Grandma comes to visit, and leaves before the baby even gets here...

Tommy's due date was July 26th so my mom, Marilyn, flew in the 21st just in case things started happening early. No luck there. The due date came and went. We did all the things you're supposed to do to try to induce labor, including getting an induction massage from a professional. As the days went by though it became clear that I would be going with the scheduled induction time - 7am Monday, August 1st.

Unless you've been pregnant in July, there is really no way to understand the discomfort. No amount of air conditioning can stop the sweating. No amount of sleep can alleviate the exhaustion. This pregnancy was a lot harder than my first - more sickness and more fatigue. But then again, I did have to keep up with Nora this time. It's really lucky Mom was here because she was a big help with Nora. Mom has a lot more stamina than me, especially stamina for shopping. I felt bad that on every shopping trip we would just go to one store, and then I'd have to come home and rest.

Fast forward to Saturday, July 30. Just after everything had settled down for the night, Mom told us she was feeling some numbness in her legs. With no idea what it could be, we decided to see how she felt in the morning. It was bad enough in the morning that she decided to go to the ER. Okay, I'm freaking out. After hours of tests, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre disease, a disorder of the nervous system which causes numbness and paralysis. It's not permanent, but it can get worse fast, so the doctor said she needed to go home right away. Of course I'm thinking that she can't leave yet - I need help with the baby! You just got here! I want my Mommy! The less selfish part of me is thinking that the doctor is absolutely right - she needs to go home and get treated before she's unable to travel.

Plans were quickly made for my dad to fly out and travel back with her to Ohio. At this point, we were figuring that Mom and Dad would come and go without even getting to see the baby. I decided to try something drastic: I called my OBGYN and asked him to move up the induction. Maybe a simple question like that doesn't seem so drastic, but it made me nervous. My doc and I never really clicked - he's efficient to the point of seeming not to care and I was really spoiled by the midwives that treated me during my first pregnancy. Anyway, I explained a little bit of the 'family emergency' and he reluctantly agreed to induce me 7pm Sunday night, twelve hours early. Maybe an insignificant difference to some, but it would probably mean my parents would at least get to see the baby before they went back to Ohio.

We quickly finished packing and sped off to the hospital...