False labor = fun

Early last week, I started feeling a dull pain in my lower abdomen. I've felt that on and off a couple of times throughout the pregnancy and never thought much about it. I attributed it to growing pains. I'd feel it for a bit, I'd drink some water and put my feet up, and it would go away. No big deal.

But this week has been different. It lasts longer, and it goes away... but then it comes back again. Over and over, all day long. But there wasn't any sort of pattern to it, so for a day or two, I thought it still might just be growing pains.

But after talking to my sister-in-law (and subsequently, a nurse at my midwives' office), I realized that it's actually Braxton Hicks contractions or "false labor." I had read that many people describe BH contractions to feel like a tightening of the abdomen with no pain. But my belly feels pretty hard all the time, so it's hard for me to tell if it's tightening or not, and I guess they feel a little different for everyone. For me, they feel like a mild period cramp. That dull, annoying sort of cramping.

The nurse said it is perfectly normal, especially at this point in the pregnancy. It's my body's way of practicing. Sort of like training for a marathon. It wants to make sure it knows what it is doing before the main event, I guess. I appreciate my body's forethought on that. The nurse said to drink lots of water (if only this woman knew how much water I already drink...), keep my feet up when I can and take breaks from work whenever possible. She encouraged me to keep doing aerobic exercise and to watch out for any other labor signs. If the contractions become regular enough to time, then it's more likely the real deal. But for now, they just come and go with no pattern.

After talking with the nurse, it really hit me -- I am pregnant. Very pregnant, in fact. With a baby. I'm going to have contractions, go into labor and give birth. Like, soon. Probably (hopefully) sometime in the next month. I knew that already, of course, but feeling these contractions has really brought home how close we are. I'm less than a week away from being full term. We might have four weeks left... we might have one week left. Either scenario is totally feasible.

A couple nights ago, I woke up several times (to pee, of course), and was greeted each time with the false contractions. It was the first time I'd felt them in the middle of the night, and the first time I woke up and felt it, my heart started racing. I thought, "Wait -- what if this is a real contraction, and I don't know it because I've been sleeping!!!" But I knew the pain was way too light to really be much of anything, so I went back to bed. But that split second of "could this be..." was such a weird feeling.

I'm sure I've got at least another couple of weeks to go. I don't feel like he's quite big enough or ready yet. My gut (haha) tells me that he'll be a little early but that we've still got a few weeks left. I told a co-worker a few days ago that I'd started feeling the false labor contractions. This is the woman who is also planning my office baby shower. She yelled out, "Oh! Two weeks to go, then! I have to get that shower going!" and rushed out of my office. My shower is now scheduled for Wednesday. ;)

My friend Kristin went into labor about 2 or 2.5 weeks after she started feeling Braxton Hicks, so maybe there is something to that "two week" rule. But really, I think every pregnancy is different. Some women feel them for months before going into labor. Others never feel them at all. He'll come whenever he darn well pleases, and we'll be ready for him when he does!