Leaving the Hospital and going home.

The day after the "Day After"

Oskar Edward Allan Forstater

Born: September 27, 2006
Time: 12:57 p.m.
Weight: 8 lbs 5 oz
Length: 20 1/2"
Chest: 13 1/2"
Head: 14 1/4"

How to schedule a c-section.

Dr. Dang arrived about an hour ago and gave Lauren an exam to see where we stand.

Still floating (head down) no change in effacement or dilation from our last visit.

We told her about the last ultrasound visit; how he is measuring 80th percentile (8 lbs. 8 oz), additional amniotic fluid, and my family's history of 'large shoulders' at birth.

She gave us the pros and cons for a little woman, like Lauren delivering vaginally (along with a personal anecdote about her first child being 8 lbs. plus and her being 5' 2"). She also gave us the risks and benefits of doing a c-section delivery.

We talked to our family and asked a ton of questions to ensure that we knew what we were agreeing to one way or another. Dr. Dang's concern was the shoulders and Lauren's pelvis. The biggest risk involved in vaginal delivery is that the head comes through, the shoulders don't, and our son becomes caught and suffocates in the birth canal.

The odds of us doing a vaginal delivery were becoming less and less likely. More than likely it would have been a long and difficult labor and c-section delivery.

That was enough for us to hear. We pulled out the Snapple cap (thanks Lori) and flipped it three times, then decided to go with the surgery. I'll be there with my wife through the whole thing and we will certainly meet our son today.

It all starts at 11:30 a.m.

We're at the Hospital!

Well, we waited all day and all night for the call from the hospital. Then around 4:30 a.m. it came. Our room was ready. Northside Hospital. Labor and Delivery Room D-1.

The hospital's central monitoring computers have been down throughout the entire night so there are nurses stationed outside of the door for each labor and delivery room. I think it had a part in our delayed call for our room. Either way, we're finally here.

There were other computer problems during check-in as well. I hope my laptop doesn't implode while we're laboring. There was a woman in the waiting room going through contractions as she waited for her room to be ready. WOW!!! They were intense. Not at all what you see on T.V. Something to look forward to....

For now, Lauren is resting in her bed, fielding blackberry emails, and talking to the nurse and on her phone. She is a great multitasker and will make an excellent mom.

We are waiting for the doctor to arrive at the hospital. I am not sure if our induction course has changed since yesterday as a result of our late/early arrival at the hospital. We'll find out soon.

Dr. Dang is on duty today. She is very nice and was ready to induce us 3 weeks ago. Dr. Dawson is on duty tomorrow. He is recovering from a broken foot. One of them will deliver our baby.

The L&D room is large and accommodating. It is a little strange being in the place where your child is going to meet the world for the first time. Very cosmic. I feel like a time traveler taking a peek at the future.

We're going to try to get some sleep (not that easy with all the excitement) and watch some cable TV.

-M

Driving to the Hospital at 5:00 a.m.

Mobile Blogging......how sweet!

Launch postponed (not cancelled) amid overcast skies.

Another visit. Another NST. Another Ultrasound. Another Exam.

Another week (at least).

The clouds gathered all around us as we made the familiar journey to AWS this week for our checkup. Everything is going so well.

Lauren was really hoping that we could light this candle today but it's just not in the cards.

After sitting through ANOTHER 20 minute non-stress test and an ultrasound we were directed to a waiting room for the doctor. This was our first time in a waiting room with a window. For about 5 minutes the sun shone through the clouds and the blinds and lit the room up.

Lauren remarked, "how can we get 'bad' news today in such a bright and cheery room?"

'Bad' news is sooooo relative. I try to imagine all of the truly bad news that people had received in that office about infertility, complications and loss.

Dr. Perry gave us the inconvenient answer today. It caused some discomfort and a bout of bitterness in my wife, but there is still a light at the end of the tunnel for us and for that I am happy. The past month has been a lesson in patience. I am sensing that this will become a theme for us throughout our children's lives.

I am so anxious to meet my son and carry him for my wife for a while. She deserves a break and I deserve a turn now.

We'll find out more next Tuesday.

One Last Look (in utero) and the countdown continues....

We are sitting in the waiting room of Atlanta Women's Specialists. Misty, our Ultrasound Tech from Peachtree City and our son's first portrait photographer has just completed our final ultrasound. Today they were monitoring size and fluid and the outcome.........estimated (80th-85th percentile) 7 pounds, 6 ounces and lots of excess fluid.

The fluid is not a surprise. We've heard this at every appointment for the past 2 months. The size percentile is a little more shocking. Up from 70th percentile 2 weeks ago. It's such a fuzzy measurement though so who knows. More of a guideline than a rule.

Last week we saw one of the nurse practitioners named Suni who felt that Lauren and [INSERT NAME HERE] are doing just fine but still measuring ahead of time by anywhere from 2-3 weeks. As a result she wanted us to come in for another visit, today, to meet with Dr. Perry and get a physicians opinion on what happens next.

Lauren is ready to GO!!. I'm ready to GO!! If we can get agreement from our son and the doctor then a scheduled induction, or delivery, next week is possible. I could be holding my first child by this time next week. Yes!! (pump fist a la Tiger Woods after a par 5 eagle putt!).

Before the doctor sees us, we're sitting through another NST (non-stress test) to measure the baby's heart rate. It's a time to catch up on waiting room magazines about parenting, children, infants and exotic recreational options afforded to a physician's 'disposable' income. I decided to use the time to BLOG, thanks to the hospital's wifi.

10 more minutes on the NST then the final word from the doctor.

10 minutes later....

Dr. Perry came in to the NST room and looked at the readout, talked with us for about 10 minutes. He is very nice, informative and conversational. Did you know that c-sections have been performed for the past 600 years or so, since the 1400s? Of course SURGICAL procedures back then weren't so good, and there was no such thing as anasthetic, and many women died from them, but Dr. Perry feels that after a few centuries of practice that they've pretty much got it down.

Anyway, he discussed options for natural delivery, induction, and scheduled c-section in the next coming weeks with us and the final verdict is.....















We come back in on Monday for another checkup.

FINAL verdict still to come...

The Home 'STRETCH' and Natural Delivery

Yesterday we had another of our, now weekly, doctor checkups at AWS. This time we saw Dr. Dang. She is very pleasant, very smart, and very sensitive to our need to ask questions. We've seen ALL 5 doctors and 2 nurse practitioners now and we've found that each one has a distinctly different style and approach towards Obstetrics.

We had another Ultrasound at this visit and our son is measuring in the 70th percentile for overall size. For my petite (5' even) wife this news is a little unsettling in regards to a vaginal birth. This visit really made us consider "how natural of an approach" we want to take for our delivery. Or more specifically, "do we INDUCE early for a vaginal delivery" or "do we try to CARRY TO TERM and schedule a c-section deliver".

After the ultrasound and during our checkup, Dr. Dang expressed a desire to induce Lauren next week as she is measuring, via tape measure, around 41 weeks. Her concern is that as we approach term, Lauren's option to deliver vaginally will become less viable.

This means that we would need to get an amniocentesis first to determine if we could induce. It would be at least another week (bringing us to week 37) just to find out if induction was going to be possible. That's a lot of testing, results, and appointments just to find out IF it’s an option for us, considering that every day that passes we are less likely to deliver vaginally regardless. So all these efforts could be pointless by the time the results come in.

Lauren and I had already discussed our preference for c-section delivery, if needed, and we told the doctor. She did not disagree with our rationale but did reinforce that at this time we have options so we decided to think it over and talk about it over lunch.

One of Lauren's biggest fears during labor is to try vaginal birth for 12 hours only to end in a c-section. Our friends and family who have delivered babies assured us, anecdotally, that this is the worst scenario possible as it is tiring, traumatic physically and mentally, and still carries the recovery from, though minor, a surgical procedure.

We are going to carry as far as we can and take our chances at delivery knowing that we will likely need to schedule a c-section. This decision was really hard for Lauren. The daily toll on her body from carrying a large baby (and extra amniotic fluid to boot) is grueling. I love her so much. She is taking the high road for our child and it assures me that she is going to be a great mother.

Either way we will have a baby within the next 3 weeks.