Grayson's birth story - part one

I feel like I should quickly write down the events of Grayson's birth before they are forgotten!

Three weeks ago I thought I was going to go into labor at any moment. I had three nights of braxton hicks contractions that would get pretty consistent and then by morning they would disappear. My sister-in-law decided to go ahead and come to Canada because she didn't want to miss Grayson's birth. We picked her up on the 12th of July and it was so nice to see her! She watched Claire while Charlie and I went to my 39 week doctor appointment. At that appointment my doctor stripped my membranes and we all thought something would definitely be happening at any moment.
The next few days were uneventful in the contraction department. I actually felt fine. The membrane stripping didn't do anything and I started to worry that my sister-in-law was going to have to leave before Grayson came. One day we even looked up labor-inducing methods and tried a few. We baked lemon drop cupcakes, applied acupressure to my feet and ankles, drove over speed bumps, and I did the running man a few times. No luck! I will say though that the cupcakes were SO GOOD!
That Saturday, the 16th of July, my parents and their good friends came to Canada. They were going to stay with us at the beginning and the end of the week and go to Banff, Alberta to see the mountains in the middle of the week. I was super excited to see them since I hadn't seen them since Christmas.
On Sunday we decided to take everyone to Fort Edmonton. My sister-in-law was leaving the next day to fly home and my parents were driving to Banff then too. We spent the whole day outside in the sun and it was hot and by the end I was WORN OUT! I could tell I had overdone it.

At Fort Edmonton...I look huge!

I got into the car and by the time we had driven to a restaurant for dinner, the braxton hicks had started. I didn't feel well. I hardly ate any dinner, and I think the poor waitress thought I was going to drop the baby at any moment! My sister-in-law started writing down contractions and though I knew they were braxton hicks, some of them were painful!
When we got home I went to the bathroom and put on my pj's. Charlie got all of our stuff to take to the hospital and put it in the car. We were all so convinced it was going to happen that my sister-in-law started looking into changing her flight! I laid on the couch and tried to recooperate.
After a while I decided to go to bed. I kept waking up during the night and timing the contractions though. And then AGAIN, by morning the contractions were gone. I felt fine again. So, my parents and my sister-in-law left. I was really sad to see them all go. I was worried that there would be no one to keep Claire and I had really wanted some family to be here when I needed them.
I made Charlie stay home Monday and Tuesday. We had a nice time just spending our last moments together as a family of three. On Tuesday (my due date!)  we took Claire to a splash pad and I sat in a lawn chair and watched while Charlie and Claire played in the water. It was a really fun time. We then all came home and took a nap. I had my last doctor appointment that day and Charlie and Claire came with me. My doctor asked if I wanted him to strip my membranes again and I told him YES!!!! This time felt different. I'm not sure what made the difference, but from that moment I didn't feel as well as before. I also started bleeding, which I know is normal, but I could tell that this was going to lead somewhere.

To be continued...