The past 36 hours. Waiting for Claire Elise

So yesterday started as a normal day for two parents expecting their first kid. We had a doctor's appointment to check up on things and make sure everything was a-ok. After all, the due date came and went and still no signs of Claire Elise. Doctor said everything is good, everything seems fine but it's time to get the twice-weekly appointments setup.

Twice-weekly appointments are normally setup if your baby is post term (late). As you may deduce this means appointments are twice a week. The purpose of these is to monitor the baby to make sure all is well. We had our first appointment the next morning. That was about on 12/5. During the appointment all was going well, until it wasn't.

During the last part of the appointment, the ultrasound revealed that there wasn't enough amniotic fluid. The nurse coldly said, we're going to have to admit you; you're not going home today. That turned into Helen checking in to the labor and delivery ward while I ran home to get our stuff and "get ready."

Since then, I've been keeping you guys, family and friends updated via Twitter and Facebook and now with this blogpost. Here are a few pictures from the past 36 hours.

only-popsicles-allowed — She's only allowed to have these. No solid foods.

hoag-view-labor-delivery-ward — Our view of the Newport Harbor from Hoag

ursula-beck-helen-oscar — My Mom and Sister with Helen and me. Just after they began inducing.

health-o-meter — Who doesn't want to step onto the Health-o-meter?

warming-station-hoag — The Dräger machine for testing, post delivery procedures, etc.

blogging-corner-hoag — My little corner to hang out. This is the temporary blogging, Twitter & FB control center.

As of the time of this writing, Helen has been through the inducing process for about 13 hours. She's about 7 cm dilated, but the process is slow. She's resting now and I should catch some Zzzz's as well.

Stay tuned for more, you can see what's going on on Facebook, or Twitter. And I'll try to post her first pictures on Claire's very own blog as time allows.