Parameters of Operation Baby

Today my child will be born.

In a hospital via c-section. Over four weeks "early."

And I'm coming to terms with those facts this morning. Because I get to meet the him or her that has been beating my insides senseless for awhile now (but perhaps not long enough in the scheme of things). Which, in case any of you sense my ambiguity, qualifies as a Wonderful Thing. Bottom line is: after almost six years of heartbreak and wanting and trying, we get a live, mostly healthy baby today.

Obviously, there is more to write.

Baby: The baby is doing okay-ish. It passed the biophysical profile yesterday with an 8/8. The sono was a mixed bag: great parts, heart, diaphragm, movement, two legs, arms, kidneys, the cutest face/lips, good fluid, and hair all over the back of his/her head. Not-so-hot: "mature" (read: becoming crappier by the day) placenta, head circumference & belly both measuring two weeks behind. Definite small baby - in the lower 10th percentile. Nothing super worrisome by its self.

Me: still have a high bp, second round of lab work - blood was just fine, but the protein in my urine was terrible. Not bad, terrible. I'm not feeling well. Swelling is still present, of course.

So I had the doctor look at me yesterday and let me know that for the sake of both baby and me, it would be better if I was no longer pregnant and soon. We could wait a few days or a week for things to get really bad (i.e. baby and me become more sick), but now was the best time to get everything moving along - while we're both okay-ish. We agreed.

Baby is probably between 4.5-5.5lbs, but could surprise us. Baby is, from all testing, healthy and scrawny and a fighter. Dr said that in these situations, often baby does really well with the stress of arriving earth side early due to the experience of stress already inside a sick mom (me). We are probably looking at a (hopefully short) NICU stay due to age and size, but again, maybe not.

Baby is, of course, breech. Its tiny little hairy head is literally crammed up against my heart. This means a c-section surgery for us. I asked the dr about trying to flip the little tyke, but due to the stress already present, she recommended not to try.

And that's about it. Or, all that I have energy to write about. Someday you'll all get a birth story (another thing I didn't think I'd get the chance to do), but I imagine that's a few weeks down the road.

- Posted from my mobile phone