Contractions!

Melinda has started to have contractions about 5-8 minutes apart. We haven't called either of our parents yet because we want to sit this out for a bit longer to see if the contractions start to occur more frequently, etc... plus, it's 5:30am.

Jedi Mind tricks & Jalapenos
Jedi Mind tricks and Jalapenos come in because I made fondue for Valentines dinner. I added some diced jalapenos and jalapeno juice along with salsa (makes yummy "fiesta" fondue), but then I also told Evan that (here comes the Jedi Mind trick... picture me making a slight hand movement like Obi-wan Kanobi does in Star Wars) we were at a fancy restaurant eating dinner. I did this because yesterday our doctor said that walking around, going out on a date, etc... had a habit of kick starting the labor process. Since we already had plans to eat at home, going "out on a date" with such short notice on Valentines was out of the question.

38 Weeks
We were talking with our doctor because we had our 38 week appointment yesterday. Mel is 70% effaced, 3 centimeters dilated and at -1 station. Last week we were 70%, 2 centimeters and at 0 station.

A (soon to be) Mothers Intuition?
Yesterday Melinda and I went out to get a few last minute items for Evan, the most notable item being a baby swing. Could this have been because she knew something was going to happen?

A Waiting Game
Now we start the waiting game. If Melinda's contractions increase in frequency then we will call the hospital to see if they want us to come in. If there's no real change prior to 9am, then we'll call her doctor's office and see what they want us to do. In the mean time, I'm starting to get a pile of things together to take to the hospital, such as our digital camera, chargers for the camera and cell phone. I know, you can't *use* cell phones in the hospital but I'll have mine on anyways (on silent of course).

We'll keep everyone posted when significant changes occur.