November 2012 – November was a pretty uneventful month for us as far as my pregnancy went. We had weekly doctors visits and BPPs to check on Allisons well being. Every test was perfect. She grew and got stronger and it seemed as if everything was going to be “ok” even though we knew better than to get our hopes up for that. We tried hard to live normally and enjoy our pregnancy with Allison. By this time, she was big enough to really entertain us with her rolls and jabs in my belly. We spent a lot of time talking to her, rubbing her, and just enjoying our little girl. I had my glucose test done and it was normal as well. We also had our maternity pictures done in November and they were absolutely beautiful. I will share a few of those when I am done posting here. We had several meetings at Barnes with MFM and getting our BPPs done. All we were really doing at that point was firming up our birth plan and hanging on for the ride. We tried very hard to begin to get ready for the holidays. We got through Thanksgiving, with heavy hearts, wondering if she would be with us for the next one. Its hard to enjoy a holiday when you know that your baby may not make it to next years’ festivities. I ate extra turkey and chocolate pie for Allison so she could get the full Thanksgiving effect 🙂 I also started to get ready for Christmas much earlier than I usually do. I had almost all of my gifts bought and wrapped and stored away by the end of November. In case anything happened before then, I wanted to be ready for Christmas and I wasnt sure how I would feel about having to get it all done if Allison were to be born before Christmas (which she was NOT supposed to be). Dr Staten and I had begun to discuss when would be the best time to induce me. I had been researching a lot and found that these Trisomy babies tend to have a very difficult time making it through the vaginal delivery process. Since this was how I delivered Olivia, I was determined to have the same “experience” with Allison. I was told many times that a C-Section wouldnt save her life, and since there was no medical reason for me to have one, we decided on a vaginal birth. I read that if they were delivered around the 37 week mark, they would have much more of a likelihood of making it through the birthing process. I asked Dr Staten if this was something we could do so I could make sure I meet Allison, and she agreed. We set the date for Jan 2nd for my induction and we would continue to watch her every week for signs of distress and take action if necessary. We also went for another Fetal Echo at Barnes so they could take a second look at Allisons heart. We got the same fantastic group of people and saw Dr Singh again. We were still in the same boat as the last appointment, nothing changed for the better, but nothing changed for the worse either, and we were thankful for that. November came and went too fast. The Christmas tree was up, gifts were bought, and we were happy that our induction wasnt scheduled until after the holidays so Allison could be with us through Christmas and New Years…but God had different plans….