FELICITY JANE, Part Two

I continued to have Braxton Hicks between Thanksgiving and my actual day of delivery. This was a bit new and confusing to me, since I had never really had any kind of practice contractions. My typical pattern of the past was boring, I guess: pregnancy, labor, delivery, boom. This time around, the lines were fuzzy. Labor was creeping back into the pregnancy part! This made the call for Syracuse departure pretty difficult. I tortured my friends with texts on many occasions. "What should I do? Is this it? Why don't I know? What is wrong with me? It's not like I haven't done this before! HELP!" Do you have any idea how loving and patient my friends are? They prayed. They shared godly wisdom and helpful, practical advice. It was a test for me. Will I wait with grace or will I fear not knowing the exact time? Eric kept me sane with his constant reminders, "I'm here. I'm ready. Just text me when you KNOW it's time."

The constant question rolling around in my mind was this: What if I wait too long?

Eric was serious about only one thing, and that is I not wait too long.

The midwife providing my pre-natal care tried to corner him several times for an "emergency car birth lesson". He came up with all kinds of reasons (excuses) why he couldn't participate. They ranged from "Gotta run, gym time!" to "Why would I ever need to know about that? That is NOT happening to us!"
She would respond, "You're in denial." Then he would respond, "No. I can just drive fast." Back and forth they went, and all the while I would just sit there thinking, "Why does THIS have to be the Braxton Hicks pregnancy?"

My good friends kept reminding me, "When it's the real deal, you'll KNOW."

My mid-wife kept reminding me, "When it's the real deal, you'll KNOW."

And all I could ever think was, "When it's the real deal, I'll have NO IDEA."

They were right and I was wrong.

To be cont'd.

NOT the most flattering picture of me,

but the kids love it because of the ears and antlers.

I love it because Kailey was telling the baby,

"Don't worry, little baby, I'll teach you how to moonwalk!"