Day #279 of pregnancy...

I awoke this morning at 3:00AM with rather aggravating pain around my middle and lower back moving its way toward my belly... yes, it was annoying and enough so that I laid there tossing back and forth for awhile. By about 4:00AM, the contractions were to a point that I knew I should begin timing them to see what was up - so I awoke Kyle and had him hold the clock while I coached my way through a few... usually HE coaches but in such a haze I knew he'd be better suited to simply hold a clock and call out the time as I saw fit. So there we were for about 45 minutes - me, awake and rocking back and forth on all fours... Kyle, asleep except for every 7-8 minutes when I yelled rather forcibly, "Kyle... Kyle... KYLE! (shaking him by this point) TIME PLEASE!"

After this interaction with my not-so-awake husband, I decided that I would rather walk around the house and talk to myself and allow him the sleep he would need to carry me through the rest of the day if this baby was on his way. I climbed out of bed, had a bowl of cereal, walked back and forth, watched horrible early morning television and did whatever I could to stay comfortable. When I realized the contractions were rather consistently 6-10 minutes apart and lasting 90 seconds or so, I went back to bed to try and get some shut-eye with the assistance of a dose of Benadryl. Within no time the Benny kicked in and I was out cold - for an hour.

I awoke to Katie calling for me - to try to describe it the best way I can I would say that I quickly awake to something but I'm never quite sure why, or how, I awoke. I rarely remember audibly hearing anything, in fact. But my heart is stirred and my motherly instincts shift into high-gear. In the silence and whirr of the fan in her room I again hear this calm, tiny, well-rested voice calling from the far corner of her bed, "Mommy... Mommy..." and once in awhile it is followed by a few lines of jibberish that is most likely directed at Geoffrey the Giraffe or Baby - both of whom sleep close to her each night. They're probably discussing how their sleep was... if they feel rested... what they dreamt about... and how Mommy will be in in just a moment to change everyone's diapers and carry them out to the kitchen where she will prepare toast to eat. That's what I assume they talk about anyway...

This morning, though, it was Kyle's job. HE was the one that got to rest so HE would be the one up and at 'em to retrieve our daughter from the invisible clutches of her toddler bed. (She's not allowed to crawl out on her own - merely for the purpose of keeping her corralled at all times and not wanting to fight the fight of keeping her out of OUR bed in the middle of the night. It has worked very well.) Kyle brought Katie in to join us as we slowly rose out of our sleep... and then it hit me! DAMNIT, THE CONTRACTIONS HAVE SUBSIDED AND I'M STILL PREGNANT! Yes, I do believe I cursed... maybe even cried.

In any case, it was a good thing there was no baby today. A dear friend of mine, who is 6.5 months pregnant, had some rather serious medical difficulties today - all of which are under control and Mom and Baby (still in the womb) are at home healthy and 'ok' - and Kyle and I took care of her son for the day while she and her husband spent the day in the ER. We went from Evergreen Hospital ER to McDonalds to Ballard and back home for naps - EVERYONE took a nap! It was wonderful! We all awoke, had a snack, welcomed Riley's Mom and Dad back home and then began winding down for the night. We had dinner together, the kids had their baths and then they went on home while I laid Katie down for bed. Now, Kyle and I sit once again, anticipating my weekly doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:45AM... hopefully I will get to cancel as I will be in the hospital already.

I should stop talking such craziness. I'll see Dr. Frankwick tomorrow and she'll remind me that she doesn't induce until I'm 7-14 days late unless there are extenuating medical concerns. I wonder if insanity counts.