"A good day in liver land"

Two good things happened yesterday:

1) As Gail said, I got some labs back yesterday that indicate my liver could be a lot worse. We are nowhere near a level that would mean "get-the-baby-out-now," though things can change quickly. That result was for blood drawn when my symptoms were much worse than they are currently (the meds have helped), so I'm optimistic that the next round of labs will be even better. This is good, because the worse this particular lab is, the more risk the baby is in. Thus we can wait a bit longer to induce, until closer to 38 weeks, which feels like a bit of a reprieve.

2) Last night, we went to a meet and greet with the doctors in my OB's group, followed by the hospital tour we never thought we'd take. Last week, when we were first wrapping our heads around things like, say, Gail should meet my OB, I suggested to Gail that we could go to this meet and greet as a way to get more comfortable at the hospital. Her response was so heartbreaking. She was silent for a few beats, then her eyes welled up and she said very softly "but I don't want to meet any doctors..." (Yes, it was a bit overdramatic, but be gentle, we'd only just found out and were deep throws of navigating a major change in plans, all while worrying the baby was about to die).

But by the time we got to last night, we were able to go in with a positive attitude. The doctors were pleasant, and seemed like folks we'd feel OK with at the birth if we manage to get me going before the induction date (now more of a possibility with the date pushed back). The hospital is as hippie-ish as you can get in the area, and they gave answers we were either expecting or comfortable with to questions regarding hospital procedures. The doctors didn't even trip over their inclusive language, which was a nice touch. The discussion was followed by a tour of labor and delivery, and we were both really trying to picture being there, and it being OK. The rooms looked like hotel rooms, and as Gail said, "Hotels are pretty nice."

As we left, we agreed that we're feeling OK with the new situation, especially since it's the one that protects the baby. We're going to make it work, and it might not even be too much of a stretch to do so. Between our warm-hearted feelings towards the hospital, and the encouraging labs, Gail was inspired to say, "It's a good day in liver land," and that's the first time we've been able to say that since last Tuesday.