not just yet...

i've experienced some braxton hicks contractions over the last few months and usually they'll just go away by changing positions. but yesterday, i started to have some pretty intense contractions while driving home from work. i was on the phone with mom timing them and sure enough about every 2-4 minutes, here comes another...

i got home tried to relax, watered the plants, layed down and nothing would make them subside. so after two hours, josh and i decided to call the doctors office. within 5 minutes, the on-call nurse called back and told us to go to the hospital. they'd run some test, but they certainly didn't want me contracting at 33 weeks. "we need at least 3 more weeks out of you," she said.

josh and i were stumped -- we didn't know if we should pack a bag, what to bring, etc. i told him i hadn't gotten to that chapter in my book just yet, so i wasn't sure what we'd need. we opted for nothing but ourselves and cell phones. josh called my mom to let her know what was going down, and then tried to reach his mom. no answer, left a message...

the nurse ushered us to the triage area in labor and delivery to start monitoring contractions and the baby. baby was fine, but i was definitely having real contractions still every 2-4 minutes. two shots of some mystery substance that makes contractions go away and 3 hours later, they had stopped and we were able to breath again.

we were sooooo not prepared for that, but it was a great trial run for everyone. i'd never been in a hospital (or at least that i can remember) and it was good to get that anxiety out of the way. molly had left her phone in the car and hadn't gotten the message, so she didn't know what was going on. we've since suggested one of those cool belt clips for her phone, so she'll always be on standby. and josh has already started making our "before baby arrives" to do list and a "what to pack in the bag" list, so we'll be better prepared for the real deal!

48 days to go...maybe?!