How to pre-register at labor and delivery the long way

1. Have numerous contractions each hour over the course of several days.

2. Hem and haw about going to the hospital or calling your OB. Surely at 34 1/2 weeks, this can't be true labor, right?

3. Begin to doubt self after reading several online articles about the signs of labor and when to go to the hospital. Realize you have been ignoring 3 major signs for days, including specific instructions from OB about going to the hospital if having more than 6 contractions in one hour.

4. When he arrives home that night, watch husband roll eyes at the fact that you are not already being checked out by labor and delivery. Listen meekly as he says, "At least call and ask!"

5. Run around house making sure the kids are settled in bed, apologize profusely to sister who must now be in charge of 3-year old, 2-year old, 22-mo old, and 3-mo old at bedtime, for God knows how long.

6. Tell funny stories to husband on way to hospital about my pregnancy brain, and listen as he alternates between certainty that I will have the baby when we get there (because he has 3 flights where he gets to drop live weapons over the next 3 days) and certainty that I will not have the baby (because I am *laughing* as I tell my stories).

7. Find labor and delivery in the hospital, repeat my social security number approximately 6 times, get hooked up to various monitors and lie in very uncomfortable position on my back as they call my OB.

8. Receive a shot of some sort to stop the contractions, and then get dismissed an hour later.

9. Arrive back home by 10:30, exhausted and ready to sleep for 12 hours. Sleep until 7:30 the next morning (!) and then run around like crazy person trying to get Kate ready for school, and myself ready for a timely OB appointment.

So, here we are. My doctor chastised me in a nice way this morning about not going in sooner, and said that had I been a few more weeks along, they wouldn't have given me the shot and would have kept me longer to see how things went. As it stands now, I have an induction date of April 9th, if I "last that long" (says OB).

We dropped my sister and her daughters off at the airport 2 hours ago, and we miss them dearly already. They were so fun to have around, and Jessica was such a huge help to me. Now it's nap time and I'm going to try to rest a bit. Thank you, everyone, for your calls and concern!