We're at the Hospital!

We are checked into our room at the UW Medical Center. We are in room #1 - looking out the window we can see Husky Stadium. Pui is all wired to the machine (Not wired, actually - the sensors are wireless) and appears to be having mild contractions - so mild we needed a machine to tell us she was having them. They are coming every 7 minutes or so. The nurses have been very friendly, and walked us through everything and reviewed our birth plan front to back.

We haven't seen the doctor yet, and will know more after she sees Pui.

Pat's on his way!

An end to the wait? We're waiting to hear....

We talked to the floor nurse just after noon, and she told us that she expected to get us in this afternoon. She told us she'd call us when she knew a room was ready for us, so we wouldn't have to sit in the waiting room while they prepare.

Talking to someone who can tell us what's going on and demonstrate that they understand that this is an HLHS baby and they are making sure we have everything we need is very comforting and calming. Also, the comments from our friends who have been through similar situations helps quite a bit as well: Pat is really very safe right where he is now, and there's no hurry.

I'll update as I learn more.

Still waiting to go in. 39 weeks 2 days in utero

We called in again at 5:50 AM. The nurse I talked to said that there was one room open for emergencies, but every other room was full and we should call back at noon. That's five delays in 18 hours. Little Pat is probably quite safe right where he is, but it's been over a week now since we last saw the doctor, and we are becoming concerned: what are the parameters for the best outcome for Pat? When will delays start to become a serious problem? Can we look forward to days of "Call back in 6 hours"? Is this a teapot tempest or something to get worked up about?

I guess we're a little freaked out that what we thought was going to be the one part of this whole process that had a little control over, we in fact have no control over at all. All we can do now is wait - and keep calling. We'll call again before noon, and keep at it until we are admitted. What else is there to do?

Change of plans... 39 weeks 1 day

We were packed and all ready to go. But as the day progressed, our check-in time got later and later. 6:30 - 7:00, then 9:00, then we were told we could either wait until the middle of the night or call and get another check-in time at 6:00 tomorrow morning. We decided that a night in our own bed would be more comfortable than sitting in a waiting room all night. Apparently, this is a good time to have a kid: they just don't have enough rooms available for all the people they have coming in, so induced labors are taking a second seat. Those women are all going into labor now just to bug us. I know it. ;-)

Tonight Pui cooked up a storm - a ton of delicious food, much of which we plan to have Mom and Dad bring us while we are in the hospital. When Pui gets nervous or excited, she cooks. Me, I repack. I repacked everything. I got everything into three small bags, separated by where the bags will go: one with me, and two with Pui - one full of stuff for her and her nursing needs, and another for her and for the baby's first day: hats, booties, and a blanket Pui's been sleeping on.

Tomorrow we call the hospital again at 6 AM, and we'll see how it goes. And we'll see if any of us get much sleep tonight.

New Friends: a normal little boy who happens to have HLHS

At the CHD Support group on Sunday we met a little boy named Alyc and his mother Amiel from Alaska. He has HLHS, just like Pat. You can get a pretty good idea of Alyc's personality - at least what we saw of it - from his picture. He was an energetic, impish, and totally charming normal 2 1/2 year-old boy.

We were delighted to meet them, and are so encouraged by Alyc it's hard to describe. They were down from Alaska to check out something that they thought might have been an alarming development, but turned out to be nothing but good news. We are just beginning to understand the worry that brought them all the way here from Alaska, and the relief everyone felt when everything was OK.

If there is anyone who has a boy about Alycs age with HLHS and would like to get in touch with him and his parents - especially if you live in Alaska - just contact me and I can get you in touch.

Getting ready: 39 weeks in utero

Tomorrow afternoon we are checking into the UW Medical Center. They will give Pui a drug to help prepare the cervix, and Thursday morning they will induce labor, if it hasn't started already. I expect they'll need to induce - Pui has shown no signs of labor yet. We take it as a good sign that Pat will be a good boy - we asked him not to come out until he was full term, and he hasn't. Once he's out and has met the world, we'll ask him to recover from surgery quickly and well.

Yesterday, our neighbor saw Pui and my parents getting into the car while I put a couple small bags into the back of the car, and jumped to the obvious conclusion. Actually, Mom and Dad treated us to a dinner at the Crab Pot. On our way out, I had grabbed our fully packed bags and put them in the car, so we would have them there ready to go. We didn't think what it might have looked like to an outside observer.

Today we did our last shopping - we went to a store that sells Thai magazines and an Asian market, the library, and a supermarket. Pui cooked up a delicious dinner - she may be 39 weeks pregnant, but she still likes to cook. I have no complaints about that whatsoever: Pui's cooking is delicious. We are now wrapping up everything we need to have ready - we will be back in Kirkland only occasionally this next month.

I will try to update the blog at least once a day for the next couple of weeks - there will be a lot happening, but I'm not sure when I'll have time and access to the Internet to blog.

Support Group Visit. 38 weeks 5 days in utero

Only 4 more days! I think Pui is more than ready - being very pregnant looks very uncomfortable. Pui hasn't slept an entire night through in weeks, and her belly itches, she's sore, her back aches, and she has trouble climbing stairs. I try to comfort her as I can, and not let my relief show that it's her and not me.

Today we went to Seattle Children's Hospital and met with the Congenital Heart Disease support group they have there once a month. It was very nice for us - we had about a dozen veterans of children with all sorts of serious heart conditions telling us what we can expect, giving us useful information, practical advice, and sympathizing completely with our situation. Everyone we met there was great. We are very glad we went. I have a couple of pages of notes. If there is anyone out there in a similar situation to us, I highly recommend joining groups like this.

It's beginning to sink in that soon everything we've been hearing about and preparing for is about to begin. It's like being backstage and waiting for the curtain to rise - that last wait is the hardest part. Once the show begins you are busy working on it, and whether you shine or bomb, at least it's underway. So now we are waiting in the wings, rechecking our costumes and rehearsing our lines, just waiting for the curtain to rise.