And then, like clockwork, on Tuesday night, I started having what we'd been waiting for - regular, time-able contractions! They were every four minutes, lasting a minute and lasted through the hour, so we excitedly called the doctor. Since I could still talk through them, and we live so close to the hospital, they told us to stay home until they increased in intensity and then to just come on in. We made the family phone calls to deliver the good news, told everyone to stay in Dallas until we saw a change, and took Stanley on a walk happily chattering about what the night would hold. We arrived home to missed calls, texts and emails. It turns out, not surprisingly, that no one in my family could wait. While we were walking, they were busy throwing bags in the car, arranging childcare and meeting up to head down south. Within the next 3-5 hours, they all safely arrived at our tiny house, laughed at my ridiculously large, and low, stomach (multiple "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" jokes) and then settled in for the night to get some rest before Charlie arrived. Now, there is a couch, and we threw the blow-up mattress in Charlie's room, but imagine trying to sleep all 5 house guests...they got creative.
And so this is what family does. Or this is what my family does. As crazy as it was to have everyone here, I couldn't imagine any one of them missing a single minute of Charlie's debut. It was just right for us. We slept or tried to sleep through contractions, snoring (not naming any names there), sleepy freakouts (still no names) and wild anticipation of meeting Charlie. We awoke to the same level of contractions, so John and I headed to the doctor who hustled us off to the hospital to monitor Charlie's stress level and my contractions. And we thought...this is it! It's all beginning. We were monitored for two hours and then told that while my contractions were regular and consistent they just weren't increasing in intensity. Duh. We were given the option to stay and have my water broken and start on Pitocin or to head home and wait. And since we aren't past our due date and Charlie is happy and healthily settled, we decided to wait and let Charlie call the shots. No need to smoke him out just yet. What I wasn't prepared for was putting back on my regular clothes and leaving the hospital with a baby still in my belly. I was overcome with defeat, guilt and embarrassment. Here everyone had made the trek down south and all for not. And then, again, I was reassured that this is what family does. Or this is what my family does. They rally around, they support, they laugh and they love. They love with so much of their beings that they wouldn't and couldn't imagine for a minute not being there with us. They couldn't care less about the time on the road or the crazy sleeping situation or the frantic arrangements they made for kids and work to be here because we are a family. And family means showing up no matter how big or small. We can't wait for Charlie to join us, and we can't wait to introduce him to all the love that so strongly surrounds him.
"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." - Kahlil Gibran
