And off we go....

11:00PM Saturday night - finally get to bed and go to sleep

12:00AM Sunday morning - ZZZZZZZ

1:00AM - Ugh...bathroom trip #1 for the night.

1:10ish - Hmm, braxton hicks contractions again.

1:30AM - Still contracting even though I'm laying on my left side.

1:45AM - Get out of bed, go take some tylenol and drink half a bottle of water. Get on computer to try to pass some time and see if the Tylenol stops the contractions.

2:30AM - Contractions coming fast now. Not painful, just quick. Are these really contractions or are am I just feeling the baby lie against my belly? Google Braxton Hicks.

3:00AM - Still contracting. Go wake up Darin. "Honey, I've been contracting pretty quickly since 1. It's been two hours and they've only sped up. Doc said if it went much past two hours we need to go in." Decide to go take a bath to see if I could relax a little and see if they would stop that way.

3:30AM - Done with bath, no luck stopping contractions (or relaxing for that matter). Go wake husband up again and tell him I had no luck. He convinces me to lay down for a bit longer and just try to relax. Rubs my belly for about 15 minutes.

4:00AM - Still contracting. Getting ancy now. Husband gets out of bed, gets dressed, and I call the hospital to make sure it was necessary to drive the hour to Little Rock to go in. Doctor - "Umm..you need to get here pretty quick if they've been coming even irregularly under 5 minutes."

4:01AM - Minor panic attack. Talking to self in incomplete and possibly incoherent thoughts - "Is this it?? Are we just going to drive up there and be sent back home? I'M NOT READY YET!!! Must finish packing the little things that need to be thrown in my bag. Thank you God for urging me to pack all the bags this afternoon. Your timing is amazing!"

4:02AM - Throw last minute items into bag and load car. Get dressed. Let dog out. Feed dog.

4:20AM - Go wake up Zoe and put her in car. Head for hospital.

4:30AM - Actually begin timing contractions with timer. Coming every 2.5 - 4 minutes. Average time - 3 minutes apart. YIKES.

5:00AM - Just crossing into Benton. Wow...these no longer feel like Braxton Hicks contractions. They kind of hurt! Still coming every 3 minutes.

5:30AM - Walk into maternity ward. Room's already waiting for me. Strip and put on the "oh so comfy" hospital gown. Zoe begins jumping up and down and running around the room with all the excitement. Are you kidding me? It's 5:30 in the morning.

5:40AM - Nurse enters to take vitals and hook me up to monitor. She mentions, "You know you're contracting about every three minutes?". "Umm..yes, that's why we're here". Didn't really say that, just thought it.

5:45AM - Nurse checks for dialation. "It's a dimple". What in the world is a dimple?? Ask for clarification. Dimple is roughly a centimeter dialated but not quite with some thinning out. Wow..that's funny. Just yesterday I was not effaced or dialated a bit. Once again, silently ask myself, "Wow..is this it?"

6:30AM - Nurse says I need to walk for 2 hours to see if I can get labor contractions coming harder and progress in dilation. 2 hours...wow, that's a long time to walk around in the same hallway, but I'll do it.

6:50AM - Begin walk. Contractions hurting a bit more now. Also make me dizzy. Keep truckin, woman! Get this kid out!

7:30AM - Call hostess for my baby shower that's supposed to be at 2 this afternoon to tell her the situation.

7:50AM - Out of breath and sweating. Go back to room to take a 5 minute break.

7:55AM - Resume walk. Still contracting. Legs tired. Keep trucking!!!

8:30AM - Must (huff) stop (huff) walking (huff huff). Can't (huff) walk (huff) any further (huff).

8:45AM - Doctor comes to check me. No progression. Bummer deal. "Well, you're still contracting, but it's not doing anything, so we're sending you home." Bigger bummer.

9:30AM - "Ok, you can go. Come back when they get worse." Ok, so when will that be??? Nurse says, "you very well might be in early labor since they're hurting a bit. Some women are at this point for 24 hours or more. Some have it go away and then come back a couple of days later. You'll know." Wonderful!

10:00AM - Pull into IHOP parking lot. Starving mom, dad, and baby girl.

10:30AM - Inhale delicious chocolate pancakes.

12:00PM - Arrive home. Contractions slowing. Hit bed for an hour.

2:00PM - Baby shower! Eat cake, open gifts, have fun just sitting and fellowshipping. Contractions almost completely gone now.

8:15PM - Putting Zoe to bed. Then putting myself to bed (and my poor husband who is just as tired as I am). Wow..when was the last time I went to bed at 8:30?