Marshall's false alarm.

At my 38 week appointment, my doctor again agreed that an induction at 39 weeks was the way to go. The very next day, on July 17th, my water broke at home (or so I thought..?)  I spoke with my doctor and they suggested I come in to labor and delivery. I was THRILLED! My sister came over to watch Owen, and took this last picture of Justin and I before we left for the hospital. 

Part of me was nervous that this wasn't going to be the real deal... it all seemed too perfect. I had just washed and folded all the laundry. I went to the grocery store that morning, so the fridge and pantry were well stocked. The night before, I had typed up some general instructions for taking care of Owen when we are in the hospital. Owen was down for a nap. And I thought I was having a pretty good hair day.  :)

When we got to the hospital, they put me on the monitor and confirmed I was contracting (no surprise there, since my "irritable uterus" has me contracting all the time anyway.) They had me walk the halls for a while to see if we could get things moving along, and then sent off a test to confirm amniotic fluid. 

I was seriously ecstatic about meeting Marshall. Knowing that today was the day! FINALLY! We texted our families, and in my excitement I told all of my social media friends as well. :) My parents even called from England to say they were praying it all went well and that they couldn't wait to hear the news.

And then it happened. The nurse returned to the room and said, "Well, no baby today" and started taking off the monitor, instructing me to go ahead and get dressed. I was seriously dumbfounded. She explained that the test was negative for amniotic fluid and since labor was not progressing, they were sending me home. And so I lost it, and nearly drowned myself in tears. I felt robbed of my delivery day. Robbed of getting to meet Marshall. And embarrassed that I had told the world he was coming. I was an emotional basket case. Justin and I stopped for dinner on the way home to try and calm my nerves and talk through the fact that it would be just another week until my induction. Just another week until we meet Marshall.

After dinner, I still wasn't ready to go home, so instead Justin dropped me off to meet my sisters for coffee/dessert. We met at Stella Rosa, but due to the wait times, agreed we'd all be just as happy to sit and have a drink at the mall. So that's what we did. 

As I shared my false alarm story with them, detail by detail, they listened intently. Then they somehow found a way to turn my tears of sadness and frustration into the kind of tears that only come from laughing way too hard, for way too long. I am so incredibly thankful for both of them, and their willingness to come out and cheer me up. Love you both!

The wait for Marshall continues...