The great baby watch of 2013

Mission: Unaccomplished.  :(

My sister was due on November 4, 2013.  I tried hard to keep every weekend in November free so that I could go down at a moment's notice and see my brand new niece.  As she approached her due date, her doctor said he wouldn't let her go past 41 weeks.  Too many events came our way that I committed ourselves to and only successfully kept the weekend of Nov. 9th free.  Once I saw how airfares were starting to creep up to the crazy numbers, I booked a ticket for Sam and me.  Surely, Lori will have given birth by then. 

As our time to depart to Orlando got closer, there were still no signs of the baby.  Sam and I continued with our trip and hoped for the best.  It is now officially 41 weeks, 2 days as I write this and still no baby has been born.  Sam and I returned to NoVa and will have to wait for the good news from home.  It is very disappointing to have missed the opportunity to hold my sister's baby moments/days after she was born.  My next opportunity will be during Winter break; a little more than 5 weeks from now.

While in Orlando, Sam and I made the most of our time.  We not only saw the family, but spent a morning with my friend Amanda and her family and spent a day at Hollywood Studios.  The weather each day was 82 degrees and sunny. Although, I don't mind the cold weather and was excited that it has finally gotten chilly back in Burke.

On Tuesday (yesterday), a few hours before it was time to head to the airport, we all met at the hospital and hung out with Lori one last time.  She was there because her doctor told her to come (at 1:00am!) to administer the cervidil, to get her cervix softened.  If by Thursday nothing has happened, they will take more aggressive steps to get the delivery going.   Geesh, at this point, she could still be pregnant when we come back in December. 

Having the 8 of us descend upon her hospital room (at the same exact moment) during times like this is when I love my family the most.  There is something about all of us coming together and being the loud, vibrant, gregarious bunch we are that makes me so happy I am one of them.  We know how to have a good time.  And we can pretty much find humor in just about anything.  My sister's room was on the 5th floor and had this beautiful ceiling to floor window that took up the entire wall.  Directly outside her window was an elevator used for construction work being done on the higher part of the building.  This elevator was going up and down about every 30 seconds filled with anywhere from 2 to 10 men.  My sister was told that they can't see in to her room, but its hard to believe when we could see them clearly and at times, it looked like they were staring right back at us.  It was pretty humorous.  Meanwhile, my dad is raiding the box of surgical gloves attached to the wall and we are cracking up that each set probably costs $100 when they submit it to insurance. 

Best family ever.

Construction elevator directly outside Lori's room. 
This is the 5th floor. :)

Hanging out and waiting.  Blowing up the gloves into balloons.

I'm disappointed I won't be there when the big moment finally happens.  I like to think that everything happens for a reason and this wasn't meant to be.

The great baby watch of 2013 continues.....