Wednesday, July 09, 2008

T-Minus Seven Days until Project “Sleep Through The Night for ME, but NOT For My IP’s Because They Will Be Taking Care Of This Baby” Begins

A week before my induction was scheduled, I had my 39-week OB checkup. My doctor had not done any physical exams prior to this because to quote him, “No sense stirring up the pot”. Um, yeah, thanks. I agree.

At that 39 week appointment, he determined that the baby was head-down, and I was dilated to a three; both good things. I had not been having any contractions, which was also good as far as I was concerned. The doctor seemed to think things would go smoothly and fairly quickly since this would be my third delivery. I hesitated to tell him that I am the Tortoise-Woman of Labor, and that it would most likely take hours. Who knows? Maybe I shouldn't be so pessimistic about my dismal track record when it came to "birthing them babies" .... maybe he would be right and I’d be fast about it, for once. Pushing just once or twice, like those women you hear about, instead of pushing for hours and hours and hours until finally he'll be forced to grab the salad tongs .... maybe this time *I* would be quick about it!! (aka “Squeak, squeak, squeak .. monkeys flying out of my butt”)

I was talking to my IM daily at this point, and they were leaving for their mini-pre-delivery-how-can-we-even-concentrate-we’re-so-excited-vacation in Atlanta the next day. My IM said something to me on the phone that not only was very thought-provoking, but which I directly credit (blame?) for helping to make me the paranoid travel freak that I am today. Normally, she explained, if she and her husband were flying somewhere without their son, they flew separately (hmmm, sound familiar???) Only when all three of them were flying, their whole family, did they fly together. But now, she said, what should they do? Because technically, their WHOLE family wasn’t together. Family member #4 was still residing in utero, in Alabama, and she wasn’t sure if she and her husband should split up, in case heaven forbid, one of the planes crashed. But if they split up, how would she decide who takes their 11-yr old? What if she made the decision to put her husband and son on another plane together and it goes down…. How would she live with that the rest of her life??? But what if they were all together and *that* plane went down, and the daughter they worked so hard to have would never know any of them?

Personally, I thought her angst over the dilemma was proof that she had already partly entered the sleep deprived and not-a-whole-lot-of-oxygen-to-your-brain world of Newborn Parenting.

She was anxious, she was worried, she was nervous, she was excited. She was just like all moms-to-be … and I knew she would be great.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kristie, you are beginning to irritate me with this. PLEASE GET ON WITH IT! Ok, just kidding, sort of... umm not really at all... GET ON WITH IT.. PRETTY PLEASE?? :)

Anonymous said...

I personally like the cliff hanging!! It gives me something to look forward to when I get home:) The IM sounds like she is going to be a GREAT mom! All that worrying sounds like me. I have 2 boys and 2 girls, and we had to split up on a trip to Disney. Boys with boys, girls with girls....I couldn't even enjoy the flight for pure terror .
~Debbie~

Anonymous said...

I have a love, hate relationship with the cliff hangers, so it doesn't really matter how you go forward. Just never quit. I hope you tell each story. It's funny. My son is 16. When I was pregnant, my "old", I mean really "old", doctor, did not believe in stirring the pot either. I had a sono at 12 weeks because I was spotting, and he didn't believe in sono's every month. All my friends, who were pregnant, got sono's every month. Even if I wanted to know the sex, I couldn't find out, because I never had another sono. He believed in tests and sonos only if there was a reason.

Deb from NY

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy that you're continuing on with your story. Thanks. Can't wait to hear the next chapter.

Lisa C.

Anonymous said...

What happens if they all get nailed in the car on the way to the airport? Just saying.....

?
Love Ya Kristie! Enjoy TX
Erin R

Anonymous said...

For us the hardest thing is when one of us is travelling to meet the other. There's always that moment at the airport when one of us thinks, what if the other never arrives?

Anonymous said...

Ok- you are really starting to drag this out. Please stop! We want to know what happens, so just come on and tell us!

Anonymous said...

ahhhh! I am so glad we usually drive everywhere, because now I think flying will just set me over the edge with all the possible dilemmas!

Anonymous said...

Obviously the road-to-delivery is a long one. How in the heck are you supposed to actually "tell the story" with no breaks? "Get on with it"?? You are! "...drag this out"?? Uh, it's a pregnancy --- by definition, a drawn-out process.

Me thinks some anonymous types need to come back in a month or so, and read the story in sequence and to completion.

But a bigger part of me wants the story to never end. You know, just to irk a coupla your readers. And really, do they honestly think the story will ever end? You've been a surrogate a number of times, have existing/ongoing relationships with all families involved, AND! It's your freaking blog to write as you choose!

Take your time :) (Although I enjoyed your summation to anonymous at the top).