And So It Begins

Dear Sophia,

Yesterday was... insane, to say the least. It was the fourth of July, and we started our with only five hours of sleep (because we went to sleep at 2am and woke up at 7 to be ready for the day.) First on our list was to pick up Erica and her niece who is staying with her to go to the ward breakfast. It was yummy! We had pancakes, bacon, and either milk or orange juice. We sat next to Erica's in-laws, and enjoyed some light conversation before we ate. Once more people started coming, we left to clear out some space for those who hadn't eaten yet.

Our next stop was Erica's house, where we played several rounds of cards before her mother-in-law showed up with the ward's parade float. At the time, we were in the middle of a game of Phase 10 (and I had a really great hand, by the way) but we stopped to help the youth finish the float before the parade. It was super hot outside, and, although I brought glass of ice water outside, it wasn't long before I was way too hot. Of course, Charles had told me to go inside ten minutes earlier, but I just had to wait until I was getting dizzy. Once inside, I laid down and promptly fell asleep. A little later, Charles came in and Grandma called to say the whole family was having an impromptu get-together early that evening.

We headed home to give me a chance to take an actual nap in my own bed. Of course, I couldn't sleep, but that's okay. Grandma came in and we discussed options for fighting for Daddy's right to see your half-sister, Onnamaria. We've been trying to arrange a time to see her, but her mother has refused to respond to any of our attempts at contact. It's really sad. Daddy loves her so much, but he hasn't gotten to see her since she was 8 months old. Her birthday is tomorrow, actually. She'll be two years old! I made a cute (if I do say so myself) little birthday card for her, and Daddy and I both left a message inside of it for her. Of course, we don't have her address so we had to send it to her Grandma's house, but we sent it! That's what matters. I hope she gets it.

Next, we went over to the family party at Great-Grandma's house, and had a wonderful meal. It was nice seeing everyone. Shortly after we finished eating, my back started to hurt. I was really uncomfortable, but still feeling you move, which was good. After a couple of hours, it was still hurting so Daddy, Grandma, and I went to the hospital to get checked out. On the way there, I got pretty hysterical. I know what is going to happen eventually, but that doesn't mean it doesn't frighten or upset me. Daddy was upset too, but he was more worried about you and I more than anything.

Once there, we went straight to the obstetrics unit. They let us in and allowed me to choose which room I wanted to go into. I chose "room 3" which is where we were on our first visit, and we went through a couple of the same things: urine sample, getting hooked up to a bunch of machines, etc, except this time you weren't such a stinker and allowed the nurse to find you pretty easily. Also, she said she and the other nurse had just been talking about us, and she mentioned how we hadn't been in in a while. Oops?

Apparently my urine came back fine, so they decided to take some blood samples and test them too. The nurse was exceptionally gentle, and I didn't even feel the prick. Soon enough, though, those came back fine too. The next step was a pelvic exam. (Yaaaaayyyy...) When they started pulling the curtain up, Daddy looked confused and was letting it close in from of him. I looked at him and said "What do you think you're doing?" and the nurse was like "You can come in here!" He hurriedly came over to my side, and said he hadn't known if he was allowed to be on that side with me.

In any case, the nurse did the exam (awkward) and came up a minute later. She said my cervix was "soft and long", and I am at "fingertip." According to my October 6th due date, I'm not even 27 weeks yet. I don't know about you, but it's looking like my feeling was right. It looks like I will, indeed, be delivering you, our little Miss Sophia early. We'll see what my doctor says on Tuesday.

After being discharged, we went back over to Erica's and played more games until Daddy and I were tired, went home, and went to bed. It was certainly a long day.

This morning, I woke up feeling awful. I was all stuffed up, which I had been since doing all that crying yesterday, and it was gross. Thankfully, I'm all *clear* now, if you know what I mean, but still stuffed up and sore-throated. Meh. Hopefully I'll get feeling better soon, and you won't be harmed in the process.

Sincerely,
Mommy.