The thick cloud of fog we drove through on the way to the appointment this morning seemed so fitting – continuing on with only that which is immediately in front of us being clear, the future remaining completely obscured.

Lane and I were both anxious for today. Because this appointment included an OB check, we were going to meet with yet another doctor, resulting in yet another opinion on delivery timing. Would we be allowed to continue naturally, or would induction be the next step? Would Norah cooperate during her testing, or would her results send us to immediate delivery?

Yeah, we're still working on that whole 'putting complete trust in God' thing.
Thankfully he sees that, and today we were reminded what it's like to be held in his hand.

Norah is without question a daddy's girl; she shows off every single time Lane comes to an appointment. Today was no different.

She absolutely rocked her BPP – showing everything they needed (including some beautiful practice breathing) in less than 15 minutes when usually it takes 30+. And her NST? Perfect.

The NST showed that I was definitely contracting more, and I think I even felt one this time. Norah, however, was completely unphased by all the uterine activity, which was great news. The concern is that these fragile babies sometimes don't handle birth as well, so it's good that my 'uterine practice runs' mean nothing to her.

My blood pressure was also better at this appointment. One benefit of being a 'frequent flyer' is getting to know the nurses. The nurse we had today I've had many times before, and she is fully aware of my anxiety, so she automatically checks my blood pressure twice – once at the beginning and once at the end. It's always a lower, better reading after the testing.

After the NST it was time to meet with the doctor. Thankfully, we ended up with Dr. L — the same doctor we had when we initially transferred to MPP who we've seen multiple times and who also happens to be the medical director. Of any doctor we could have tell us our delivery plan, we trust him the most.

We started with a cervical check to help determine the game plan; if I was dilated at all, we'd keep things moving, if I wasn't dilated, we'd wait until after 39 weeks.

My cervix was thinned but not open, so as long as testing continues to go, well we'll wait for any discussion of intervention until after 39 weeks. Great.

Wait.
39 weeks is Sunday.
As in 5 DAYS AWAY.
Birth is no longer a hypothetical future event, y'all.
#REALITYCHECK

Dr. L is hoping Norah will decide to make an appearance on her own sometime before our next OB check next Tuesday. If nothing has progressed up to that point, they will then use a medicine to ripen the cervix to gets things moving. After that is when we would really be discussing full induction. Dr. L appears to have a slower approach to induction, and with us preferring a low-intervention birth, this approach is very welcome.

Our plan for the next 7 days? To do everything we possibly can to convince Norah to make an appearance – lots of walking, spicy food, bouncing on a yoga ball, etc.

In addition to some baby coaxing, we'll be finishing up our to-do list that has a slightly shorter deadline than originally planned: writing thank you's, distributing visitor guidelines, making phone trees, finishing laundry, finalizing our hospital bags, etc.

So, friends and family, if we're slow to respond, please know that we do love you, aren't ignoring you, and do see everything you send us. With both of us still working full time, our schedules just fill up quickly!

Today was so good, guys.
So. Good.

When we left the appointment, the sun was out; the fog had lifted.

Thank you, God, for today – for a little hope, a little joy, a little rest.