4 Weeks and Counting

I didn't know what the plan was for the arrival of our little one. It hadn't been discussed, all that was planned was for me to come to Brisbane and wait. Wait!

We arrived a warm Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, our first contact with our accommodation host was extremely negative and we continued to have problems until the day we left which was sad. More stress we didn't need.  First thing Monday I met with a social worker and explained my concerns that I didn't have an appointment with a doctor for another two weeks and my c-section hadn't even been booked. I felt like I had been sentenced here and no end date to go home.

I missed my best friend (my husband), and thought how we should be experiencing the last weeks of this together. I just wished somehow it could be different. But it wasn't and I had to deal with it though difficult. I felt alone and I couldn't see how it could be eased. My mum was wonderful trying to cheer me up and even tried to smuggle a glass of milk into our "food free" rooms for my horrible and intense heart burn but she got caught. She shouldn't have had to endure the ridicule and criticism that host of the accommodation placed on her. All for her trying to ease her pregnant daughter's heart burn and so she did not have to go down the two flights of stairs to get it. Poor mum.  

I had a amazing social worker who actually spoke to the doctor and got a date for my c-section. Yay, a birthday has been picked for our baby! That at least gave me a date and I could organise for my husband to come and stay. He was planning to come a week before so we could have some time together and I couldn't wait. He also came each weekend and my mum stayed during the week so I wasn't alone and I greatly appreciated that.

My first scan after my arrival was disastrous. I had a doctor conducting the scan and he had a student doctor with him and they were dreadful. They discussed the conditions of spina bifida, arnold chiari and hydrocephalus which was fine. But, they went beyond that and started to talk about after the birth and the way he thought the baby was going to be as he/she grew up. This was not right, he didn't know the future and yes my baby did have have serious conditions but he can't speculate. I told him that and had a rather heated discussion about him presuming too much. I was a heavily pregnant woman and he was discussing my baby in a way he had no authority. I came out nearly in tears and went straight to the case worker nurse and told her and she was very sympathetic. She said that this doctor had that tendency and I wasn't the only woman he had treated this way. That shook me for the rest of the day.

I didn't have much to do so many days we walked to Southbank and sat in Cafe's to fill in time. It wasn't really a happy time just sitting around in a one bedroom room with a pull out bed pushed against the wall. But the days were ticking by and the day that my husband would arrive to stay for the arrival of our bub was so close. I couldn't wait. I had all these plans of fun activities we could do for that last week.

My mum had headed home and I was watching anxiously out the window for our car and there it was, I ran as fast as my little pregnant legs could carry and we ran into each others arms and embraced. My love was here at last. At last it was only seven days until the planned birth and we were so excited. We were taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit  so we could see where our little one would be coming pretty much straight after the birth. They said that as soon as I would leave recovery they would bring me by to see our baby. It was very clean and such tiny little babies everywhere, it was a high security area so all the babies were safe. In my mind I had the ideal situation in my head that we wouldn't be here long and that we head home not too long after the arrival of bubs. I tried not to think to much about it but concentrate on getting through the next few days.

My other half and I walked the by the river and ate some yummy meals, checked out the maritime museum but at night it was an all too true reality that we were not going home soon.

The night before the birth I was apprehensive, excited and nervous.  I had this horrible fear that I was going to die. I don't know why but I guess having major surgery and after the doctor went through the possible things that could go wrong I was a little scared. I didn't tell anyone how I felt as I thought I was being silly. The morning of the scheduled c-section, I showered, packed and I was fasting so my husband went to the kitchen and got himself some breakfast. I was too nervous to be hungry. We were ready quite early and decided to walk to the Mother's and just wait.

So off we went to begin the next phase of our journey...