Prodromal Labor…

Not for the faint of heart. 

Exhaustion is the best word I can think of.  I am so, so, so exhausted.  I did this exact same thing with Caroline & Amelia’s pregnancies so I figured it was going to happen – but this one has been worse than the girls.  We are now going on FOUR times that I have had consistent, 4-5 min apart contractions lasting ~1 min for several hours at a time.  Last night was 9 hours before they finally quit.  I’m not talking about a painless tightening of my tummy.  I mean, stop talking and concentrate on remembering to breathe.  Yesterday they started around 1pm but they weren’t terrible…but definitely noticeable and coming pretty close together.  We had a fellowship meal at church so I went to that at 4pm.  I kind of had to sit off by myself for a while because I was actually really starting to feel in pain.  In the back of my mind, I was thinking – this might actually be ‘it’ this time.  As soon as the devo and dinner were over, I had to head home.  I had been trying to time them at the fellowship thing, but it was difficult because I was also chaperoning Caroline on the waterslide and trying to be social with people.  Ha!

Came home, timed them.  They were about 4-5 min apart and more painful than any other time before.  I *really* thought it was going to be it.  A few hours later, they just…..stopped.  As in, I had a contraction just like before – and then it never came back.  *sigh*

I hate the way my body labors.  I know it’s doing something and it’s working and doing its job…but it’s exhausting.  Contractions are hard work for your body and it is really tiring to do that for hours upon hours for (what feels like) nothing. 

In good news though – I will be FULL TERM on Wednesday.  I am really happy that I’ve been fortunate enough to make it this far.  I’m so glad that he’s had more time to get healthy. 

I’m really hoping that these false alarms quit for good or we have a baby this week.  Either of those options are fine with me! 

And for anyone else dealing with this kind of labor – I am so sorry.  We just have to remember that it simply CANNOT last forever.