And the Race is On...

We're here at Southeast Hospital, and in our room (255). Things are going smoothly so far, with Carrie strapped into the fetal heart rate monitor and bloodwork done. They have a tube running for the something, and another for something else, and a nurse is here now to get the IV started. Carrie has sneaky veins, as they have discovered, so it's taking a little bit to get the IV in. She has a few holes in her now. For whatever reason, she says it hurts less when she is watching. I guess that's how the wedding worked, too. ;)

The first nurse said we're shooting for 7pm, which would be swell. Typically, vaginal births stay in for two days, so we'll be here on the 4th. When we got here this morning, we asked if they had a room that had a window view towards Arena Park so we could see the fireworks. Yeah, we're a little shallow, but hey, if you're paying for a suite and there's no hot tub, at least get a room with a view, right? That, and I've always loved the 4th and have been hyped about the timeliness of the birth for a while (since, oh, I dunno; Thanksgiving...).

Layla might be rousing now. It's close to 10am, and Carrie's dad, David, is at our house waiting for her to wake. They're spending the day over at their house, and I'm sure Layla will play the time away. The plan is to bring her up tonight after Lawson is born, so she can meet her baby brother. No sense in freaking her out with Mommy in tubes and monitors everywhere.

Still trying to find a vein for the IV. Damn you, sneaky veins.

No real data on how dialated she was coming in this morning, but Thursday she was around 2-3cm, so chances are she was close to that. Once the Potosin kicks in, the ole' cervix should start cooperating.

I'm set up in my media center/man-man corner, with a Sunday paper, camera, video camera, laptop and phone. I conceded the remote control to Carrie (the TV is over my head anyway). More updates to come!