Baby Week!

Do you remember the last time that you were filled with intense, euphoric excitement that you could hardly contain yourself? I'm not just talking about your normal happy anticipation. I'm referring to the kind of exuberance that is reminiscent of youthful enthusiasm for things to come. Think of the day before your first day at kindergarten, or the moments before you walked through the gates of Disneyland for the first time... or perhaps think of the moments leading up to an extra-special childhood birthday party right before your guests began to arrive. Well, hopefully those were happy occasions for you... if not - never mind. :) This is the kind of happiness that Jeff and I are feeling as the arrival of our precious baby approaches.

Reality is continuing to set in. Baby will make three in less than three days! We have an amniocentesis scheduled for tomorrow morning so we can make sure the baby's lungs are ready for the outside world prior to the c-section. As long as that procedure doesn't break my water (which it could), we'll be scheduling a c-section for Wednesday (8/20) or Thursday (8/21). We'll let everyone know what the timeline looks like once it is scheduled. The official reason for the c-section is macrosomia, the medical term for a gigantic, over-sized baby. That, coupled with my blood pressure, make c-section a recommendable option. It is better for me to schedule the surgery rather than go through hours of labor that doesn't progress, only to need an emergency c-section afterwards. It's too stressful/risky for both the baby and I.

I am feeling really good about our decision to go with the c-section. The best part, is that it is our decision without pressure from our doctor. She said that she's up for trying any delivery method, even if I was adamant about attempting natural birth first. At 32 weeks, the baby was already estimated to weigh 6 lbs, 4 oz (I'll let you do the math of adding 1/2 a pound a week to that.. yikes!), and today's 37-week appointment confirmed that the baby has not engaged in my pelvis. So now - 3 weeks early - we are likely talking about a 9 or 10 (or more) pound baby. The doctor said (with a youthful giggle) that she is really excited to find out the size of the baby. We can tell that she truly cares, and is genuine when she says that she's excited.

So, it is just a couple of days before we bring our perfect, beautiful baby into this world! As you can see, we definitely have a reason to be giddy with anticipation!

S