I woke up this morning at 7 am with our sweet daughter. She took a bottle, yelled enough to wake up her dad, then went back to bed – her normal morning routine. Here’s where our routine changed: we crawled back into bed and got another 1 1/2 hours of sleep! It was a confusing second wake-up, but totally worth it.

Dave headed down first with baby and got breakfast going. I followed and got Tess’ brekkie started. Tess wasn’t acting like herself, crying like she was in serious pain. She wasn’t hungry or cold or bored – we went through the checklist. Then we went to the diaper. This kid doesn’t normally suffer from diaper rash – but made up for it in one day. Dave, the domestic Olympian this weekend, ran her right upstairs for a bath. Tess played happily in the water, kicking her legs and trying to eat the whole toy boat. This was followed by more coffee for confused, rested parents and Tess wrapping her whole self in her playmat.

This is how we started the last day before magical 34 weeks, when Deuce can enter the world at much lower risk. When we got the call about Kat being in preterm labor, we prayed for 28 weeks, and I, always greedy, also lined up my prayers for 30 weeks just in case we got a little extra time. When we heard K went into preterm labor, we were already past both of those points, but it didn’t stop me fervently wishing for 34 weeks – the really meaningful point in the timeline. I did this with the certainty that by wanting it so much, the wishing would be futile. And yet, here we are: on the eve of okay.

I’m releasing travel plans and logistics to the universe, because the important wish came true: he’s going to be okay. So we drink our coffee; we watch Tess practice holding her bottle; we walk around the suitcases and make tentative plans with friends. Snow is whirling outside and we’re snuggled down in front of a fire as a family, enjoying a quiet Sunday and the whisper of relief I know we’ll get tomorrow when the deadline passes. If there’s a more delightful way to close out a weekend, I haven’t experienced it yet.