Baby Meg has had some visitors recently.
Our daughter, Margaret Delaney Neal, was born on October 23rd. Its taken a bit of time to get this post written, just due to the sheer number of things to do. She's beautiful, cute, awe-inspiring, breathtaking.
Important stats for the curious:
We'll be updating with more information over the next weeks. There are pictures available
One thing that we'll be writing is our birth story, that will go to New Dawn. It will likely be posted here as well.
The baby has apparently inherited a stubborn streak from both her parents. Sarah has been in the early stages of labor all week, with contractions coming anywhere from 3-10 minutes apart.
Effacement is proceeding, but slowly, and she can feel the baby's head pressing downward. We went to Park Ridge yesterday for a Non-Stress Test, which the little one passed with flying colors. Sarah's blood pressure is still hanging out in the high ranges, but the doctors are not concerned quite yet. We'll have another test done early next week to see if the situation is moving towards preeclampsia. With any luck, the baby will be here by then.
After a week dealing with a sudden elevation in Sarah's blood pressure, she's gone into labor. While her blood pressure isn't so high as to be extremely concerning, it is too high for a home birth, so we will be birthing at Park Ridge. They have a fabulous birthing facility there, and we're hoping on getting to use their water birthing tub.
Right now, her contractions are still fairly well spaced, and she's sleeping. The midwives currently think that she'll deliver tomorrow.
We're getting closer. Sarah is currently around 35 weeks. This means the midwives will be doing their home visit soon, checking up to make sure we have all our supplies on hand. We have sheets and cloths that have been sterilized and packed in plastic bags, and lots of other paraphernalia. Fortunately, the midwives give you a handy list of stuff that you need.
We still need a few essentials, including a crib mattress. Even though we plan to co-sleep, we want to have the crib on hand as a "just in case" thing, or if situations arise where the baby needs to sleep unattended for short periods of time.
Sarah's blessing way is a week from tomorrow. I'll be catering it, then getting the heck out of the way while the ladies do their thing. Sarah and Kirstie, who will be officiating at the event are going to plan specifics tomorrow.