What a day...

Well..we had another interesting day! I woke up around 6:30 with contractions every 3 minutes. Dr. Nord told me when I have them that close together and they are hard to breath through, I need to come to the hospital. Well...I could breath fine through some of them, but some of them I could not, so I called the hospital and they said to call Dr. Nord. So we ended up in his office first thing this morning and yep...still having the contractions, still hard contractions, still 2-3 minutes apart and Lincoln wasn't moving much (which can indicate labor). They checked my cervix and there was some change since Monday, which is good. But, since they are concerned about Lincoln's lungs (being only at 36 weeks) they sent me to the hospital to be monitored further and hope to see some cervical change. So off we head to the hospital.... I was on the monitor there for about 4 hours with the same thing... my contractions were now 1 1/2-4 minutes apart and NOT FUN. So, we thought for sure with such strong contractions for so long that there would be cervical change but when I was checked at 2:30, NOTHING, NO CHANGE from that morning. Needless to say, I was ticked. I mean, I was really mad. So the nurse called Dr. Nord to tell him what had happened (or not happened) and find out if he wanted to go ahead with the c-section today due to the contractions or hold off. And, they sent me home. Dr. Nord decided that because it's too risky at 36 weeks (especially for a boy) to deliver without more cervical change and is hoping that even in the next day or two we see more progress. So I have some MORE signs to watch for and I go in on Friday morning to get checked to see if my cervix has changed at all. Which I am REALLY hoping that it has. If there is any change, then he will do the c-section then. If no change, then we wait again until Monday. The only issue is Lincoln's lungs and every day they mature more and more at this point in time. Since I am contracting so much, it is also making him work harder, which makes his lungs develop faster, so it is better for him to stay in there (at least that's what they tell me!). So, I am more than frustrated that I am still having contractions every 5 seconds (well, not quite) but I know that I can't do anything about it and hopefully something develops quickly or there is at least some change by Friday! :-)
On another note, Justin has another great opportunity at work for another promotion and was working diligently all day on a laptop (and helping me through the contractions) preparing for his posting. He found out when he got to work tonight that he has an interview for the position next Friday, so that is GREAT and would mean a BIG pay increase (thank you GOD!)
And leaving the most exciting news for last....ELLIE STARTED WALKING EVERYWHERE TODAY! When we got home from the hospital, it was like she decided she just wanted to walk everywhere. She'd been walking around things a lot and taking a few small steps to and from things if we would encourage her, but today...she just took off! It was so fun! I'm not sure if she thought she wasn't getting enough attention so she really needed to step it up or what!! Just kidding...she's been getting to this point for a long time, it was just really fun to come home and have her start walking to us all over the place! We'll see if she remembers how to do it in the morning! :-)
We'll keep you updated. If I don't post anything for a few days....maybe we got to meet Lincoln!