Getting ready for Calvin Charles's arrival involved several classes at the hospital. The first class informed us of everything involved with delivery. Mary had always told me that she wanted to have a natural delivery. I never really thought about it until the class. Afterwards, I think I was freaking out about delivery more than Mary was. Needless to say, I am not sure I would want to have a natural deliver but more power to Mary if she wants to! The later classes involved learning infant CPR (which I already knew) and childcare classes. The childcare classes definitely helped me as I have not been around a baby since I was four years old. The CPR class was not as great, but at least I know I still got it.
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| I am this baby's hero |
All the preparations have been worth it and I think Mary and I are as ready as we every will be for Baby Charlie to come. We have ran out of time for preparations anyway so things are as good as they are going to get. Today we had another of our many appointments to check up on Mary now that she has preeclampsia. One of the tests they run on Mary is a non-stress test. The test involves two sensors being attached to Mary's abdomen.
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| Mary also had a button she was supposed to press when she felt Calvin moving around |
One measures Baby Charlie's heart beat while the other measures contractions or any other baby movement. A successful test will involve a raise in heart rate when movement is detected. Today was the second time we had the test. For the second time, Baby Charlie passed with flying colors.
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| Note the rise in heart rate - this is how you pass a non-stress test |
The entire test only lasted about 15-20 minutes. I don't think Mary minded it too much.
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| Living the life of luxury |
After the test, Mary had her blood pressure taken again. It was still too high. After she rested on her side, her blood pressure came down a little bit but not enough. The entire time, the doctor has told us that she wants to strike the balance between baby's health and mom's health. High blood pressure due to preeclampsia can eventually lead to more severe problems such as low platelet count and strokes. We waited patiently for the doctor to decide the best course of action.
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| Maybe not so patiently... |
After the doctor gave Mary an exam, she was pleased to inform us that Mary had finally started dilating and was at 1 cm. Not as far as it needs to be, but a good start. Also her cervix had ripened to about 80% of the level necessary. At this point, Mary can now be induced. And that's just what the doctor wants to do.
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"You're having a baby!"
Note the excitement in the doctor's eyes and the borderline terror in Mary's eyes. |
Mary will go into the hospital on Thursday night and they will apply a gel that will increase cervix dilation. After that, she will hopefully get a good night's sleep before her contractions start heating up. She will probably spend most of Friday in labor and Baby Charlie is expected to be born sometime that night. So now we are at the endgame. Mary has to collect her urine for another 24 hours and had blood drawn just to make sure everything is going OK.
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| Mary's BFF for the next 24 hours |
Baring any setbacks, Baby Chalie will be delivered at 38 weeks 6 days on February 3rd. I am projecting his birthweight to be 6lbs 12 oz. Anyone got want to venture their own guesses in the comments? We could get a betting pot going...
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| (Will be) Born Feb 3, 2012 |
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