This Is A Test...

In the spirit of following the emergency broadcast system protocol, all I can say about today is this...

Today was a test.  Had today been an actual emergency this post's title would have said, "welcome baby Will!".

That's right, folks, earlier today we went to the hospital with signs of early labor.  I am indeed having contractions but they are the type that can go on for days.  Well, at least we hope they go on for days...  Evidently, when you're having a "special" baby, it's kind of important to the doctors that we try to have all the right folks on hand for delivery.  It's not that Will can't be delivered successfully over the weekend or at night; it's just that it's better if it's during the week when more staff is on hand and they're all a bit more equipped to handle any emergency situations.

The crazy part is that the decision on whether to have Will today or not was totally left up to us.  We could have stayed and had the c-section and this post would have been totally different.  BUT, we decided to try to wait it out until at least Monday.  They don't have any openings in the schedule on Monday or Tuesday, but obviously, if we can't delay labor long enough, then they'll squeeze us in as an emergency c-section.  We're still hoping for Wednesday, though, so I'm SERIOUSLY going to be laying in bed trying to keep Will in utero until then.  We'll just have to see if he's willing to cooperate.

Today was a great dry run for the big day, though!  We got to go through the whole registration process, and I even got to get an IV and all kinds of monitoring.  Oh yeah and I got the talk from the anesthesiologist  about what will happen if I have to be given general anesthesia.  It was a true pleasure opening up my mouth super wide this morning and showing Mr. Hot Doctor my tongue and airway.  All I could think about was whether anything was stuck in my teeth or if my breath was smelly.  I also enjoyed telling him that I didn't yet have any chipped or missing teeth.  Yeah, he had to ask me that...  Which makes me wonder exactly how frequently do they chip or knock out a tooth if they have to give you a general?!?  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a nightmare about a missing tooth tonight.  Thank you, Mr. Hot Doctor.

The other nightmare I'm going to have tonight is what the OB told me about how she was planning to cut Will out.  She basically told me how much bigger she was going to cut me so she didn't have to pull and tug on him too much (because of his potentially brittle bones).  Let me just say this...when she kept stretching her hands further and further apart to show me how big the incision would be, I got a little nervous.  She also told me about how she would rip open my uterus and "squeeze him out like a grape".  I promptly stopped her and told her that I'd heard enough and that I would "never, ever eat a grape the same way ever again".  Thank you, Ms. Grape Squeezer Outer.

In true Will fashion, today was definitely eventful and unexpected...  Say a prayer that I can get these contractions under control and that the little guy stays put until Wednesday.  Surely he can follow directions for once?!?!  :)

And since no good post is complete without a picture...here we are in the middle of our test run today.

Sooooooo tired....