False alarm!

Well, we had a bit of a false alarm yesterday, something I'm sure every new mom-to-be experiences. In the morning, I felt some cramping in my lower abdomen. I ignored it and went about my day until I got into the office and felt my entire midsection tightening up (was it those pesky Braxton-Hicks contractions again?) I called Jon, who told me to immediately call the doctor. Apparently, he's much more well-read than I am and he was afraid that I was experiencing signs of early labor.

So I called the nurse who, of course, tells me I have to go in within the next hour or so. Jon picks me up and it's immediate panic mode (for me anyway). I hadn't even packed! So I threw a mish-mash of clothes in my bag (realizing on the way out that I had forgotten to pack underwear) and we went --or flew, rather -- to the doctor's office. You know that saying, the waiting is the hardest part? Nowhere does that ring true than the waiting room. We waited for damn near 40 minutes. The entire time, I was thinking, "Holy cow, we haven't cleaned the house. We haven't washed his baby clothes. Hell, we don't have anywhere for him to sleep!"

Finally, they called me in. They do all the routine stuff (I'll spare you the details) and then hook me up to a fetal monitor. Sure enough, I was having some contractions, but not the real kind. And his little heartbeat was really fast at some parts, but the nurse assured us everything was o.k.

So it appears we've officially experienced and survived our first fire drill. But the whole experience really drove it home for us. We went that night and bought a mattress for the crib, just in case. And we did start doing laundry. I'm happy to say we're all done washing his clothes and blankets for the first couple of months.

Oh, and we found a glider and ottoman on Craigslist for only $35. A remarkable deal, if you ask me, considering these ugly rockers usually go for $130 and up.

And you know, regardless of the chaos surrounding this whole drill, we were both really, really excited at the possibility of our little guy finally coming into the world. We feel if he were to come sometime soon, we're somewhat ready.

We're still looking for a bassinet, however. But I'm ok with that. At least he'll be clothed, warm, and most importantly, loved!