Chelsea Salomone

I did the thing I swore I wasn't going to do.

Friday night I ended up in labor & delivery, only to be sent back home. THE WORST!! This same thing happened with Logan and Everett, so I swore I wasn't going to be that girl again. I told myself I wasn't going up to the hospital with this baby no matter what, until he was just on the brink of coming out. I was wrong.

With Logan I went twice and it was pretty legit, because I ended up on bedrest(ish) afterwards and was given a couple of different medicines to slow things down. Then of course, I was induced at 40 weeks and ended up having a c-section. With Everett it was the same type of thing, only I was further along so they just sent me home and my water broke at 38 weeks.

So this time, all day Friday I kept having regular contractions that were much stronger than they have been. I didn't bother timing them, because honestly they're constant. If I timed contractions it's all I would ever do. We went about our normal day and that evening the boys and I went over to my mom's to hang out for a little bit and eat dinner. Logan ended up spending the night with her, and when Everett and I got home around 7:45 I could tell they were pretty close together. Nick was home by then so he put Everett to bed, and I laid down on the couch.

I started timing them and they were 5 or 6 minutes apart pretty much on the dot. All of the stuff online says to call your doctor or go to the hospital when your contractions become 5 minutes apart (because you know I Google AM I IN LABOR or SIGNS OF EARLY LABOR and BABIES BORN AT 36 WEEKS at least twice a day- so dumb, especially since I've done this twice before!!) but given my history of nothing ever happening when I think it is, I decided to take a shower and go to bed and see what happened. About 12:45 I woke up with some seriously uncomfortable contractions. I timed them for half an hour and they were 4-5 mins apart, so I woke up Nick and told him we probably better go to the hospital. I packed my bag, we called my mom and Teri to come over and stay with Everett, and off we went.

We got there and got hooked up to the monitor, and sure enough they were coming every five minutes. When the nurse checked me I was still only dilated 2 cm. She called the doctor on call, and they decided to keep me for a few hours for monitoring since the contractions were so regular. About 4:45 she checked me again, and I was still at a 2 so they gave me a stack of papers (which ironically say, when your contractions become 5 minutes apart come to the hospital) and said come back when something new starts to happen. WOMP. WOMP.

I'm telling you, that is just the worst! First of all, you feel horrible for waking everybody up and secondly, it's just so frustrating. I would say at this rate, there is a slim chance this baby may be born on our bathroom floor because I am absolutely, positively not going back up there until I have checked every box there is to check that he is for sure on the way.

So we got home a little after 5:00 on Saturday morning and went to bed. About 8:00 Everett woke up, and Nick was so sweet to get up with him even though he had to be at Colonial Golf Tournament for work that entire day. This is one of his very busiest weeks of the year, of course. His company has a big tent at Colonial and from Wednesday- Sunday Nick is out there entertaining clients for 10+ hours a day. It sounds like fun, but I've seen it in person and it's exhausting. They have some fun, but it's a lot of small talk, a lot of time on your feet and a whole lot of being "on."

So anyway, Nick went up to get Everett and turns out, he had thrown up in his bed. You would never know it because he ran around all morning acting totally fine and even ate a big breakfast. So it was bath and clean sheets, then Nick left and my mom brought Logan home. The boys were playing when all of a sudden I looked over and saw this:


We had a great time celebrating my mom- she is THE BEST and I hope she felt very loved!

So that's the 411 around here. We are still on baby watch, the contractions are about the same as they were before Saturday but other unmentionable things have started happening downstairs so I feel like surely he's got to come any day! Babies are a mystery, so I guess you never really know.

Emilee came over to help out two days also, which feels like such a luxury because it wasn't like I had an appointment or anywhere I had to be. She is going to start doing this two days or three days a week for most of June and July.
One of the days I went to the grocery store and ran a couple of errands that aren't always easy with kids in tow. The second day I had a chiropractor appointment and took a nap while she took the boys outside to ride bikes. Then, I cooked dinner while they arrested Emilee and put on costumes. It was a strange feeling. I almost felt guilty for having her there and having such freedom, but I was able to absolve that guilt pretty quickly. And it helps that the boys absolutely adore her! We are all lucky have Emilee, so I'm going to try and take advantage of the down time and extra set of hands while I can.

Last night I had a strange burst of energy and decided to take Lexi on a long walk after the boys went to bed. It was so nice to put in my earbuds, listen to a Podcast and enjoy the beautiful weather with my ticking time bomb.

And this is the situation today...

And speaking of cousins... Friday afternoon was something I have been waiting for forever!!! ANDREA AND CHRIS ARE HAVING A BABY (I'm going to be an aunt!!!!!), and I was the lucky one Andrea chose to open the sonogram envelope with the baby's gender!!!! I spent the last week borderline obsessing about this, I couldn't have been more excited if it were one of my own kids. I have just been ecstatic about the whole thing! Four nights in a row I had dreams about what their baby was/that I lost the envelope or forgot to open it and ruined their reveal, etc. By the time Friday afternoon rolled around and Andrea dropped off the envelope I was pacing around the house eating chocolates. I was BESIDE MYSELF with excitement!!!

Andrea wanted to do a gender reveal with a box of balloons, so earlier in the week I decorated a box for them and after I opened the envelope I picked up some balloons of the correct color (without the boys seeing it- no way they could have kept that a secret!). Friday evening we headed over to Andrea & Chris's house for a small party with the box in tow ready to party.
Logan and Everett were so excited all week long! Logan kept insisting it was a boy and begged me to tell him what his cousin was, and even though I felt like I was about to burst with the happy news, I didn't say a word. Everett was just excited because we all were.

Everything was decorated so cute for the party!




On Saturday morning the baby celebrations continued as Andrea and I helped host a baby shower for a friend of ours. The party was at Al & Teri's house, and everything turned out so well! As much as I love having boys, those precious pink outfits at baby showers kill me just a little bit. There is nothing cuter!



Then Saturday afternoon was our neighborhood block party! This is always so much fun! We had a bounce house and water slide for the kids, hamburgers and hot dogs, a visit from the ice cream man and a fire truck, cookies, a popcorn machine... basically the adults all sat around in lawn chairs and visited while the kids ran back and forth down the street barefoot stuffing themselves with junk food and playing. The little girls went and got a bride costume and a baby stroller, so that got thrown in the mix for a while as well. I'm pretty sure every single kid pushed the toy stroller at some point or another. It was pretty much perfection for all the ages.

I couldn't help but feel a little bit sad, as excited as I am for summer and for Logan to be at home and for the baby to come, today marked the last day (forever!) of just Everett and I. I have so loved spending every Tuesday and Thursday for the past two years just us. He is so funny and fun, and we have had the best days! Whether we were out running errands, playing at home, going to music class or Little Gym, or hanging out with Kimba and Nora... he has been my little buddy, just like Logan was for two years.

Today was also his last day at Little Gym, which is a little bit sad too. I can't believe that time has come and gone! We started going when he was around 9 months old, and he's had fun but he's just kind of outgrown it.

In the last couple of months I can tell it doesn't hold his interest like it used to. I signed him up for a little indoor soccer class over the summer, and I think it will be a good change of pace.
So as the school year is drawing to a close and one chapter is ending, we are on the brink of another very exciting one beginning! All of the sweet little baby things have started making an appearance around the house once again!