Must Be The Full Moon

Most women feel the mild Braxton Hicks contractions at some point in their pregnancies. Up until today, I couldn't recall a single one. I did have a contraction about a week and a half ago, but it was an all-belly one and it was QUITE painful. However, today was full of surprises.

This morning I had terrible back pain; I was barely able to walk around at work, and it got worse every time my bladder filled (which doesn't take very long these days). I just figured it was sciatica coming back, but one of my co-workers was kind enough to tell me how, when she went into labor with one of her sons (who was born sunny-side-up), she didn't feel any contractions just constant back pain. Another co-worker insisted that I would know if I was in labor, though, so I didn't think about it again. By the time I left work, the back pain had moderated.

This evening as I was sitting on the couch writing out the thank yous for my shower on Sunday, I started having contractions. Having just read the signs of labor on my OB's website, I knew what I was feeling wasn't "true" labor. These were contractions across the top of my uterus and, while they got to be somewhat painful and certainly noticeable, they were totally irregular. They lasted for about 45 seconds or so each and spanned as little as every 3 minutes to as much as more than every 10 minutes. This went on from about 7:30PM to 8:30PM (with a few thrown in after that, but spaced much further apart).

No, I don't think I'm in labor. But I do think my body is trying to practice for it and must be making the preparations. It's just funny how this all started around the full moon. In any case, it's certainly convinced me of one thing-I better finish packing my L&D bag! The hospital stay bag was just about done, but I haven't even started the L&D bag, nor have I packed anything for Peep, yet. It could still be another 6 weeks until the time comes, for all I know, but it would be so much easier to be prepared than to end up throwing things randomly in bags between contractions.