4am

It is 4am and i am wide awake... i seem to be in the some kind of pre active labor stage or maybe not at all.. well maybe... let me back track a little bit

The past few days i have noticed my braxton hicks contractions getting stronger. i read some (ok a million) things on this to try and see what it meant.. i came up with pretty much the conclusion that labor and delivery is coming soon.. great.. i kind of knew that regardless.... so moving on... i am getting stuff done but not too much cause i have a plan of when everything will EVENTUALLY (i hate that word) get completed... During this time Daniel comes down with bronchitis!! so he willing goes to the doctor and we get medicine and have a big talk with Oliver to stay put for a while... moving on again...

Today i get up and go for my 37 week appointment.. I'm driving in the car and notice that some of my contractions are starting from the back and i know that i read SOMEWHERE that that means something.. but what... so i figure the doctor will tell me... At my appointment they "check" me again and still nothing.. not dilating at all... all of these practice braxton hicks contractions and nothing... so now i have a different take on Oliver's personality.. he is LAZY, just like his mommy and daddy!! well i didn't know just yet how lazy he really is or how offended he must be that i said that...

so the doctor wants to do a non stress test and hook me up to the monitor... in cases like these where contractions are often and getting stronger but no dilating or effacing there is a higher risk of c-section so they just wanted to see what the contractions and his movements concluded... so i get hooked up to the machine for 10 mins... i have several small contractions (i can now compare and call them small) and nothing... baby boy is out!!! so the nurse comes in reads the report.. leaves... comes back in with pot lids, leans over my belly and starts banging them together.... well Oliver is not asleep any longer... the boy woke up and flipped out.. so then we see on the machine he begins to respond to the contractions by moving around some...

so we go in for a biophysical profile.. which is an ultrasound where they do a bunch of measuring or something.. i do not quite know what they do cause i just stare at my baby on the tv... anyways... he passed both of those.. i get another picture and book it out of there cause Oliver and I are starving after that almost 2 hour visit.... which we were of course alone at...

so i go on about my day still having these "intense" contractions... i go run errands with my mom, attempt to do some scrapbooking i have all over the house, watch some tv and just enjoy my last day of my 3 days off... daniel comes home and we go to the mall with some returns and the opportunity for me to walk some more to get things started... by this point i am noticing a little something different...

the contractions i have been having are soo much more intense.. they feel just like the ones i was having when we went to the hospital... they are in my back wrapping around my stomach, murdering my hips and omg.. they hurt.. this being said i will say that i USUALLY have a high tolerance for pain!!! so walking is good.. we come home, eat and the contractions are getting worse and even have a rhythm to them.. every 20-30 mins..i call laura because i do not have the patience to weed out all the search engine findings or flip through a book.. she tells me about the 411 rule... 4 mins apart, lasting for a minute for 1 hour... mine are currently (well this is about 8pm) 25 mins apart, lasting about 30 seconds... so i try to move on.. daniel draws me a candlelight bath.. yes read that sentence again cause it soo happened... daniel draws me a candlelight bath and i try to relax and the bath was nice.. i call out to him each time i have a contraction so he can keep time...

well its now 4am... the contractions are getting stronger and are about 15 mins apart... i just took a shower cause i wanted the hot water on me and while i was in there i lost something.... (this is where if your a mom or a dad you know what i lost... if your not... its better off you dont know).... so now im wide awake... i read through everything and it says this could mean labor will start in 24 hours or may still be weeks away... but it definitely means i have started to dilate...

i dont know what i am going to do about work tomorrow.. i know i cannot work or even drive with these contractions the way they are.. i would like to go see the doctor because if labor is still weeks away how am i going to do this for weeks? all i know is that it is 4am.. i want to bake some cupcakes but dont want to make a mess.. i am not waking daniel cause for the first time in days he is sleeping peacefully... i should really clean up or learn how to use my new camera or do something productive..

i think i will start with fixing my hair... just incase labor starts i will look nice!!!