The Final Countdown

First of all, just to make sure we are all on the same page as to where the post title came from (and so that I am not the only one with this song stuck in my head):

You're welcome.

Anyway, today was the third-to-last non-stress test and my last ob-gyn appointment before Claire's big debut.  I really don't have anything exciting to report, but it felt strange not to do a blog post, so there you have it.  Once again, you're welcome.  Claire passed the non-stress test (when she wasn't turning away and hiding from the heart monitor), but she remained stubborn and refused to uncover her face for the mini-ultrasound.  The appointment with Dr. H actually ended up being with Erin, the physician's assistant, instead.  She gave me some more info as to what to expect on the 16th (assuming we make it that far), such as: even though the C-section is scheduled for 8AM, we will need to first call the hospital at 5AM to make sure a bed is available, and, if so, actually arrive at the hospital at 6AM for pre-surgery fun.  Erin also told me that Dr. H isn't actually on the OR schedule for the 16th, but is coming in just for Claire (but don't tell her that - the child doesn't need to think she is special or anything).  I was also sent to the lab for one last platelet check, and then that was that.  Now there is nothing to do but wait to see if Claire will hold out for the 16th or decide to do things her own way and arrive ahead of schedule ...

Given the lack of substantive information in this post, I figured I would supplement it with some pictures of Claire's room so everyone could see the MASSIVE transformation that took place thanks to the hard work of Bo and our amazing friends and family. 

As you can see, we started out with some pretty AWESOME  wallpaper.

About a year ago, I tried to remove the wallpaper myself, only to have barely made a dent after a full day's worth of work due to the multiple layers I found (including plaster!) and the generally poor overall condition of the walls themselves.  Thankfully, my husband is a genius, and he decided it would be easiest if we just put new drywall over the whole room.  Even better, he was able to enlist Riverview's finest to assist him with this task:

Tearing out the small closet and sealing up the door between Claire and Cole's rooms.

Even the ceiling was covered.

Of course, after the drywall came the mudding.  Once again, our neighbors pitched in, but not before Bo proved that he was not above violating the child labor laws:

Since we had pretty much exhausted the goodwill of our neighbors by that point, we were more than willing to take my parents up on their offer to assist with the painting.

The walls look pink in a lot of the photos, but are more of a light lavender.

Of course, that did not mean that Cole was able to escape without being put to work:

Finally, we were able to start moving everything in.

Now I just need to finish washing and putting away Claire's clothes, and we will be absolutely ready.  Thank you so much to everyone for all of their hard work and assistance in helping us get to this point ~~ we definitely could not have done it without you!

~~Val

Appointment Trifecta

Once again, I apologize for not posting sooner . . . yesterday was the perfect storm of appointments, which completely wiped me out for the rest of the day, and today is the first day of the invoice period, so I have been very productive this morning (except replace "very" with "somewhat, when not distracted by Facebook, e-mails, and shiny objects," and you'll have a more accurate picture of my day so far).

First on the agenda for yesterday was the non-stress test.  I was a little concerned about how it would play out given that I didn't eat a lot of lunch ahead of time (for some reason, the plastic utensils did not survive the move to the new office, and it is very hard to eat mac-n-cheese without a fork or spoon), but Claire proved me wrong and kicked butt.

From there, we went to our ultrasound appointment, which was pretty uneventful.  We did learn that Claire weighs approximately 6 lbs, 8 oz, but, as both the ultrasound tech and the doctor were quick to point out, this is just an estimate as it is largely based on the size of her abdomen (which is hard to determine given her "O").  Otherwise, everything else looks to be on track.  The ultrasound tech tried to take some pictures of Claire's face, but she kept throwing her arm up in the way:

Pretty sure we have yet to get a picture where her mouth is not hidden.

The tech kept trying, but it was easy to tell from the grumpy expression in the last picture that Claire was quickly losing patience with the whole process:

Can't hide those chubby cheeks, though!

Finally, we had our appointment with Dr. H., who confirmed that everything continues to look good.  He did stress the importance of doing "kick counts" 2x per day to keep track of Claire's movements as the higher amount of amniotic fluid increases the risk of Claire getting tangled up in the umbilical cord, but I am not too concerned as it is usually harder to keep track of the times when Claire is not moving than when she is.  Dr. H also gave us some more details about the C-section.  According to him, the earliest I can expect to be discharged is Sunday the 19th, and I will not be able to drive for two (2) weeks . . . so if anyone wants to volunteer to provide taxi services, let me know!  I promise not to "backseat drive" (much), I will let you pick the music, and I will even throw in the chance to drive my awesome uber-preppy soccer mom SUV that we were able to get thanks to Bo's brother, John. :)

One of the many shiny things that has distracted me lately.

So, that about sums it up.  Dr. H. said that we will not have any more ultrasounds between now and the 16th, which just leaves four more non-stress tests and two more ob-gyn appointments before Claire is here!  I know I have said it before, but I really cannot stress enough how much everyone's love and support has helped Bo and I over the past couple of months . . . thank you, thank you, thank you!

~~ Val

Check Yes, No, or Maybe

Super quick update, I promise, but I am seriously so giddy at the latest development that I couldn't wait to share it with everyone.  As you know, Bo and I have not had the smoothest experience with CHKD's pediatric surgeons.  To recap, our first consult with one of the surgeons was an absolute bust and left us with more questions than answers and feeling more pessimistic than hopeful.  We then had to push for a couple of weeks before they would give us another consult with a different surgeon (again, I am extremely grateful to Erin and Dr. H for their support in this matter), and then, once we got that, we had to reschedule due to an unavoidable court date.  However, it was all worth it once we finally got to meet with Dr. F.  The next step was getting the C-section date so we could (a) ask Dr. F if he would be available on that date for Claire's first evaluation; and (b) ask if he would be in charge of Claire's surgical care.

Sounds simple enough, right?  I swear, though, when I was drafting the e-mail to him, that I felt just like a middle schooler asking her crush to go to the big dance with her.  Poor Bo had to review my multiple "drafts" of the e-mail before I finally hit send, and then, once I did, I spent the next couple of hours getting nervous every time I saw a new e-mail pop up in my inbox.  Fortunately, I just got a reply from Dr. F. stating that he would be happy to be Claire's surgeon and that he will be in the hospital on the 16th to look in on us.  

Needless to say, the relief I am feeling right now is ridiculous.  There have been 4 other "O" babies born in the Hampton Roads area in the past two years (three of which have been born in the past 9 months), and Dr. F is the surgeon for three of them (and the mother of the fourth has made the decision to ask him to take over her son's care).  So we know Claire will be in extremely experienced hands, which is all we can ask for at this time.

[For those of you who are wondering, I swear I get work done . . . it just takes me a little longer than usual. :) ]

D-Day

I was debating about doing a big lead-in, and making everyone read pointless drivel (which I am really, REALLY good at writing) before revealing the C-section date, but I realized that everyone is fully capable of just scrolling down until they found the date on their own, meaning that I would only be wasting my time.  So, without further delay . . . 

Claire should be making her debut on the morning of May 16, 2013 (the actual appointment time is 8:00 a.m.).  I say "should be" since there is always the chance that she could try to come early, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that she continues to stay put for the duration.

Honestly, I was (not-so-secretly) hoping for the 14th as that would mean Claire would share her birthday with some pretty great football players - Clay Matthews (Green Bay Packers), Rob Gronkowski (Patriots), and Frank Gore (49ers) - but I realize that is not a real reason for pushing for a certain date (and I certainly wasn't going to press the issue with Dr. H. since it was hard enough to get a date in the first place!).  Instead, Claire's birth will serve the higher purpose of giving Bo a great excuse to escape that day's YMCA board meeting where he is currently scheduled to give the opening speech.

[On the other hand, I guess the YMCA board meeting could give Bo a great excuse to escape the hospital for a couple of hours, especially since I have no illusions about my pain tolerance (meaning, my lack thereof) and fully believe I will probably be a HUGE pain in the butt after the pain meds have worn off.  For the record, Bo, I wouldn't blame you.]

So, all in all, a good date.

Otherwise, not much to share.  Claire continues to pass her non-stress tests with flying colors, but I still have to have the tests 2x per week given that the level of amniotic fluid is still higher than normal (but no higher than it was since first measured).  We have one last ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday, April 30th, at which time I should be able to provide more information re: Claire's "O," her current weight, etc., etc.  

In the meantime, we continue to be grateful for all the love and support y'all have given us and hope that you know how very, very much it means to us.

~~Val

The Waiting Game

I just wanted to post a quick update since I've had a couple of people ask me whether we've been able to schedule the C-section yet. Unfortunately, the answer is no.  At my last appointment, Erin said that someone should be calling me this week to get it scheduled, but so far that has not happened.  Today, I called the number Erin had previously provided as a way to reach her (I believe it is for the nurses' station), but no one answered.  Frustrating, to say the least, but I am still hopeful that someone will call me either today or tomorrow (or, at the very least, that we will be able to schedule it at my appointment on the 23rd!).

~~Val

Insert Title Here ... [a.k.a I can't wait to have a fully-functioning brain again.] UPDATED: Now with photos and (slightly) less typos!

[NOTE: I apologize for any typos in this post. I am attempting to use the Blogger app on my iPad for the first time, and I am not all that proficient at typing on this thing. Which means, of course, that any typos in all prior posts - which were typed on my laptop - are completely unacceptable.]

I had planned for the point of this post to be to share the date for the C-section, but we unfortunately did not schedule it at today's ob-gyn appointment like I had hoped. According to Erin, the physician's assistant, the doctors' schedule for mid-May is still not out. While they could go ahead and set the appointment, Dr. H (my ob-gyn) wants to try to make sure he is the one performing the C-section (which is what I want, too!), which means we have to wait for the schedule. C'est la vie ... good thing we are getting used to waiting! ;)

Other tidbits from today's appointment:

• Dr. H reviewed last week's ultrasound and, as he put it, "everything looks good."
• As I stated in an earlier post, my platelets had been low, so they wanted to retest them. Fortunately, they are much higher this time around, so we can strike that off the list of things that we need to keep track of.
• My next regular appointment will be in two weeks (April 23rd), and then every week after that ... not that there are all that many weeks left to go!
• Dr. H wants at least one more "full" ultrasound - as opposed to the mini ultrasounds I get at the non-stress tests - so we scheduled one for April 30th.

We also had a non-stress test today, and once again, Claire passed, hiccups and all!

(It was a struggle, but I finally got the video to upload!  Please pardon the appearance of my finger on the right side of the screen.  Steven Spielberg, I am not.)

The mini ultrasound showed that Claire is getting really good at practicing her breathing, which is definitely good news as the ability to breath unassisted will be one of the key components to getting her home.

This next bit is completely unrelated to medical issues, but I wanted to say a huge thank you to my friends, Lexi and Kris, for the shower they threw me last Saturday. Everything was perfect, from the company, to the adorable decorations, to the food (especially the bacon strip skewers!). I am very lucky to have such good friends, and Claire is very lucky as she is going to start out her life as the owner of a pretty awesome collection of books.  Here are some pics from the party:

Me with the fabulous party planners!

My gorgeous mother and sister!

Finally, congratulations to our neighbors and close friends, Megan and Richard, who welcomed Claire's future BFF into the world Monday morning!!

~~ Val & Bo

33 Week Ultrasound

I know, I know . . . still failing at the post titles.  It's invoice time at work right now, so I am trying to get this post up as quickly as I can in the short time that I have before having to dive back into billing.  I am sure my clients will appreciate that since I know they love this time of month just as much as I do! :)

Claire's Foot and Face

Today started with (what has become) our standard Tuesday non-stress test appointment, which Claire passed with flying colors.  She had hiccups the entire time, which were pretty cute to hear over the monitor.  She also apparently did not like the position of the sensor because she refused to stay still until it was moved to a different location (the tech thinks it was pressing on Claire's head . . . I think Claire is still protesting having to "perform" at such an early hour).

Next was the ultrasound, which was once again just with a tech, followed by a short visit from the doctor (whom we had never met before).  Everything is progressing as it should - Claire weighs approximately 5 lbs, 2 oz. and is in the 69th percentile for growth.  Her "O" still contains just her liver and has not had any significant change in size since the last ultrasound.  I've attached some pictures from the ultrasound - the top one is (obviously) Claire's foot, while the bottom is her face.  Unfortunately, but as per usual, Claire was not in a mood to cooperate, so we were not able to get a shot without her arm in the way.  We also got to see Claire practicing breathing, which was pretty cool.  Given that the doctor did not have anything to add at the end of the appointment, we are pretty sure he came in just to get a glimpse of Claire's "O," which is fine by us.  

Aside from the Tuesday-Friday stress tests, our next appointment is with the ob-gyn on Tuesday, April 9th at 1:30 P.M.  Hopefully that is when we will start looking at the schedule for the C-section, but we do not know for sure (we were just told that the schedule for May did not come out until mid-April).

Finally, we want to end with a big congratulations to Bo's brother and sister-in-law (and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) on the birth of their extremely handsome baby boy on Friday, March 29th!!  Cole was ridiculously excited to meet his new cousin, and from what I understand, it was hard to pry the baby out of Cole's arms. :)

~~Val & Bo