A Valentine's Day Babe

Today at our OB appointment, we learned that our induction has been scheduled! It just so happens that in my 37th week of pregnancy, my OB is on call on the Saturday - which happens to be February 14th! Unless baby A doesn't pass her biophysical profile ultrasounds or non-stress tests and needs to come even sooner, we may have ourselves a Valentine's day baby! What better way to celebrate the day with Derek than to bring the ultimate symbol of our love into the world - a baby who was created because of our love for each other.

Of course there is always a chance that she will come on the 15th instead of the 14th, but we've been told that labour will go much more quickly this time around with baby A being our second, and not having the stress of knowing our baby has died inside of me. It only took me 20 minutes to actually deliver Brooklyn, and we've also been told that with a living baby who is able to push herself down, this too may go even quicker. However, we of all people know that anything can happen during labour, so while I am excited for a February 14th baby, I'm also preparing myself for the possibility of a baby on February 15th - which would be just as exciting.

My weekly ultrasounds started yesterday. We got the results back at our appointment today, and everything looks great! My amniotic fluid levels are normal, as is the blood flow through the umbilical cord, and baby A got 100% on her biophysical profile test! She is close to 3lbs already, which is over the 90th percentile for her gestation. I have a feeling even with her early arrival, this baby is going to be big! So far, things are looking great. Our weekly non-stress tests start Friday and will continue until the 13th of February. All of our tests will take place at McMaster, so if anything looks concerning, they will send me straight to Labour and Delivery for further evaluation.

I started this pregnancy off having "shared care" between the OB and midwife, but my care was recently transferred completely over to the OB, with the midwives in a "supportive care" position. What this means is that our OB will have complete responsibility for us, and I will meet with the midwife for more of a supportive role. This is exciting to us, as it means that the OB will deliver baby A, but our midwife will be there to support me through labour and delivery too! How many people get to have both an OB AND a midwife in the room for delivery? We feel very blessed for this opportunity.

I had planned to be working until December 28th, but my OB decided it was best for my health to be off earlier, so my last day was actually December 4th. At first I thought I was going to go stir crazy sitting around, but so far all of my appointments have kept me quite busy. This week for example, I have an appointment every day from Monday-Friday. I'm okay with this though! It means that there are lots of eyes on our baby girl.

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers during this long and trying journey. We are very much looking forward to February 14th, and the joy we hope this day will bring.