On November 7th, we went in for our usual check-up. George was due for measurements along with an amniotic fluid check. We had an ultrasound weekly, an echo every 3 weeks and measurements every 3 weeks, as well. During the ultrasound George was expected to move in utero and practice breathing within 30 minutes, which he did not do. Of course, Rich and I became masters in eye-rolling because George was so active, but the second we stepped foot in the hospital he didn’t make a peep! During this OBGYN appointment, our doctor sat us down and told us that George was an abnormally large baby. He mentioned fetal overgrowth syndrome and said that George looked like a strong candidate for this condition. He continued to tell us that he would most likely need to be delivered early due to the size of his head and that we need to hope he tolerates being in utero until week 37. If not, he would need to be delivered early via C-section. This meant that if George was born prior to 37 weeks, he would more than likely be admitted to the NICU, which we weren’t entirely surprised at seeing as he was having cardiac complications. My heart was so set on natural delivery, but I slowly let go of this idea because I wanted to make sure George was delivered safely. I constantly blamed Rich for the size of George’s head, even ’til this day. I continued to ask the doctor what steps we should take to prepare for George and he told us to sit tight and not bother with educational classes. He said we weren’t your “average joe” pregnancy and that the classes would just overwhelm us because they tend to apply to women delivering naturally. However, he did suggest a NICU tour.

At this point, they had sent us to another floor to perform a non-stress test due to the lack of movement and breathing during the ultrasound. The test consisted of belts being wrapped around my belly to measure the George’s heart rate. 18 minutes in and all we could do is roll our eyes, until the woman monitoring the test asked me if I wanted Oreos. BOOM— his heart rate spiked and as I started munching away. Yay!! We passed and we head over to our NICU tour. The NICU tour was informative and difficult. I remember walking through the halls completely unprepared for what was to come. I saw babies all tubed up and hooked up to a ton of machines and my eyes filled with tears. I had no idea how I would handle seeing my little baby like this, but I took comfort knowing that I had Rich, my best friend, by my side to walk the journey with me and George.