It's the Square Footage, Stupid

Katrina was very nearly induced last night? Why? Because doctor's are worried about being sued. We were at the doctor's office for the now weekly checkup since we're so close to the end. When the doctor asked if Katrina had been feeling the baby move much, she said No. What Katrina's follow up to that answer would've been, "Well, I'm getting used to be karate kicked on a regular basis, but the baby has grown so much I don't think she has any room to do that now." Ain't no nevermind. The doctor told us to go to the hospital right away and that she might be induced. What? There's like a heartbeat and stuff. The doctor added, "We take fetal movement very seriously." So, freaked out, we drove to the hospital without the suitcase and Viacord box to get checked out.

They hooked Katrina up to a fetal monitor and did an ultrasound. The baby was moving, only Katrina wasn't feeling it. I was watching the ultrasound, the baby was fine and breathing. The amniotic fluid levels were good. And she's already over 8 pounds. Head down, all that good stuff. So we sat there for two hours and listened to Alina's heartbeat on the fetal monitor, which is essentially a very sensitive microphone/EKG/contraction detector. Everytime the baby rolled around, the heartbeat went up and it sounded like she was moving furniture around inside the womb. I told Katrina it sounded like the baby was a roadie doing a soundcheck before a concert. Check One (blowwwwww) Sibilance. Turns out it's not a good idea to make someone laugh when they have a fetal monitor on. It skews the readings and puts spikes in that long printout.

The whole time Katrina ate ice chips, which I must say, were perfectly constructed for someone who can only eat ice chips. Small, barrel shaped, rough surface to prevent slippage, easily crumbled with the slightest bite (Insert word for the kissing of the finger tips to denote deliciousness). Now she's at 2 cm and having mild contractions so it's very very close.

Now there's a bloody blizzard coming. Fitting really. I was born during an ice storm, my little sister was born during a lunar eclipse/snow storm. My grandfather had a theory about low barometric pressure inducing labor. If that's true, it's going to be a busy weekend at the hospital. We tend not to get too much snow in NYC. Snow either misses us or turns to rain. It must be that protective layer of sarcasm over the city.