Oh baby!

My cousin is having her baby today. She isn't due until August 31st but she is a double lung and heart transplant patient and her blood pressure has sky-rocketed. It was something like 190 over 105 when they admitted her yesterday.

8 years ago, when she had the transplant, she was told that she could never have children because of the strain on her body and the rejection drugs she would have to take put her at HIGH risk for birth defects. Over the past several years, she has reduced her meds to the bare minimum. To the point that she was taking them once a month or less. Then she got pregnant and went off of them completely and has been for the whole time that she has been pregnant. The doctors were cautiously optimistic but were watching her very carefully the entire time.

They told her all along that her body couldn't handle the stress of labor and that she would have a C/S. Well since she is 6 weeks premature, they went ahead and induced labor, to stimulate the baby for life outside. She has labored all day and the doctor told her that she would eventually have a C/S, but they want her to labor as long as she can so the baby gets as much stimulation as it can.

Today is also her birthday and when the doctor found that out, he told her that she would have the baby before midnight, one way or another. That way, she and the baby can share a birthday. Obviously, not the ideal since it is still 6 weeks early, but if it has to be, then it might as well be today instead of tomorrow.

My mom talked to her husband about 6:30 tonight and he said nothing was happening yet and I haven't heard anymore since then. If she hasn't by now, she should have the baby in the next hour. Honestly, I hope they didn't make her labor literally all day (my mom told me about it at 9:30 this morning and I think she had been laboring for awhile then) and then do a C/S in the middle of the night :( Hopefully, she already has the baby and everything is fine, instead of still being in labor and knowing that major surgery looms large in her future.