dispatch

my sister's water broke at 6:30 this morning. I woke up at 8:30 to four missed calls, two voicemails, and a text message. I had a little swell of panic rise up when I saw this, thinking, "oh hell, I've missed the birth" but then realized that I'm not about to start feeling this feeling people call "regret" now, since I've never felt it much about anything else. No, I will not prepare for regret, I will only prepare for momentary sadness and then lots of joy.

I did not miss the birth, however, and have been enjoying a day with my sister, brother-in-law, mom, and sister's best friend. Now my sister's in-laws are here and soon best friend's husband and two kids will be descending upon us as well. It is special to spend a day when we're all intent and focused on each other.

Contractions have been five minutes apart for the last two hours. The midwife says we can stay at home until contractions are two minutes apart and my sister no longer wants to talk to anyone.

So maybe we will play some scrabble. I don't know. But I do know that I am tired and this is something that maybe we will experience again some time in our lives, and maybe some others here have experienced pre-birth and birth and families like this. But this is new for me. And the only thing I would change is that my dad would be here, too.

Here's for a long night.