Well, it's still here

The baby bump is still around. Last night was an, I guess you could call it... interesting (?) night for our little family. I was seriously expecting my next post to be an "Introducing our baby girl" post. I started having "contractions" (I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to tell the difference between real and not-so-real-but really-feel-like-they're-real contractions) at about 10 a.m. yesterday morning. After bombarding my poor sister with a million texts asking a million questions about Braxton Hicks and false labor vs. real labor, I just decided to wait it out and see.

They weren't increasing in intensity and frequency but they weren't going away like they normally did either (trust me, I tried walking, laying on my left side, a bath, and I drank lots and LOTS of water). After about four and a half hours of that (still feeling contractions but not really knowing if they were "real" contractions) I decided to let Brady know, better safe than sorry, right? I just didn't think my next door neighbors would appreciate delivering my child because I had waited too long to tell my husband.

At about 10:20 p.m. they definitely started getting worse (I had to actually take deep breaths through each one) and they started coming pretty consistently. My midwife had told me, when I called earlier that evening, to take a hot shower and get some rest because if it was the real thing, it wasn't like I was going to sleep through it and miss the party. I decided to take her word for it and get some sleep. By that time, Brady didn't think any of it meant the real thing, and, if I'm being honest with myself, I didn't either. Secretly, I was hoping that I would wake up in the middle of the night and things would really start happening; that all the anticipation and uncomfortableness (if that isn't really a word, I just made it one) wouldn't be for nothing.

At about 1:30 a.m. I woke up with a lot of pain in my lower back and lower abdomen, the next hour or so wasn't very fun for Brady and I. Then 3 o'clock rolls around and those pesky, painful contractions (if that's even what they really were) just... stopped. All day long, at the end really painful and then they just stop.

I guess baby girl just got cold feet?

In all honesty, I think I just didn't want to let myself believe it wasn't really happening and until I let it go and told myself to stop looking for signs that it was really happening, the contractions just gradually went away. Do I think you can really will your contractions away? No. Do I think you can build it up in your mind because you've been pregnant for almost nine months and really want to hold your baby girl for the first time? Definitely.

So, today I'm still sporting my not so little baby bump and a really sore lower back/ lower abdomen. If you're curious, I'm occasionally getting ache cramps in both my back and my abdomen but until I can't talk or Brady has to carry me out to the car because it's so painful, I'm not getting my hopes up.

On the bright side, Brady was a champ! He cleaned the house, tolerated my many middle of the night strolls around the bedroom, massaged my lower back at two in the morning and went grocery shopping so I wouldn't have to. Like I said, champ!