How many kids do you have?

I suppose that every mother-to-be has at least one, especially when prompted by well-meaning co-workers: a false alarm. The phone call was pretty exciting actually, a very subdued Angie saying she has had four cramp-like contractions in the span of forty minutes, and lots of movement, so she called the doctor and they told her to come in…No, it was probably nothing, no, you don’t have to leave work and come too.
Yeah, Right.
I can’t speak for Angie’s trip over to the doctor, but as for mine it was brief. I honestly didn’t play Andretti, I just drove carefully and precisely, kept the “5mph over the limit” rule, and promptly drove right past the doctors office as my mind started to think about hospital bags and car seats. Back on track I arrived at the office to find Angie had already been taken to the back. Everyone was super nice, and smiling broadly, a knowing glint in their eye. When I got to Angie she was sitting glumly on an examination table. Her first comment was: “nothing’s happening, everybody got so excited at work, I just thought I should call and the doctor said to ‘Come on in’, so here I am—you didn’t have to come…”
Again: yeah, right.

A quick exam confirmed that all was well; no distress, no labor.

The doctor, not to miss a chance at some good-natured teasing asked:
“How many kids do you have at home, two, three?”
Not to let him get away unscathed, I replied:
“Seven.”
But so he knew we got the tease and had a good sense of humor I added:
“Different fathers for all of ‘em though”

All in all it was not a waste of trip. It was a nice practice run for me, and Angie definitely has a better appreciation of what to expect when the time does actually come. Frankly, I’d rather have Angie head over there every time she is worried, than to ignore a symptom of something that could be serious.

At least we are more “ready” than we were. Almost all of our supplies are in place, the changing table is finished, and all the 0-3 month old clothes are dutifully washed, checked for tag remnants, and put away. The room is decorated and Angie finished her final picture last night. I will post a picture of the room and her really neat creation on here soon. We have three baby/dog gates up that all of us are trying to adjust to, we know we won’t need them for a few months, but we and dogs take some time to adjust to the new traffic pattern. Angie apparently tripped over one last night after I had gone to bed. The details are sketchy, I will update if it is important, but it may be the death knell for that particular gate.

Important facts:
-Due Date: August, 30th
-Time for DBD Jr to get from office to Hospital/Doctor: 13 minutes without the wrong turn.
-Time for ASD to get from office to Hospital/Doctor: unknown
-Level of Preparation (percentage based on confidence and physical preparations): 65%
-Dog Frustration Level (average between DBD Jr & ASD): 80%
-Cat Frustration Level (average between DBD Jr & ASD): 10%