"I don't guess people's hearts got anything to do with a calendar."- Hondo Lane

September 15th: Dr's appointments are never fun for me, I find myself either defensive or nervous. This appointment was a mixture of both. At my previous appointment I had been told I had gained too much weight, which was a surprise to me because I had been eating right and exercising. I was also nervous because I hadn't felt Duke move as much in the past weekend as I had previously. He had been permanently stuck under my ribs since Friday, which was annoying but I didn't feel him move as much as he usually did. When at the Appointment with Dr. Penn, I told him about the decrease in movement and again my confusion/ concern about my weight gain. He measured my stomach and said I was measuring at 40 weeks, but I was at 34 weeks (due date October 29th), which was odd because I had been measuring dead on to when I was due until this appointment. He told me I should go to the hospital for observation and I shouldn't be there longer than a day, but we needed to look into this.
     There is a very interesting thing about my family; we subconsciously love having our birthdays around each other’s birthdays. For example, my nephew Rockey, and two of my uncles share a birthday (which is the day before mine). When I checked into the hospital I filled out the card and saw the date.....September 15th, my Grandfather Frye's birthday. At that moment I knew I was having this kid early. I got hooked up to the fetal heart monitor and was stuck in a room alone......for a while. Being in a room by yourself alone means one thing for me: Incredible Impatience! Luckily my mother came in to keep me company as I prepared to get a sonogram to check on the baby, which distracted me from the boredom of the room.
     Sonograms are usually beautiful things where you see the baby, know they are doing well and can spot all their beautiful features. This one was painful. When the doctor rolled the jelly covered wand over my belly button there was a lot of pain and pressure; which I was not sure how to handle. We also only saw the baby move once in 30 minutes, which he should be doing more of. After the sonogram Dr. Loki came in to inform me there were two concerns 1. The baby wasn't moving a lot and 2. This could be due to the amount of embryonic fluid in my womb. Usually the womb will have 8-22 units of fluid......I had 38. At this point I knew I was having the baby and a C-section.
     The Dr. decided to have to go out of a better sonogram and stress test on the baby and if they were still showing no sign I would be admitted into the hospital and would deliver the baby tomorrow.  So off I was for another uncomfortable sonogram and time to get hooked up to a fetal heart monitor. Here we found the results were the same, too much fluid not enough movement. I was sent back to the hospital and was officially hooked up to many uncomfortable monitors. I was told I would “probably” be having the baby tomorrow.
     For those who know me well, I am always packed for a trip a week in advance and do not believe in being unprepared. Here I was in a hospital, 6 weeks early, still in my work clothes, and not a baby bag or mother bag in sight. My mother and I had to think quickly about how and what I would need to have the baby early. I also had not fully written down my maternity backup plans (though I had discussed them many times before). So as I waited for more word from the doctor this picture occurred, which I am sure I will never live down.

     As I worked, and got fussed at for working I was able to get my mind off what was going occur the next day. My mother and father stayed a while, but I sent them home because I knew we would all need a good night’s sleep before the next day occurred. After my parents left Dr. Loki came back in to talk with me about what would happen the next day. She told me I would deliver at 2:30 pm and it would be a C-section, which I figured out a while ago. What I didn't expect to hear was what would have happened if I hadn't said anything to my doctor about the decrease in movement, Duke could have been stillborn. If I could have I would have delivered him the second I heard this terrifying word!