Alvin, the Rest of the Chipmunks, and Wilford Hall

I loved Alvin, Simon, and Theodore as a kid, and so did Danny. When we learned about the new Chipmunks movie that opened yesterday in theaters nationwide, we hesitated very little in whether to see the film. It was almost a no-brainer, although we worried that it wouldn't be as cool as we expected it to be from our previous Chipmunk experiences in the 70s and 80s. In our reminiscing about the Chipmunks, we laughed about our Chipmunk records and our Chipmunk glasses collected at fast food places. Thoughts of those little squeaky characters just brought back the smiles we had as kids as if they'd never left our faces. So, we decided to check out the movie on opening night.

My rationale was that a Friday night would be the best night to see a kids' movie because most parents would wait and go during the day on Saturday or Sunday. That would mean less noise and more seats available. Bad idea. I had only been to the movie theater closest to our house one other time and had no trouble getting in, grabbing a snack, and hitting my seat right on time. Last night, however, it took about ten minutes to walk to the door, but that didn't matter because the lines were out to the parking lot. We strolled through the inside of the theater to check for one of those kiosk things where you can buy your ticket without waiting in the regular line, but we didn't see one (and, about 15 teenagers almost lost their lives by running into this pregnant woman...I was seriously about to lose it). Once we got back outside, we were able to get close enough to see that the 7:40 and 9:30 shows were sold out. No need to wait in line anymore. We headed to Chili's for a shared appetizer and relatively quiet conversation.

Well, these two Chipmunk fans were very disappointed in not being able to see the movie when we wanted to. This overly busy theater thing had not been a problem when we lived in New Mexico and Louisiana, so we were a little upset about our misfortune. This morning, the first thing that crossed our minds was that movie. It almost became a small obsession to be able to see it today.

I checked the schedule and told Danny to be ready to leave the house at 1:30 for the 2:05 show. Would you believe that when we got to the theater, the lines were ridiculous again, and the 2:05 show was sold out! When we looked at the Concession Stand, however, we decided that buying tickets for the 2:50 show was probably better anyway. And, it was. We had our snacks and hit our seats at 2:30 with Danny vowing to never return to this particular theater.

Now, allow me to back up to the morning hours. We chose to be a little lazy this morning because we were both awakened in the wee morning hours to sounds of things outside our house blowing around in the wind. We had to get up to retrieve the trash can and take down the wind chime. Since it took a little while to get back to sleep, we slept later than usual. Once we were up, I proceeded with my regular breakfast and bathing routine. However, I was noticing that little Tyler was not very alert. I normally feel him move a good bit in the morning and after dinner. But, he just seemed strangely quiet. I decided to just monitor his behavior over the next few hours and see if he became any more active.

Fast forward to the movie and the Cherry Coke I bought to wake him up. While we were adoring the little chipmunks on the big screen, I was counting the kicks in my womb. In the two hours at the theater, and after the aforementioned caffeine, I only counted 3-4 Tyler movements. I was getting more concerned. When the movie was over (and it was really cute and totally worth seeing...the first five minutes I thought I was going to wet my pants from laughing so hard!), I discussed the issue with Danny. We decided to call Wilford Hall from the parking lot and get their input. They told us to come on in for a non-stress test just to be sure things were okay.

Off we went. I still only felt Ty move a couple of times by the time we entered triage of the Labor and Delivery area. They hooked me up to the monitors and proceeded to check us out. Long story short, we're A-OK.

Ty-man looked good on the monitors; he had normal heart fluctuations. I seemed to be registering lots of contractions, but I never have felt them. One of the doctors did an ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid levels, and they were borderline low, so another doctor came in a while later and checked again. That time we passed the test. I wasn't able to see too much on the ultrasound, but I did see that the kid has some major ribs. He totally gets that from me. And, we saw a femur and an arm and a hand and four chambers of the heart and two sides of the brain. No facial shots. I felt a lot better because the doctors said he was moving around, but it was too subtle for me to feel. So, he looked okay. Then, they decided to check my cervix just to see what was happening there. Looks like I am a fingertip dilated (whatever that means) and 50% effaced. At least there's progress! It was so weird when the doctor touched Ty's head because I felt him move up in my belly. It was the craziest feeling I've ever experienced...but it didn't hurt. I'm so glad!!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Tomorrow will be 38 weeks, so we're full-term and within the window. He could be here any day now. I just wish I knew when!