Whoa...this has never happened before!

There is nothing like a little false labor to get the preparations moving!

I had been feeling a little "funny" all day. I was having alternating periods of being in a very good mood and then experiencing feelings that can only be described as anxiety. Due to the baby's positioning, I have trouble breathing. This of course, makes you anxious, which then makes breathing more difficult.

So anyway, in the early evening, the baby was extremely active. At first, I chalked this up to eating some cake and having a cup of coffee earlier in the day. But, the baby continued to roll and kick and move around much more than usual. All of a sudden, I felt a very clear and distinct movement of the head (downward). Since the baby is head down, I rarely feel anything like this. This struck me as a little strange, but whatever. Then I start to have a contraction or two, which I have had in the past. It usually involves my stomach tightening up for a minute or two and then subsiding when I have a drink of water and sit down for a little bit. So, this wasn't really that abnormal either. But the contractions kept coming, and then were accompanied by some cramping down near my pelvis. When I looked at Adam kind of funny and asked him if he had charged the camera battery yet, he definitely started to look a little more nervous! He started to mentally time them, and they were a minute long, and about 5 minutes apart for about an hour. Well, this is exactly the information that my doctor had given me as to when to call him. But, something just told us that this was still not IT. So, I sit down to do what I always do in a medical crisis (other than call my sister). I consult Google. While I am doing this, Adam was mysteriously inspired to start charging the camera and find an empty duffle bag. I start whining that this can't be it, because I don't have any clean pajamas to bring (As I explained to Adam this morning when he asked why I was so concerned about this, it is never "just about the pajamas.")

Based on my "Google MD" I determine that these could be false labor. They are not radiating from the back, and they are now varying in length. Sometimes they were coming one right on top of each other. So, I do what any rational person should do when facing a life changing event squarely in the eyes. I went to bed. I figured that if I stayed awake, I might have a panic attack, and that it was a little too late to finish my study of Hypnobirthing (A book about convincing yourself through self-hypnosis that labor is not going to hurt. Hysterical, I know.) IF this really was labor, I would know soon enough. As someone recently described it, real labor is a one way street!

Somehow, I fell asleep and Adam came in shortly after. I do remember him asking me at one point during the night if I was still having contractions. I recall telling him that I did not know, but that I was sleeping and I didn't want to talk about it. So anyway, don't get excited. No baby yet.

But, lo and behold, we were both up very early this morning! So far today, the camera battery has been charged, all of the baby's clothing and bedding has been washed, all of our laundry is done (including all of my pajamas) and the linen closet has been emptied and now contains an entire wardrobe of very tiny cotton clothing!

This should be an interesting three weeks!