We're going to court on Wednesday (!!!) for our birthmom to sign her pre-birth consent in front of the judge -- and then for us to appear before him to apply to pay for additional post-birth expenses (she only previously applied for pre-birth expenses). She has 5 days post-birth to revoke, so this isn't final (in case anyone was ready with their flame throwers)!
She is also signing a consent for the nursery so we can come and go without her present (she's requested to be on a separate floor from mother/baby), a HIPAA authorization so the hospital can provide us with medical updates on the baby, and a Power of Attorney so we can make medical decisions for the baby should we need to.
Six weeks from today is the scheduled c-section! We had an u/s today and baby is measuring right at 33 weeks, although birthmom is only measuring 29 weeks (4 weeks behind in size is pretty significant I thought!) -- everything looks healthy and she weighs 4 lbs 7 oz. Her heart, kidneys, and spine all looked great, so we're really excited and looking forward to meeting her in person. We may get more ultrasounds since the birthmom is measuring so far behind, but otherwise, things are just great!
Re: Court date for pre-birth consent
The next six weeks will at times seem to crawl by and at others will seem to fly by!
Best wishes with the court date!
So exciting!! It's so close!
Don't worry too much about her measuring 4 weeks behind. They measure the fundal height (basically your belly from pelvic bone to where ever the top of the uterus is while the mother lays on her back, measured in cm) and depending on how the baby is positioned the day they measure, the mother can measure ahead or behind.
At this point in pregnancy the ultrasound that measures the baby is more accurate than the fundal height. A lower than expected fundal height can be caused by how the mother carries the baby or what her frame is like (if she is tall or thin), if she has well developed ab muscles, or if the baby has already begun the descent into the pelvis. These are more likely than the negative things (restricted growth, low fluid levels, or breech baby) if the ultrasound is showing everything looks good!
Good luck and keep us updated!