Pre Labor

I'm calling this day 3 of early labor, even though I have been having contractions I think longer than that. But this is the 3rd day I can feel them in my back, they are usually painful, and they occur throughout the day and most of the night. Obviously I don't time them when I'm sleeping, but the last few nights when I wake up to pee I am usually having a contraction as well. They do seem to be getting Longer, Stronger, and Closer Together (a phrase that was hammered into us during our childbirth classes). They are just taking their DAMN SWEET TIME about it. Sorry. I cannot even tell you how disappointed I will be if I go to the doctor tomorrow and he says I am still 1 cm dilated. I might just leap off the table and strangle his "helper" (he always calls a nurse or MA in to chaperon when he does an exam, by opening the door and saying "I need a helper"). Hehe. Not that she ever lifts a finger to help, she just stands there. Anyway, I digress. The point is, usually it's just some random person that I don't even know so she would be an easy target for my aggression. My last three contractions were 7, 6, and 7 minutes apart. I do find it is much easier to keep myself occupied and just yell to Eric when I'm having them. That way I am not watching the clock when I'm expecting one and getting all frustrated when it doesn't happen.

We went for a walk today at Riverfront park. During the walk I was SO uncomfortable. It was like one long contraction almost, I had so much pressure and cramps. Ugh. We had to stop several times and Eric practiced a little effleurage (rubbing my belly), which felt really really good. We'll definitely have to give that a try during active labor, one of these days. By the time we got back to the car I think Eric was about ready to head straight to the hospital but I definitely thought we needed to just go home and rest and see how things progressed. So here we are. We've been timing them now since just before 3pm and they've definitely been speeding up. My last two were 5 and 4 minutes apart. Still about 30-40 seconds long. Oh My Goodness. I need to chill out because if I have a couple more this close together my head is going to explode from excitement! I just KNOW my uterus is just playing tricks on me again. Stay tuned...