Update

Well shoot, it's been an exciting few weeks!  Baby girl has been trying to make an early break for it, so things have been rather crazy around here...  Let's start from the beginning.

I showed up to my 33 week appointment 2 Fridays ago, just for a checkup, and it turned out that I was 1 cm dilated.  Given that the last time I had a baby, I went from 0 to 10 in about 2 hours, and was holding Patrick 2 hours after that, we TOTALLY PANICKED.  Yep, the doctor too...  She put me on a monitor to test for contractions, and sure enough, I was having them!

Doc sent me right across the street to the hospital and checked me into Labor and Delivery.  OMG!  So this particular weekend, some friends of mine were supposed to host a baby shower for me.  With that, my parents were literally on their way from Houston at that time, as was my aunt from the Dallas area, and one of my BFFs from high school was heading in the next day.  So at least I had some backup on the way to help with Patrick, and thank goodness I left the house ready for visitors that morning (about 90% ready anyway), because I spent the next 2 days in the hospital fighting off contractions.  At one point, I was having them every 7 minutes!!  Yikes!

Eventually, though, we scared off the regular contractions, and checked my cervix - no more dilation.  So they let me go home, only if I promised to relax and work from bedrest from that point on.  Ummmmm, bedrest?  With a full time (crazy) job and a (crazy) toddler?  And a husband and (crazy) dog?  I was thinking that they were freaking crazy for letting me leave that hospital bed, but of course I wasn't going to SAY that... Shhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone I just admitted that!

Meanwhile, it's a week and a half later and baby girl is still baking up nicely.  Oh yes, I'm still having crazy contractions, but not regularly and they don't seem to be getting any more intense.  Doc checked me out yesterday and said everything looks good, so I'm just going to keep trying to keep off my feet as much as possible, drink tons of water, eat like a maniac, and concentrate hard on not going into labor (mind over matter!). 

Now, we expected some early arrival drama, given that Patrick showed up at 36.5 weeks (and because I'm a drama queen, natch), but sheesh - this has been even more than I was expecting.  Looks like baby girl is a chip off the ole block!  Patrick is CERTAINLY Sheridan's baby - they are BFFs, so it seems like this one definitely is going to be *my* baby. 

That shower never materialized - my girlfriends had to postpone it, but I've had so many lovely people send pressies, drop by for visits, and send their love.  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life; it's really inspired me to think about becoming a better friend to the people I care about and spend my days with.  With so much going on, it's easy to get wrapped up in myself and my family, but as soon as I can get back on my feet, I want to do something nice for my loved ones and friends.  Need to start thinking about that...

Cross your fingers that the baby stays put, and I'll continue to keep my legs crossed!  ;)

Love, Mer

p.s.  Per my last post, I did decide to pack my hospital bag.  A) It came in handy! B) Do you think I jinxed myself?