Save The Date

Turns out that Riley is going to make an appearance sooner rather than later. We met with our Obstetrician last week to discuss many things but the one big thing that was on our minds was the date that Jess would be induced. What we were expecting was that the Obstetrician may have to consult with the Cardiologists, Midwives, Neonatal Specialists to make all the stars align so that the date works for everyone. This was not the case. He asked us point blank "So what date would you like?". His first suggestion was that Jess would get induced on the 7th January and Riley would be born the very next day. However that day also happens to be Jess' brother Caleb's birthday. He probably wouldn't have cared at all but we thought we would try to avoid Uncle/Niece combined birthday parties in the future by delaying it an extra day (Can you imagine the combination of birthday themes like Barbie/V8's or Peppa Pig/BBQ??). 

In the end we came up with Jess being induced on January 8th and then all things going according to plan the birth will be on January 9th. This didn't turn out to be an issue for all the people involved. They will be prepared to go even if she decides to come early. It's in roughly two weeks, a crazy thought. 

The rest of our week was taken up with tours of the PICU, Neonatal Unit, Birthing Unit and lots of appointments with Midwives and doctors to prepare us for whats to come. Throughout everything we have felt like we have had a good handle on what will happen during the birth and we were even prepared that directly after birth, Riley would be whisked away for tests leaving us without that all important first cuddle. Today however we got a little surprise as the Neonatal specialist was walking us through how the birth will go. She said all the things we have heard before from other doctors but there was one thing we hadn't heard before. There is potential that if the doctors believe Riley is breathing well immediately after birth then we may get to have a hold of her before they need to take her away for testing. Considering that is something we were not expecting and the fact that once Riley is in Neo-Natal care there really is no chance for a hold, this is big for us. We are just praying and believing it will happen.

Otherwise to everyone following our little adventure, we hope you have an amazing Christmas. We are going to be spending it with some friends; you wouldn't believe the amount of people that have asked us what we are doing for Christmas just to make sure we won't be alone. Its our last one just as the two of us (well two and a half really) so we are going to enjoy it while it lasts. Next year we will have an almost one year old trying to get into all the Christmas presents under the tree...