The Weekend the Baby Didn't Come

Last Wednesday I went to see the doctor. Dr. Ingram was out of town and I saw the other doctor that comes into Tuscaloosa. Actually I spent most of the visit with the nurse practitioner. She gave me a quick pelvic exam and said everything was closed and nothing was going on. She did say she touched Miller's head and that he was in the right position. I went home thankful for a few more days to get ready for Miller and that my mom was once again in town to help me get organized and ready. We (I use that word loosely, because really it was all mom) organized our hall closets. Dad and Aunt Emy and Xander came in the afternoon and I cooked us a Mexican dinner. During this process I began having contractions. And after a bit Em and I began timing them. They were pretty strong and consistent for a while but then they turned sporadic but remained strong. I began to experience a rush of energy and tried to get some things done. My dad and sister went back to Birmingham but I grew more and more excited. Maybe something was happening and soon we'd have our baby! My mom did some emergency preparations, painted my toes :) But by eleven the contractions faded. I was too wired to sleep so I stayed up a bit. The next day mom and I worked in Miller's room on decorative details. I had some minor contractions on and off throughout the day. I made blackened chicken Alfredo fettuccine for dinner. As I cooked the contraction grew stronger and more consistent. During dinner we decided that Noah, Charlie, Adam and I would go home with Mimi just to be closer to St. Vincent's in case things continued to progress. Adam and I rode together and over the hour contractions grew consistent and by the time we got to my parent's house we had called the on call nurse and were told to come in. We dropped our stuff off and helped settle Noah in and headed to to the hospital. By the time we were checked in and I was dressed in my gown and given samples.... the contractions stopped. I didn't have one for an hour! They kept us for two hours to monitor me and Miller. (Whose beautiful heartbeat we got to listen to for three hours!) They did two exams and sure enough, no action. Around two am we were released. I felt silly despite the reassurances that we did the right thing. Adam and I decided we'd hang out in Birmingham for the weekend just to make sure Miller wasn't going to come. I really felt like I'd be holding him by the end of the weekend. So we started the waiting game. Friday we took the car in to have its air conditioning checked out. It has a tendency not to work on the interstate. The best part about having a new (to us) car is the warranty. Mimi, Xander, Emy, and Noah followed us to the shop and then picked us up. We braved Friday lunch traffic on 280 and took Mimi to her hair appointment while the rest of us hung out at the Galleria for lunch, carousel rides, and cookies. For dinner we went to Johnny Bruscos in Vestavia. Noah and Adam had fun racing around the fountain. Service was a little slow so we rewarded our patience after dinner with ice cream. They had some decent sugar free mint chocolate chip. After the two cousins were in bed, Adam, Griffin, Emy, Papa, Mimi and I played Beatles Rockband until 1am!! Saturday we laid around, picked up the car (supposedly nothing is wrong with it), did a little shopping for hospital pajamas, and played Beatles Rockband. Mom and I made dinner and the contractions came back. But I wasn't going to be fooled. They continued off and on but petered out around bedtime. Sunday we decided it was probably safe to assume he wasn't going to make an appearance before my 8am Monday appointment with Dr. Ingram in Tuscaloosa. We packed up and left Mimi and Papa in peace (at least for a little bit). Of course the air conditioner in the car went out about half way. Noah and I are back at home washing clothes and repacking our hospital bags. Who knows when this baby will come. It wasn't this weekend. We are so grateful for the hospitality and excitement of both our families as we wait it out. We will try not to have any more false alarms!