Just as despondency was kicking in and we were thinking we were going nowhere, they checked Heather and found that she was at 9cm.

Progress!

We're going at the pace of Heather's body and right now this speed is slow. Dr. Ford will probably come back in around 4am. We'll send up a flare if things start moving. For now, we'll try to catch some zzzz's.

Heather's epidural is in, her water is broken and things seem to be progressing just fine. I snuk away and got a sandwich from the cafeteria, while H was stuck eating frozen apple juice. The food is great, though not nearly as good as the burrito I got when Alek was born. Likewise, this epidural was not nearly the drama the previous one was. She waited until she was 8cm before getting one the last time. This time, no messing around. As the evening moves on, we rekon they'll check for dialation and depending on that, pitosin may be used.

Right now it looks like we're having a Friday the 13th baby, rather than a ruination day birthday. Which is OK with us.

ps. Go Sabres!

Photo Op.

This time it's for real. Well, all we really know is they promised us we're not leaving without a baby. Heather seems to be prone to oddities of anatomy and physiology. Who the heck ruptures only one of the two membranes holding the baby in? Apparently Heather does! As i write this, she's pacing back and forth in the delivery room. We'll update as things go...

The following is the text of an email update I just sent to Robin. It's as good an explanation as anything of the events of the day and the current status.

Ro-ban -

Well, while lying in bed this morning I had a strange sensation of fluid leaking in my underwear, and despite some occasional urinary incontinence over the past trimester, didn't think it was urine because I'd just peed 10 minutes ago. But it didn't persist, and the contractions that I had all morning were infrequent and not too strong. I had an OB appointment scheduled for this morning at 11 am, so I waited around, took Alek to daycare, and went in a little early (more because I had someplace to be at 11:30 than because I was really concerned - I was hoping that by using the magic words "leaking fluid" I could sneak in ahead of schedule). Well, they were running 90 minutes behind. So I went to my 11:30 lunch meeting - an interview with a fellowship candidate, who happened to be a friend of mine from residency - and went back to the OB at 2 pm, where they'd scheduled me to fill a blank spot on the schedule left by a lucky woman who had managed to deliver this week. And since I'd made it to my meeting, and was no longer rushed, I tried to downplay the whole "leaking fluid" thing and make off like yeah, I'd had some this morning, but nothing else had happened and I wasn't as worried anymore.

Then the doctor checked me, and sure enough, I was leaking amniotic fluid. Doh.

I am SO out of touch with my body this pregnancy! Two weeks ago I thought I was in labor and I wasn't. Today I'm convinced that I'm not having this baby any time soon, and they tell me to go home and wait because I'm going to have this baby by 6 am tomorrow. So I'm wandering around the house restless and anxious - and trying to duck all the phone calls from well meaning family members who are responding to Erik's EXTREMELY premature posting on Freather.com - just "waiting" to go into labor. I'm instructed to show up at 9 pm - if I'm "not too uncomfortable" before then - so they can induce me and get the baby out before the membranes have been ruptured for 24 hours (hence the 6 am deadline).

Why can't I just go into labor like everyone else? I guess there IS no "like everyone else" when it comes to labor and delivery, but man, this has got to be one of the more frustrating ways!

Anyway, I'm expecting that I'll show up and they'll check me again and say something like "Oops, we're sorry, you weren't REALLY leaking amniotic fluid, it's just another false alarm - go home and wait for the real thing!" But either way, I'll keep you posted.

By the way, I'm going to copy this email and post it to Freather to provide a little clarification for everyone who is checking it, wondering if I've had the baby yet!

Forever pregnant,

H

Well it seems that the ploy Heather was going to use to convince the docs at her OB appointment today to see her worked a little too well. The amniotic fluid that was leaking a bit this morning and yesterday morning is one of those signs that the baby is coming soon. In fact once the membranes rupture, they want to get the baby born within 24 hours to avoid infection risk. So they scraped her membranes a bit and in the course of doing so, the doc said he felt the baby's head and some hair!

So, fair warning. This baby's coming soon. Within the next 24 hours. As Heather just said "don't make any plans for this evening."

Here we go again!

False labor. Grr. It was the real thing, as far as false labor goes, not that that makes me feel any better. Woke up at 1 am with painful contractions, unlike all previous this pregnancy and very much like labor the first time, and by 2 am they were 2 minutes apart - so what to do? Well, they kept coming, as they were, not really getting worse but not stopping - it seemed like it was better safe than sorry to head in and be checked out. All in all, it was another frustrating trip to OB triage (for those who haven't heard about the trip for the sinus infection, I'm not even going to get into that right now), and the lesson seems to be: There is absolutely no reward for playing by the rules and going through the system. Anyway, the end result was another lost nights' sleep and no cervical change, plus of course the 8 to 10 hours of contractions that were painful enough to wreck sleep but not strong enough to do anything. I ended up feeling lost and disoriented for most of Wednesday, waiting to see which way things were going to go, and didn't really feel like myself again until Wednesday night when the contractions had totally stopped. It was pretty embarrassing to show up to work on Friday still pregnant (after having to call in Wednesday morning in "false labor") and field all the inevitable comments, but people were pretty much understanding. I think. It's going to be a long couple of weeks until this baby comes for real . . . right now I'm not sure whether there's a baby in there, or just a very manic hamster spinning on her wheel, conspiring with every other force in the universe to keep me from sleeping at night.

The other day Heather suggested that it was about time I made a blog entry. So here goes. It's 4:22 am, we're at Duke and Heather's out walking through the contractions. It's beginning to look a lot like today's the day that Baby Frederick XX is born. Contractions started this morning at 1 AM EDT and by 2 AM, they were 4 minutes apart.

We had a short list of folks who were willing to come over and watch over Alek while he slept: Chris and Jeanette, our neighbors across the street and Tiffany and Chris, Alek's friend Max's parents. I peeked out the window at 2 this morning and saw that Chris's office light was on, so I jumped on Skype IM and pinged him: "Can you come over and look in on Alek while we buzz to Duke? This is looking like the day..." He was on a support call with somebody for Cisco (man do you EVER sleep, Chris?) so he woke Jeanette up while we threw a bag together. We met a groggy Jeanette at the door and Chris dropped by after his call before we took off for Duke Hospital.

H's baby ejection engine is just warming up. She's only a little dialated, but the contractions are real, and frequent. We're currently in "walk around" mode to determine if things are going to progress. Heather has no real doubts at this point so depending on how far things go and how fast, we'll either have a new baby soon or we'll be in a holding pattern. My bet is on the baby. It's far too early to say anything witty. I just tried to sleep a little, but couldn't. The hospital's a loud place and the beds aren't that comfy. I'm sure that I'll be pushed to the point where I'll fall asleep in the corner soon, but for now, it's too exciting!

We can't wait to meet her. Assuming it's a her...well I HOPE it's a XX because we don't have any boy names picked out yet.

Update: It's 9:07 and no baby. The contractions stopped all together at 5:30 AM and since H hadn't progressed by "measurement," they sent us home with over-cheery wishes. "It's not fair" said H. I concur, and I'm still tired whether it was fair or not.

Max likes to sit in someone's lap when he gets a story.

It would appear that we have failed to document anything in 2007, which has actually been quite eventful. Therefore, I don’t even know where to start but feel compelled to do so. Here are some highlights.

New Year's Eve Pajama Party with Max

Nana and Papa come to visit

Alek and Papa Joe both get kerplunked.

Aunt Lorna’s Memorial Service

Alek in the pool with Dada

The gang gathered at Hemlock Bluffs

Alek’s trip to the ER

Alek's split lip, pre-stitches.

Trip to Buffalo - President's Day

A snowy day in Buffalo.

Nana and Papa come to visit again

More grandparents – Poppie Doug and Grandma Diane resurface from all their travels

Globetrotting Grammie Barbie

Meemee taking Alek for a walk.

Heather and Dani are getting bigger

Heather at ~29 weeks

Dani at ~22 weeks

Milestones (i.e. Baby book substitute)