We're at 32 weeks - for those of you still trying to figure out pregnancy math, that means eight weeks until the due date! The baby is just less than 4 lbs and about 16 inches long. Over the next 4-6 weeks the baby should grow in length by maybe 2 inches and almost double in weight.

But before all this happened...

My lovely friends threw me a baby shower!  Here are a couple shots from the day.  It was so fun seeing everyone.  My only regret is I wish I could have had more 1:1 time with each of you.  Baby Mack has so many awesome Aunties.  This kid is going to be spoiled with love! 



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