The Final Countdown?

back pain has intensified. lots of pink mucus-y stuff. called dr, going in for them to check me out as soon as hubs is here. yar.

and just like that...

they have stopped. bye-bye, contractions. will you be back? we'll find out...

In the meantime, I'm going to rest and walk the dog and eat non-solid things, like soup. and soup. and gatorade. maybe some more soup.

8:02am - called off work, going to hop in the shower and put a towel on my little slice of couch. ooh, going to make some caramel vanilla decaf too, yum.

mmm, back labor.

I haz it. I woke up at about 130 in a fair amount of fun, fun pain in my lower back, went to the bathroom. Cue more fun spotting.
200, up again. Hmmm...could be something more than just having to go to the bathroom.
230, figured I'd better start timing to see what happens. The pain had a discernable beginning, a hazy ending, and lasted about 3-4 mins, about 10 mins apart.

So, cut to me, on the couch, laptop in sight, and oh yes, blogging away. I'm timing things with the help of contractionmaster.com, I think, and basically just...waiting. Drinking some gatorade. Trying to rest. The usual for a Wednesday morning at 3am. Didn't I tell you people? 3am!

Oh, and ouch.

Well, that was fun. And painful.

Had my 39-wk appointment this morning! I'm 39w3d technically. Went in, got weighed, ignored the scale after I saw the 20_.__, told them about the two times I had cramping at around 4am, that was about it.

**warning - possible grossness ahead.**

Dr man came in to check me, I was anticipating the uncomfortableness this time so I was prepared with my breathing, lol. He also said he was going to "agitate" the membranes (after this I started referring to him in my head as the Maytag Man), and I was like sure, ok, and the nurse laughed. He checked for dilation and effacement first - 2cm, 70% - and then started doing something that was quite uncomfortable, but not exactly painful. The breathing did help, although I only had to take two deep, long breaths and it was done. Immediately afterward, it felt like menstrual cramps. I sat up and the nurse handed me a pad - which is where I remembered what I forgot to buy at the store!

I had a little spotting while at the dr's, but the cramping has gotten a little more uncomfortable. Went to the br a little while ago, whee more spotting (I know, totally gross, but didn't you read that warning?), which looked a little mucus-y so I'm hopeful that my plug has started to vacate the premises.

And oh yeah, OUCH! Back pain! I just started to notice it becoming more painful than uncomfortable. I've got my timery thing all ready online, but I can't really tell when it starts and when it ends. I'm sure it's just a prelude to actual pain, though. I'm thinking that because I can't tell when it starts or ends that it's not a contraction and just more of the same. We'll see.

last night was fun............NOT

It was a lovely night, until I tried to go to bed and realized...that feels like cramps. Ouch. Hey, that really feels like cramps. how long do these last? will they ever stop? oh, that's better.

~@4am~

Oh hey, I have to go to the bath-WTF? cramps again? they still hurt! and my back does too! and it's not going away! oh wait, that's better. but here comes a BH. and he's still kicking me. how does he have room?
um...this could be a sign of early labor, according to WTE (I was doing some light reading on the toilet). that means...

I NEED TO PACK MY BAG! I NEED TO FINISH MY STUFF AROUND THE HOUSE! IT LOOKS ATROCIOUS! WHO'S GOING TO WATCH MY DOG?
to be done list going through my head: iron my dish towels, open box of diapers, wash my CD's, get a basket for baby bath stuff, put sunchips in my hospital bag, buy yogurt...man. there's still a lot left to do! it's not like packing for vacation, apparently.

So, tonight, it's off to bru to get the last of my "vital" stuff on the registry, and maybe a dresser, as I've been told he'll have more things at christmas than can fit in his little shelving unit. man. I keep checking the tp, looking in the toilet, no "mucus" yet. The BH are getting a little more painful, but so far it just feels like cramps. I have to remind myself to keep drinking water also, I don't want to get dehydrated and then go into labor! Oh and on a more TMI note? I went to the bathroom 4 times yesterday. Of the non-peeing kind. Which I recalled at 4am when I was thinking of Liz, who went into labor & had her lovely baby the other day. AHHHHHH!