Dani~

33 weeks. 7 more weeks. These last few weeks have been so incredibly slow. I genuinely think she is going to take her sweet time getting here. I can only do so much each day. We're finishing up her room soon. She is one spoiled baby and she is not here to see it yet.

Honestly, I've been feeling a bit trapped inside of the house. There's not much I can do anymore. Hopefully, he's not busy because I'd like to go on a walk.

I slowly head downstairs to find him. I walk around the main level and cannot find him until I go into the garage. He's sitting in the back row of his car. I go over to the open door and find him reading the car seat manual. I watch him for a few seconds until he notices me, "I got the car seat in your car just fine and now I cannot figure out how to get it into my car."

"So, you're busy?"

"A little bit. Why?"

"Because I'm bored and wanted to see if you wanted to go on a walk."

"Can you help me figure this out first?"

"Yeah." I go to the other side of the car and get in since the car seat is in the middle.

I thread the seatbelt through the bottom and wait for him to grab it on the other side. I don't know why he thought it was hard this time. Maybe it was because he was doing it alone. But he got the car seat into my car alone.

I finally hear the seat belt click and pull the belt tight. "Is that tight enough?"

He jostles the seat around and it doesn't move at all. He answered my question. "I don't know why it was so much harder in my car than it was in yours."

The seat is so small. She's going to be so small. So delicate. So tiny. So loved. I get out of the car and shut the door. I look in my car to see the car seat he installed. He goes inside quickly before coming back out, "So, that walk?"

"If you're not busy anymore."

He kisses me, "Nope, not anymore."

He shuts the garage as I stand outside, waiting for him. He takes my hand as we walk down the driveway. "Are you getting bored in the house?"

"I have nothing to do and kind of feel trapped in the house. I have more energy today."

"When do Lauren and Mik come out?"

"In a couple of days. I have to pick them up from the airport."

"Are they staying at the house? Because they can. They're more than welcome to."

"I told them that but they already booked a room at some resort by Camelback Mountain. So they're going to stay there."

"Mikayla is blowing up my phone wondering where you are," Christian says as he comes into the bathroom as I sit in front of the mirror and curl my hair.

"I still have an hour to be there."

"I know. That's what I'm telling her."

"Well, I'm not ready. Tell her that."

"Okay, I will."

He walks out of the bathroom as I finish curling my hair. I stand up to let the Braxton Hicks contraction let up.

He comes back into the bathroom, "She wants you there as soon as possible. She wants you to get situated before everyone shows up."

"Okay. Give me ten minutes."

"Where's your dress?"

"On the bed."

He brings it in for me and I run my hands through my hair. "What shoes?"

"There's a pair of sandals by the laundry basket. They're tan, platform sandals."

I change into my dress as he comes back in with my shoes, "Are you sure you want to wear these?"

"They're not heels."

"Okay, fair enough."

I fix the fabric that lays on my belly and pull it down further. I lean against the counter as he puts my shoes on for me since I can no longer reach my feet or see them. "Thank you."

"Of course."

He kisses me, "I'm sorry this fell on your birthday."

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. Plus, I get to celebrate my girls on my birthday. I think that's better than it just being my birthday."

"You don't have to stay."

"Nope, that's my baby. I'm staying. Also, to keep you sane."

"Yeah, I'm gonna need that."

"I know."

He kisses me again, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"There you are," Mikayla says as we walk up to the small venue where this baby shower is being held at.

"You're acting like we're two hours late. We're 35 minutes early."

"I just want you to get comfortable before everyone gets here."

"How many people are showing up?"

"Both of your families, the team, and some other people."

"How did you get so many people to come on such short notice?"

"Dani, it's you. They're going to come for you and the baby. It's also your first kid and that's sort of a big deal."

We walk into the decorated room. It's all gender-neutral decorations. "This is so cute."

"Do you two know how hard it was for me to not decorate this with flowers and all the girl things? Because it was really hard. All of it was so cute and girly and I loved it. Anyway, the food is over there. I suggest eating now so that you can talk to family and friends and all of that. Everyone should start showing up within the next hour. So sit, eat, do whatever but don't leave."

I grab a plate and fill it with all of the food. I go sit at the front of all of the tables. Christian sits next to me with a plate and our drinks.

I eat about everything off of my plate. I'm so tired. Hopefully, this will go by fast.

"I didn't expect to see you here," I say, going up to my coach.

"Dani, we're family. I wasn't going to miss this."

I hug him, "Thank you for coming."

"Of course. How are you doing?"

"I am very tired all the time."

"A few more weeks, right?"

"Yeah. About a month left. We're getting excited."

"Send me lots of pictures once the baby's here. I would love to come see the little one once you're up for it. But only when you're up for it. I don't want to come when you're healing and all that."

"I'll let you know. We'll be here up until we have to go back to Milwaukee for baseball."

"Okay. Lots of time then."

I smile as I see some of my teammates gathered around a table. I sneak out one of the doors to get some air and silence. I pace back and forth in the hallway.

"Hey, are you okay?" Christian asks, "I saw you come out here."

"Yeah, I'm just getting tired and needed some air."

Looking around at the nursery that is filled with everything we could possibly need for her arrival is overwhelming in the best way. I've bought many girl clothing but she also got lots of gender-neutral clothing that will work perfectly.

I become teary-eyed as I keep looking around. I now know what I'll be doing until her arrival. So many gifts. So many clothes. So many diapers and everything in between. It's incredible what people will do for a baby that isn't here yet.

I turn the light off before heading to our room. He looks up at me from the bed, tilting his head, "Are you crying?"

I turn the light off before getting into bed, "Yeah, a little bit."

"Why?"

"Because it's so obvious how many people love her already."

"So many people love her."

He puts his head on my belly, "It's crazy. She's going to be here so soon."

"How come I feel like she'll be stubborn and make us wait."

"Well, she is your kid so it wouldn't surprise me."

"Yeah, I guess we got that going for us."

"Don't get any ideas and come early but don't make us wait too long," he says into my belly.

She stretches out and kicks right under his head. He laughs, "Something tells me that she's going to be just like you."

"That's not a bad thing."

"I didn't say that. In the best way, she's going to be just like you."

"Please stop sitting on my bladder," I tell her quietly as I walk back into her room from the bathroom. I'm positive that I get up every two hours to go pee.

I sit back down in the rocking chair and continue organizing all of her clothes. She got so much stuff the other day. "Honey, do you need any help?" Alecia asks as she walks in.

"No, I'm just going through all of her stuff."

She sits on the floor in front of me, "That seems like a lot."

"It's keeping me busy."

"The room turned out well."

"I thought so too. For how fast we got it together, it turned out well."

"Are you getting excited?"

"I think my excitement is more impatient. I feel like I've been pregnant for three years."

"The last trimester is always the longest. The last few weeks are even longer."

"That's what my sister told me. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm not over being pregnant, I just wish the days would go a bit faster."

She picks up a few small outfits, "She'll be here soon and then you'll want her to stop growing. Because it doesn't stop. All day, every night."

"I just want to stop waiting. I feel like she's either going to make an appearance on Christmas day or make us wait a full week after her due date."

She laughs, "Babies are stubborn."

"Then add in my stubbornness. He's gonna have a hell of a time with us."

"He loves you both too much to care about that."

"I know."

Christmas Eve

"Dani, she looks just like you from these photos," Alecia tells me as we sit at the dining table looking at baby photos. I've got my baby book that my mom brought out and she brought Christian's. We had a 3D/4D ultrasound last week and we got some photos of what she looks like.

"I see it but I also see Christian."

"She's got your nose but his face shape, I think."

"Yeah, I can see that."

I flip through his baby book. My mom and Christian come in through the garage, carrying bags of groceries. He comes over to us and watches as I flip through his baby book.

"You were a cute baby."

He smiles, "I know."

"Don't get cocky with me."

Our moms laugh. I continue flipping through the pages and try to imagine him as a baby and toddler. Probably laid back and hopefully didn't cry much.

I look back at my mom, "Mom, was I a crier?"

"Oh, yeah. You would cry if your dad or myself weren't paying attention to you."

"Hmm, that is still relevant to this day," Christian says quietly. I heard him just fine but I don't think they did.

"You and Dylan were my criers. But it always seemed like you had an ear infection when you were little so that could be the reason. Other than that you were pretty happy."

I'm not sure if that satisfied me or not. I guess we'll find out soon if she's going to be calm or a crier.

I get up and grab a cookie from the plate on the island. "I'm going to take a nap," I announce.

"Okay. We're gonna start dinner soon."

"Okay. Someone come wake me if I'm not up."

"I will," Christian says as he goes out to the garage again.

I head up to our room and shut all the blinds so it's dark in our room. I get comfortable against the pregnancy pillow. I think it may be the best thing we've bought. It's saved me a lot from restless nights.

I wake up to a sharp pain at the top of my belly. I don't know if she just kicked me really or if that was another Braxton Hick contraction. I get up and go to the bathroom after it subsided.

It stops for a good fifteen minutes. Then it starts again. I lean against the counter and wait for it to stop. It's not lasting that long and these aren't Braxton Hicks contraction. These are a bit more painful.

Okay. What to do? They're twenty minutes apart and they aren't lasting long. I'm 37 weeks and 3 days. So she's fine. She's ready to come if she wants to. I would rather wait a few more days but I won't be mad if she comes tonight.

I should probably get him up here. We should play it safe and go in to see what's going on. That's the smart thing to do. I grab my phone to text Christian.

Me: Can you come upstairs please?

I see that he reads my message and immediately hear his footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Dani?"

"In here," I say.

He comes in, "Are you okay?"

"We might need to go in. I just woke up to what I think was a real contraction."

"Did your water break?"

"No."

"Are you in any pain?"

"Not right now. Five minutes ago, yeah."

"You're sure?"

"No, I'm not. But I would rather be safe and go see."

He nods, "Okay, I'm going to calmly tell our mothers that we're going to head in. Get dressed. The bag is in the car already. Get in the car. I'll be out soon."

He's trying to stay really calm. It is working. But I  can tell he's starting to get more excited.

Wow, this might be happening. Of course, it would be on Christmas Eve. That seems like something my kid would do. He goes downstairs as I change into some shorts and I different t-shirt.

I hear our moms basically scream at the news. Well, they're excited. I grab my phone after putting some sandals on and head downstairs.

My mom is at the bottom of the steps, "I'm fine," I tell her, "We're gonna play it safe. We will call if something happens."

I head out to the car and get in and wait for him. He gets in and backs out of the garage. The hospital is about fifteen minutes. Although it'll probably be ten with his driving.

When we get there, he opens up my door. He holds out his hand and I look at it as another small contraction starts to begin. "Give me a minute."

I take his hand after it stopped. He gets the bag out of the back before we make it into the emergency room. That's where they told us to go if it was late or a holiday.

I get a wristband after getting checked in. We go into a corner away from the rest of the people waiting. I knew we'd be waiting a bit since my contractions aren't close together and my water hasn't broken. Although, I don't think they'd make me wait super long since I am 37 weeks.

He sits in front of me and holds my hands between his. "She would want to come today," I tell him quietly.

He laughs, "Doesn't surprise me."

Soon a nurse calls for me and we both get up but she looks at Christian, "Sorry, we're a bit overcrowded back there. We're asking that plus-ones stay back here unless the patient is under 18." Suddenly, I wish I was under 18.

No fucking way. We're not going to argue with her. "It's fine. I'll let you know what's going on."

He's pissed. He sighs, "Do you want this?"

"No."

"If she gets moved up to labor and delivery, we will come get you right away," she tells him.

I look at him, "It's fine." I kiss him quickly before she takes me back into a small room. Christian could've come back here. There's an empty chair in here. I won't argue though.  Although I am pissed he can't be back here with me.

I get situated on the bed and lift my shirt so she can put the monitors around my belly. "I'm sorry he couldn't come back," she tells me.

"It's fine. We understand."

"When did the contractions start?"

"About an hour ago. I took a nap and woke up from a sharp pain."

"And your water didn't break?"

"No."

"Okay, I will be right back to check to see if you're dilated. I just need to get your chart and let the fetal monitor catch up with your baby."

"Okay."

She leaves and is only gone ten minutes before she comes back. She takes my vitals, "Do you know what you're having?"

"A girl."

"Have you picked out a name?"

"No, not yet."

She has me lay further down on the bed to check if I'm dilated.

"Okay, you are not dilated at all. Not sure if that's what you wanted to hear but we're going to keep you here for a couple of hours of observation to make sure nothing changes."

"Okay."

"How painful are the contraction on a scale of 1-10?"

"4 at most."

"Okay. They're about 20 minutes apart?"

"Just about."

"Okay. I will come check on you in 45 minutes. Sit tight. If you start experiencing painful contractions, call us from the remote and we'll be in. Again, I'm sorry you're husband can't come back with you. But hopefully, we can get you out of here soon."

"Okay, thank you."

She leaves me alone and I pull the blanket over my belly. Well, this will be a long couple of hours. I feel so bad for him. He can't come back here. He's probably freaking out. I should text him to let him know.

Me: Not dilated at all but they want to keep me here for a couple of hours of observation. I'm sorry you can't come back. I'll try asking when she comes back :( But everything is looking good

I watch as the message tries to go through. You have got to be kidding me. Really? There's no service back here and the Wifi sucks. He is freaking out right now. I just know it.

Christian~

I am losing it. I haven't heard from her or a nurse since she was taken back. It's been over an hour. When do I start to worry that something has happened and I wasn't told? Is that now? Is that in another hour?

I've tried calling and texting her but nothing is going through to her phone. It must be where she's at because I have service.

Mom: Any update?

I call her, "What's going on?"

"I don't know. They won't let me back with her. She's been back there for an hour and I don't know what's going on."

"Why can't you go back?"

"It's overcrowded and they're not letting anyone back with a patient that is over 18. Mom, I'm freaking out. I have no idea what's going on with Dani or the baby."

"Christian, you have to calm down. You're stressing yourself out."

"Mom, she doesn't have service. I've tried to call and text her and nothing is going through. I don't know what's going on with them. I need to know."

"I understand you're worried. You have a right to be worried. But you need to stay calm. See if you can get information from the front desk. I'm sure they would give you as much as they know. Try to keep us updated, please. Stay calm. Most likely everything is fine with both of them."

"I'll try to get you as much information. I don't know how much that will be."

"Everything is fine. Get the information. It will calm you down."

"Okay. I'll let you know if something happens."

She hangs up and I go up to the information desk. The receptionist looks up at me with a smile, "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yeah, my wife got taken back about an hour ago. I just wanted to know if I could get an update."

"Yeah, what's her name and date of birth?"

"Daniella Yelich and 01/22/96."

"They are keeping her for observation for at least another hour. She is not dilated at all. Her vitals looks good. Baby's heart rate looks good. Seems like the contractions have stopped."

"Okay, thank you. I hate to be that person but there's no chance I can go back with her?"

"I'm sorry, no. I wish I could send you back but we're not letting anyone back there."

"It's fine. Thank you though."

I can finally breathe a bit better after knowing she's okay.

Dani~

"Okay, I want to check you one last time," my nurse says as she comes into the room.

I lay back, "No dilation. Looks like contractions have stopped. Her heart rate is good and healthy. She's not in distress. Your vitals look good. Let me go get some forms."

I sit up in the bed as she comes back with a few papers that I have to sign. "So we are prescribing modified bed rest. We believe she was telling you that she is ready to come but she wanted to prepare you a few days in advance. No unnecessary exercise. Walking is fine. Don't overdo it. She will come when she's ready."

"Okay. Thank you."

She takes the fetal monitors off and I pull down my t-shirt. I get out of the bed and she hands me some