Oh my gosh, I just signed in! This is so exciting -- I'm sending prayers for a safe delivery. bigheadshrimp -- 8-9 hours really isn't very long for a first labor but since they said she was being monitored by Drs. in her home, I wonder if the Dr. went there first today and at a certain point advised her to move to the hospital. In other words, I wonder if she may actually have been in labor a whole lot longer and then moved to the hospital at a critical time. Who knows? I just pray this has a wonderful ending!