To Sleep...Perchance to Dream

This update brought to you by Whole Foods, wheelchairs, Mass General Hospital, Pandora Internet Radio, and my sister.

My nurse yesterday told me I needed to Get Out of My Room.  She wrote an order for me to go outside, via wheelchair, for 45 minutes.  I told her my sister would take me when she got off work. "If she can't do it, I will," she affirmed.  "We will go have coffee."

At 6 PM my sister arrived with a bag of sushi, fresh rolls, and fruit salad from Whole Foods.  I tightened my pony tail, loaded into the wheelchair, and we went down and outside, into The Fresh Air.  We ate our dinner and caught up on a patio adjacent to a green lawn and gardens.  It was a lovely, mood-altering moment in time.

I returned to my room a little lighter, refreshed, ready for the specter of a long night of contractions.

But instead, I dozed between and through them.  Though strong, they never seemed to exceed three an hour.  As Patty Griffin, Deb Talan, Ingrid Michaelson, Meg Hutchinson, and the like serenaded me, I slept, and even had a dream. I didn't rouse completely till 8 AM.

Not only is last night's sleep significant in terms of my general well-being, it broke a cycle of dreading nights and wondering what might happen with contractions:  get stronger?  Become full-blown labor?  I'm feeling so hopeful that we have more days, and perhaps weeks.

I'm reading inspiring stories of healthy babies born earlier than 30 weeks.  We are fortunate to be as far along as 31 and change.  I'm accepting the strong likelihood that we won't be handed a plump, breastfeeding baby at delivery.

On today's agenda:  fill out some forms, including a birth certificate worksheet.  Maybe we'll mess around with some more permanent names than Tootsie...

Have a great day, friends!