Thursday is THE day!

Today at 6:47 AM I get a text message from Stephanie.  I recognized the message alert right away but wondered why she was sending me a text this early.  I wasn't even awake yet.  The last text I sent her was on Friday evening which asked her the question, "what is your favorite color?"  I asked her this because I was putting together a hospital bag and wanted to know what color PJ's I should get her.  So the first thought in my head this morning, was, "why is she telling me her favorite color now?"  In my foggy mind, I then had to figure out what day of the week it was.  For a moment, I thought it was Sunday, but then realized it was Monday and figured I'd better get up because I should have been awake 20 minutes ago to get ready for work.  So I checked my phone and saw that Stephanie wanted me to go with her to the doctor's appointment today.  I fumbled some text messages back and forth with her and we made our plans.

If I hadn't picked her up, she would have had to take three busses in the 100 degree heat to get to the doctor's office.  I couldn't bare the thought of that, especially since she said that she was just so uncomfortable and could hardly walk.  So I picked her up and we went to the doctor.  She wanted me to come back to the exam room with her.  The doctor examined her and said she was 2 cm dilated.  He also did a quick ultra sound and I saw Hunter's heart beat-  I actually saw the valves in his heart so clearly!  It was awesome.  Then he looked at some other things and took some measurements of body parts that I could not decipher.  He told us that the baby was 7 lbs :)  He then asked Stephanie if she wanted to be induced this week and before he could even finish his question, she said "YES!!"  We all started laughing because we all know how ready she is to have this baby.  So the doctor called the hospital while we were there and they scheduled her for 5:00 AM on Thursday 9/1/11.  We are going to pick her up at 4:20 AM to take her to the hospital.  Yes, you read that correctly---4:00 AM!  That means we will be waking up around 3ish.  That is, if we sleep that night ;)

After the doctor's appointment we went out to lunch and had Mexican food.  She was craving bean and cheese tacos, and we found a good little place to eat.  We had such a nice time at lunch and had a great conversation.  I am definitely sad that we will not be in contact the same way after Hunter is born.  We will still keep in touch through letters though.  I asked her if she had a hospital bag yet and she didn't so I decided to give her the one we put together.  She seemed to really like it and is going to use everything for the hospital.  Later this evening I called her and asked if there was anything else she needed for the hospital and she requested house slippers.  So tonight I was on a mission to find them.  Who knew Target had so many different types?  I got her a pair of pink fuzzy ones that I think she will like.

So now we are in the homestretch.  I am getting our bags together and snack bag for Stephanie.  We are going to bring some movies and fun things to do while we are with her before the delivery.  As Stephanie told me, "it will be a looooong day."

Please keep us all, especially Stephanie and Hunter, in your prayers on Thursday.  We are praying for a quick and peaceful delivery with no complications and as little of pain as possible for her.

The next blog post may not be until we get home with Hunter.  Hopefully she will be able to sign her relinquishment papers on Saturday and we will bring him home!!  Pray that he is born during the daytime, because she will literally sign 48 hours later unless it falls during the night time.