Smoothie King Saved My Baby

Yes, Smoothie King! Okay, not just Smoothie King, thanks also go to Five Guys and Burger King. Thank you Dr. Brewer for the Brewer's Diet and Wendy for a well timed reminder of the importance to keep up the Protein however we needed to do it. After Anne lost 4 pounds (on bed rest!) and all the testing started to show more things touching the "danger" line, it became clear: diet was at the center of things and we needed to get more proactive. Whopper Jr. took the first response. I brought Anne one in contraband. Then Joel and Jess visited from Vermont and smuggled in a burger from Dairy Queen.

Reinforcement came with a phone call to our Bradley Method instructor, Wendy. I needed to let her know we would be missing the rest of the classes and wanted her insight on what we could expect from induction(was natural child birth still in our cards?) She had experience with natural child birth after induction, but all with later term pregnancies. Hope was on the ropes, but we kept talking and she turned back to the more holistic and what were we doing to keep Anne and baby healthy. Focus on the condition of mother and baby, make decisions based on what is, not what might be. She iterated from class and brought up nutrition and especially protein - anyway possible. Ah, validation of our foray into diet enhancement. Now it was time to get serious. The doctor said induction next week and we needed to improve the next set of tests to push it back. A burger from Five Guys and then research on the Internet. Research confirmed the effect of protein on pre-eclampsia and Anne found a high-protein Smoothie King banana smoothie. My routine now involved a trip to the Pentagon Row Smoothie King on the way to see Anne every evening and, fortuitously, I even indulged in one the Friday of making week 36.

The net result was: an unhappy doctor having to concede to allowing us another week; happy nurses who supported us on waiting; a strong mother and baby going into week 37.