False Start. First Down.

Just 'cuz I love to write and what great storytelling material I have! Most people won't care about these kinds of stories, but I know I'll want them later on!

I'm no stranger to braxton hicks contractions. They're the "warm up" contractions that supposedly don't mean anything and we're told to ignore them. So I do. I typically have them for the last 2 months of my pregnancies, so by now I'm REALLY good at ignoring them! But last night Katelynn had a bad dream or something and started crying. I jumped out of bed and went to check on her and she was still asleep, but crying. As I stood by her bed my tummy got really tight and Ashley got active. I didn't think much of it since that tends to happen when I stand up regardless! So I went back to bed.

Within a few minutes my tummy does the same thing, but I'm lying down. Hmmm. It goes away and I think "okay, just go to sleep." It happens again. And again. And again. They say to change positions to see if you can get your belly to react differently. If they're "real" contractions, they'll keep going, if they're just warm-ups, they'll usually subside. Part of me just wanted to hang out in that position for a while, telling myself, "okay, if the next one is a "good one" I'll turn over" or after a strong one, "if they stay that strong I'll go take a shower and see if that helps". I finally turn over, drink some water (another thing that helps) and they space out, but are still there. I get really excited but also remember that we REALLY want to take our birth class this weekend, go on our "last holiday date" with our friends on Friday night, etc, etc. Half of me starts going through the list of when do I wake up Kevin, who do we call to come take care of Katelynn, when do we call the doula, how long do we hang out here? Apparently my mom had really fast labors (early in fact!) and after Monday's appointment, Ashley's not "hiding" up there, she's low and ready to go! So with a drive to Seattle ahead of us we're having to weigh our timing a little more than normal. :)

I begin thinking of what we'd need to get ready if this really was "it". That's when I realized the video camera battery died last night while we were skyping with Katie and I forgot to charge it! The same thing happened when Kristen was born. I think we got maybe 2-5 minutes of anything and it died. And I also realized the memory cards in both cameras hadn't been emptied and I didn't have a new tape for the video camera...and the list started forming! So I waited out one or two more contractions and got up and saw the clock, it had been at least an hour and a half of pretty consistent contractions - woo-hoo! I realized I was hungry too, so I made some PB toast, got some water, found all the cameras and batteries, and of course got on the computer!

After about an hour of being up and around I noticed the little bit I was feeling wasn't as regular as before and I really should get some sleep if we're anywhere near being close to having a baby!!  Thankfully I was able to get back to bed comfortably and get to sleep. The contractions didn't come back and I got some sleep.

So today, Katelynn and I are laying low and daddy's on-call :). We've been going non-stop all week (including last weekend!) and we both need a break. She's got a cold/cough and I'm getting a sore throat. Not to mention I have a bag to get packed!!!  I actually had a dream that we forgot to take clothes for Ashley to the hospital and we had to borrow some doll clothes from a nearby church nursery....ha ha!!

So all morning I've been hearing the booming voice of the Super Bowl referee clicking on his microphone and doing his hand gestures to indicate a "false start" as the crowd goes wild - some with agreement and relief, thankful for one more down to "make some progress", and others with not so thrilled reactions. :)  Since I don't have control over what happens - only how I respond to it, I'll take the first down!