I'd do a little happy dance if I could

Just to keep things exciting, I made another trip to L&D yesterday.

I started having contractions every 10 minutes or so beginning Thursday evening. They lasted a few hours but weren't getting any closer or any stronger so I put down my pen and paper and decided to just go to bed.

At 3:30am I woke up with horrible cramping and back pain. I really didn't want to go to the hospital in the middle of the night so I attempted to go back to sleep. That didn't happen. I was awake until 8:00am when I finally called the doctor to see what they suggested. Of course, they wanted me to go get checked out.

I had an appointment this past Tuesday - 34 weeks exactly - and it was determined that I was 50% effaced and just about a centimeter dilated. When I was checked in L&D yesterday there was no change. Phew!

I just need to make it to this Tuesday so that I can deliver at my normal hospital...the one that is literally 5 minutes from our house. Otherwise I'd be transferred to a hospital 30 minutes away that has a level III NICU should Hudson need it.

I'm almost there folks! After 5 weeks of contracting and hospital visits and IV fluids and "bed rest". YAY!

AND I just got the best phone call this morning...my mom, sister and nieces are driving BACK to Texas to stay for awhile!!! If I could have jumped out of bed and danced around the house I would have :)

Let me tell you why this is more than amazing news:

• I'm bored. The boys are bored. Having them here will give me someone to talk to throughout the day and the boys will have a blast with their cousins.
   
• We're a tad bit overwhelmed. The laundry is piling up. The upkeep of the house is slowly getting behind. Ricky has been busting his butt trying to take care of meals, cleaning, work, getting the nursery ready and doing most everything with the boys but his energy is waning and who can blame him? This makes me feel guilty so I attempt to throw in a load of laundry or unload the dishwasher...but then Ricky lovingly but sternly tells me to get. back. in. bed. Not that I expect my mom and sister to do housework while they are here, but I know that it's just in their nature to help out. And remember, my mom is my laundry fairy :) I will welcome the help (and I know Ricky will too!)

• We now have an official "plan" for when Hudson arrives. Our current plan was a bit questionable. If I went into labor during the day and the boys were NOT at school (so any day other than Tuesday or Thursday), we were going to ask our neighbor friends to keep the boys so Ricky could be with me. But one of them has a newborn baby themselves and the other one has a little boy who is currently being treated for cancer, so that plan was not the most sound. If I went into labor in the middle of the night, then our older neighbors with no kids at home was our go-to plan. But who really wants to wake up a neighbor at 3am to come over and be at our house with our sleeping kids. I know they wouldn't have minded, but it is a bit awkward all around. Now, with family here, we won't need to worry about making that decision.

• Finally, and most important to me, is the fact that my final birth experience will be made special by having my sister with me in the delivery room. After having Aiden - where the weather made it impossible for anyone to be at the hospital and then the shock of his diagnosis sucked the life out of the room - I've been praying to have a more enjoyable experience this time around. Although my sister has had 2 babies, she delivered both via c-section so she's never gotten to be involved in a regular delivery. I really want her to be there with me and now it seems she will be able to! The boys will be well taken care of at home with my mom and when the time is right, we will have everyone visit us at the hospital to celebrate!