Charles in Charge!

Join me in welcoming Charles Joseph to our little family! He is a tall, skinny little man and utterly adorable! Now we await Daddy's visit to meet him!

Eviction pending

Well, baby is on alert that eviction is pending if he or she fails to make an appearance on his or her own by Wednesday. So, five days or less and we'll have three kids - gulp! At my appointment today, doc said that baby really needs to be born sooner rather than later or risk some of the complications that overdue babies face, combined with diabetes, "advanced maternal age," and blah blah blah, the benefits of induction are now outweighing the risks and I feel a little more inclined to agree to it.

I'm currently dilated to 2.5-3ish and still only 50% effaced, but progress is progress and at least that means that according to the doc if we do have to resort to induction, it will not involve the gel, just the pitocin and possibly rupture of membranes at some point. The pitocin does increase the risk of tears and such from the c-section scar, but its about all I can do for now.

We'll see how it goes - hopefully baby comes before then anyway. Uncle C is still holding out hope for his birthday tomorrow. Doc did sweep membranes today, which is likely to lead to labor in theory, however nothing yet and its been five hours, so here's to holding out hope...

'Nother day, 'nother NST

Friday was fabulous, and I was pretty impressed by the new doc. He questioned me as to why my other doc was so keen to induce, and since I barely understood I told him I was as baffled as he. He said that he will let me go to 41w before mentioning induction, and then it would be brought up as an option if I were concerned and if conditions were entirely favorable.I asked about VBAC policies in their practice, and he said VBACs are the norm across the board, and that the only thing the partners diverge upon is Breech deliveries, as only 2 docs in their practice will do them (he is one). I wanted to just die right there and go to heaven (not that this baby is breech).

He said I am 1.5 cm dilated still and 50ish% effaced, but that baby is still pretty high above the pelvis, and that there should be no reason to expect baby to come soon other than the fact that baby is due to arrive soon. I loved that answer!

He also said he'd put together a little brief for the other docs in case they didn't have time to review my entire file (all 16 pages) so they knew my situation should I turn up in labour before they have a chance to meet me. He really was reassuring across the board and I feel pretty good. He said that he saw no reason a VBAC wouldn't progress normally, and no reason to induce, even the diabetes, at any point before 41w+. Woohoo! A non-interventionist MD!!!!!

Well, Saturday brought another regularly scheduled NST (since I hadn't had one since leaving MS) and of course, it was non-reactive as usual. Baby just HATES those tests. So, they had a radiologist come in for an ultrasound Bio-physical Profile (BPP), which was fine. Baby is just over 7lbs right now, so that is a good thing, and all of the markers were good so they cut me loose again.

This morning was the best NST I've had, largely because I had a whopper of a contraction just before they were going to send me for another BPP, and baby's heart did the proper acceleration and then some. So, in and out in 45 minutes, which is definitely a record for this kiddo. And since the contractions are picking up a little, there is a good chance baby will decide to show his or her face at some point in the near future (or not, stubborn little bugger - don't know where he gets that!). Not yet to that "I'm so done being pregnant" stage, but not too far off either.

Uncle C still thinks that this baby will be born on his birthday, Saturday, which is the baby's "due date" so we'll see! Hoping for a non-Thursday baby simply because I don't want the poor kiddo to be a 9/11 baby on so many levels! But, baby will, as is his or her tendency thus far, do as baby wants!

Why so difficult?

So, when I was out and about on my excursion earlier in the summer, about half way through I remembered to call and suspend our cable and internet to lower the bill while we were gone. In preparation for evacuation, I briefly thought about adding turn in cable box/internet modem to my list of things to do, and decided against it, because I wanted access to the news for as long as possible prior to leaving, and had we turned in the boxes, we might have lost the ability to know what was going on that last day or two.

I called today to suspend our cable and was VERY rudely told by a Cable One representative that they have a policy of not suspending service, and that they don't disconnect unless you return the boxes and so forth. I tried to explain that we have traveled outside of the area in an effort to avoid Gustav and were unable to turn things in before we left, and was VERY rudely told that they are a corporation and that this simply is not their problem. Either I pay each month while I am gone or they will charge my for the equipment and for breaking the contract of service that I signed.

I told her that I didn't sign a contract, and that I never spoke to a single Cable One representative with the exception of calling to have it reinstalled, much less sign anything. She told me to find a copy of the contract and read it again. I said, find a copy of the contract wth my signature on it! In any case, the whole thing has been resolved by me telling them to bill me for the equipment, and that I would refuse to pay it, but that I demand my cable/internet be cancelled immediately. I intend to follow up on this with Cable One at a later date, but my blood pressure couldn't handle speaking with this ignorant woman a moment longer.

Follow up to that, I call Tricare (our insurance company) to ensure that my medical appointment tomorrow will not be a problem, only to be told that there is a blanket referral in the wake of Gustav that is in place from Aug 29-Sep 12. Uh, my due date is Sep 13, so if I go to or past my due date, will this all not be covered? No, simply call on Sep 12 to ensure that they annotate a conversation to the effect that I am due at any day and unable to travel. Well, duh! Can't we annotate that now? No.

I'll not be calling any other customer service centers for a few days because I don't know that I can bite my tongue and am not in the right frame of mind to behave.

LOVE Continental Air

Okay, actually I am indifferent to whether or not they retain pillows or rent blankets or offer free coffee, because what they DO that is fabulous is change flights for military members whose wives are displaced by hurricanes without charging the $350 change fee! Of course, we had just booked F's flight home for October so he can meet baby the week before we were evacuated. I had expected a change fee of a hundred dollars or so, but was in absolute tears at the thought of the fees listed on Orbitz. I called the airline directly, was connected almost immediately with a live person and was told a similar fee. I explained our situation and after brief consultation with her supervisor, the representative was able to waive the fee and change his ticket for the difference in fare - in our case $17.00. This restores my confidence in the goodness of people and even the understanding of corporations to a degree.

So, with that major step complete, and being settled in at the in laws, we now return to awaiting baby's arrival, followed by daddy's arrival with a lighter heart and easier mind. The local doctor's office is not interested in or able to see me until Friday, so I will relax and wait out the rest. I suppose I should at some point deal with insurance companies to make sure that is set, but I think I'll wait on that for another day!

On the road again

Okay - so we're headed out! My mother-in-law is here, and we have the van packed. Everything is inside except the people at this point, so we're out of here. I got my laptop back just in time, so I'll have that with me on the road, but don't know how much I'll access it. I think we're going to try and crank out as much of this trip in one shot as possible.

Wish us luck, and pray for us and for those who have already left, are leaving soon and those who are chosing not to leave.

Packing it in

That's it. I'm done. Come Saturday we are heading to MA to the in laws until after baby comes. The uncertainty of hurricane season is outweighing the uncertainty of finding and utilizing a new doctor and new facilities at 38w pregnant, so the kids and I will be packing up tomorrow and Saturday and driving to the Berkshires for a lovely autumn in New England.

Hopefully, baby will take his or her time and arrive once we have settled in a touch. I won't be able to use the local hospital, rather have a 45 minute (roughly) drive to the "big city" once in labor, but after weighing all options, it really does seem to be the best idea for all of us. I hope to return home about two weeks after baby comes so that Daddy can meet the little one and catch up with the bigger kiddos.

H is just mad because he wants to stay and see Elmo next week, who is coming to the Keesler (Gustav permitting) on tour. I just told him about it yesterday, and when I asked him if he'd like to go see Grandma and Grandpa for a little while, he said, "No, thank you. I just wanna go see Elmo and Cookie." When asked, K said, "No, thank you. I want to stay at my house and watch Pablo/'Niqua." (The Backyardigans) At least they were polite in their refusal to accept reality!