No News is Good News???

Yeah, right. Whoever said that never thought they were having a baby one day, and were then told maybe in a couple more weeks the next.




Yes, this is me. Still pregnant. Sorry, Aunt Shawna, I was really hoping to bring you a nephew for your birthday. I knew there was a possibility we were way too early; after all, I'm just 35 weeks along, and our babies are slow growers anyway. But I thought if I kept thinking positive, "It's going to happen, it's going to happen," it would actually happen. No such luck.

The Man and I went into the doctor's office yesterday morning for the amnio. It wasn't a big deal since I've been through it three times before. I knew what to expect, how it was going to feel, and that there was a possibility of me loosing my breakfast during it. Lying on my back is hard for me now. I can't do it for more than a minute or two without getting really sick. The doctor came in, answered any questions, stuck the needle in my belly (I didn't watch), and that was it. Yeah! I didn't throw up! I did feel sick, but it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. Mind over matter; right?

On our way out the nurse told me that she would call as soon as the results came back. She said the first part of the results would tell us if the lungs were mature, which lets us know if we were coming back to the hospital to deliver or staying home. The other two parts of the test would come in later in the day. I was so excited. I picked up Devil Child from my sister's and planned on going home to get one more load of laundry done before I packed my bag. And then she called.

She said his lungs were very underdeveloped. He was not even close to being ready. I'm not exactly sure what the numbers mean, but she said for them to be able to deliver the baby, he needed to score a 55 so he could breathe on his own. He scored an 18. Yikes. Now we were to wait until the rest of the test results came in to determine how long we had to wait before we can test him again. She said the doctor would probably recommend 10 days to 2 weeks because his numbers were so low. TWO MORE WEEKS!!! Oh, the disappointment. In reality, it's not that big of a deal, but since I had been trying to convince myself that this was really happening right now, I was REALLY excited for it. I was REALLY ready to not be pregnant anymore. You know how you get to the end of your pregnancy and everyone keeps telling you, "Wow, Woman, you look so great! I can't believe you're almost due! You're so tiny!" but you feel like a big freaking cow? Yeah, that's me. I feel like I waddle around everywhere I go, looking like a big blob.

Okay, so now reality sets in and I have to stop pouting. Two more weeks. Time to start planning and rearranging schedules. What's going on in two weeks? What are the possible conflicts that we need to resolve? Oh, yeah, MISS PRISS' BIRTHDAY!!! And oh, yeah, my sister is due on the 31st, and she usually goes a couple days or a week early. This time frame is totally not working for me. I was planning a birthday party for Miss Priss for the weekend of her birthday. Guess that's cancelled. I'm seriously not going to be up to hosting 15 or so 5-year-olds when I have a 3-day-old baby. And now who's my mom going to be with for the birth, me or my sister? I don't want her to feel like she HAS to come up here. It would be EASIER to stay there where my sister is. It's not like this the first baby for either of us. I really would be fine not having her here for that first week. But oh, how I LOVE having my mom around that first week. She is so great. She cooks and cleans and totally takes care of the other kids for me. She takes the baby and tells me, "Go and take a shower and a nap." She even gets up in the middle of the night or really early with the baby to give me a break. But I don't want her to have to choose between me and my sister, either.

The Man can tell I'm unhappy, and he takes over to try to make me feel better. He calls and says we can pull together a party for Miss Priss this weekend. After all, SHE doesn't know when her birthday is. It won't make any difference to her. So he offers all the help I need, and tells me we'll get started tonight with the invitations so I can deliver them tomorrow. After he got home from work, he went straight back to work ... for me, that is. He did exactly what I needed to get the invitations I wanted. We finished them up on the computer and got them printed up and ready for the finishing touches. We put the girls in bed, popped in The Princess Bride, and I started the cutting, gluing and glittering. I must say, they are just about the cutest invitations I've ever done. I was really happy with them.

So anyway, the latest update on the baby is that we're just waiting again. I'm back on the schedule for my visits to the doctor twice a week (yuck). And when they're able to, we'll test him again to see if he makes some progress on his own with the maturity of his lungs. If he doesn't do as well as the doctor would like, there's a possibility of doing steroid injections to help his lungs along. I don't know much about the procedure, how they do it, or if it will help more than just his lungs, but if it turns out we need to take that route, I'm sure I'll have a million questions before I let them plunge yet another needle into my body. We'll keep you all updated on his progress, and we'll let you know when they reschedule the delivery.

Wish us luck with our last-minute party this weekend! I hope it turns out all right. I'll post pictures after it's over.

And last but not least, Happy Birthday, Shawna! We love you tons and hope you have a really great day today!!!