One year ago - Sept 22nd

On this date, one year ago...

...I was pretty tired, as I didn't sleep well the night before. I still had some cramping and was getting anxious and wondering if this was the start of labor. I had a feeling things were going to get started soon (Katie's due date was 9/23), so I felt the need to get things done. I went, with my Mom, to get my hair cut. I thought I was having contractions but they were pretty infrequent. When I arrived to get my hair done, they asked when I was due. I said "tomorrow" and got a kick out of the shocked faces.

After my hair cut, we went to Wegmans for some groceries. I'm not sure where Andrew was, but I remember being with my parents. I remember my Dad wanted us to all get iced tea and sit outside, so we did. While we sat there, I had a couple contractions and my dad was talking to me about who knows what. He asked me something and I didn't answer...my mom said "She's having a contraction, she can't talk to you!". It was after this trip that we were pretty sure Katie was on her way.

For the rest of the afternoon, I was writing down contraction times. They were pretty infrequent, so Andy wasn't timing them. Later that night, I called the doctor and said they were about 15-20 minutes apart, but really painful. He said to wait.

So, we went downstairs for the night and watched "Blades of Glory". I will never forget that awful awful movie because I was in such pain throughout the whole thing (not just because the movie sucked). I had to keep pushing up off the couch because each contraction felt like someone stabbing me in the pubic bone. At this point, Andy was timing them. Around 8pm, they were about 6-7 minutes apart and the doctor had us come to the hospital.

After sitting in 66 traffic, we arrived and were set up in a room. I was checked...still 3 cm. My parents stayed for a few hours and I sent them home, as things didn't seem to be happening tonight. I spent the rest of the night pushing up off the bed and groaning, with every contraction. I was afraid to move because the heart monitor kept falling off and losing the baby's heartbeat. Oh, the memories!

<--Smiling through a contraction (you can tell because I'm gripping the bed rail)