False Alarm!
Don't much enjoy these, and neither does Mum. We had a False Labor last week. Mum called me from work to say she was in quite a bit of pain so I went and picked her up and we went to see our GP. Our GP tested the usual (blood pressure, temperature etc) and then checked X Man's heart beat and did a general observation of Mum. Our GP thought it best that we head into the hospital so we packed ourselves up and off we went.
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| False Alarm |
At the hospital they wired Mum up and began monitoring X Man's heart rate and Mum's contractions. The contractions Mum was feeling were very short, sharp and had no regularity about them. They did not progress into any rhythm or consistency. Further checks were done and there was no other obvious signs of labor. Mum was given some pain relief and given a bit of time to let it kick in.
After a while the pain did subside to a tolerable level. The midwives were tossing up if to have Mum admitted for the night for monitoring just in case things progressed into true labor. It was initially decided that Mum would stay overnight so I went and made arrangements for my work and also Mum's work. When I returned Mum said that the midwives had come back and were going to do a test which checks for a protein which is present when labor is imminent within the next 72 hours. This test returned negative so the midwives were happy to send us home with pain relief and instructions to return if things got worse. Thankfully things settled down afterward and we have not had any issues since.
Needless to say, after this false alarm Mum didn't go back to work for her last two days. She did go in on the Friday afternoon to say goodbye to everyone and apparently there were a lot of tears from everyone. We were very spoiled by Mum's work.
Final Preparations
We had our last big checkup yesterday at The Mater with our Cardiologist. Whilst there has been some improvement in the development of X Man's left side of his heart (from approx 25% to 33% the size of the right side), the size of the left side of the heart is still too small to work on its own and so we are still looking at proceeding with the surgical path. X Man is measuring well and our Cardiologist is happy that if X Man comes along now he is of a good size to operate, although if he can grow a little more between now and then they will be happier.
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| Final Preparations |
We went for a tour of the Children's Hospital yesterday. I was not prepared for the emotion that this tour brought. I think it really concreted what lies ahead and it shook me up quite a bit. I said to Mum later on that in hindsight I probably shouldn't have done the tour as I believe I would have better managed things better once things were happening because I would only be focused on X Man and wouldn't notice the surroundings in the same way I did yesterday. That being said, I am also in a way pleased that I did do the tour as I now know where X Man is going to be and what facilities are available not only for X Man, but also for Mum and I and also for Mr Two when he comes to visit.
X Mans due date remains August 1st, however, we really do not believe that we will get that far. Mum is quite big (I am sure a lot bigger that she was with Mr Two) and the scan yesterday also showed that X Man has dropped and his head is down. Just the last couple of days you can also see that X Man has moved down as he is sitting a lot lower than he has been. I reckon we may see our little fella in the next week or so.
Our preparations are just about complete. Mum's hospital bag has been packed for a couple of weeks now and is loaded into the car. Mr Two has bought X Man a little toy to keep with him at the hospital, and we are going to get another little toy that X Man can give to Mr Two. We have some photos of us printed and laminated to put in X Mans crib so that when we aren't there he can still look at us and see us. We have books ready so that we can read them to him, and we have some music to play quietly for him as well.
The managers at my work are looking after us and are more than happy to adjust my hours as required. At the moment my parents are coming over of an evening when I am working to help Mum out with Mr Two and then they are heading home once Mr Two is in bed. I used to work until 10pm but because Mum is not able to physically lift Mr Two and can't chase him around, my hours have been adjusted so that I can finish at 8pm so I can get home in case Mr Two wakes up. It is this flexibility at work which Mum and I are very appreciative of.
Mr Two is as excited as a 2 year old can be about having a brother. When we ask him "where's your baby brother" he goes over to Mum and pats her tummy and says hello. He can also say his brother's name (no, I am not saying what that is). We are also pretty sure that Mr Two can tell that there is something up. He is playing up quite a bit and has become quite a handful, but only for Mum and I. He is a complete angel for everyone else. Very frustrating but completely normal, and my research has shown that this is quite common for toddlers who have a new brother or sister on the way or who can sense there is something wrong but not be able to understand what that is. Mum and I speak to Mr Two about X Man and let him know what is happening because he is big a part of this journey as the rest of us. He can't communicate to us that he understands and we can't really tell what he does and doesn't understand, but we let him know every day that we love him and that even when X Man comes along Mr Two will still be our special little guy.
What Next?
Just when we thought that all our appointments were over, we have another appointment scheduled for the 16th July to see the Obstetrician. Somehow I don't think we will need that appointment...
So really, next stop is labor. How exciting! Can't wait to meet the little fella.
