Our "visit" to Labor & Delivery

So, I've had the braxton hicks contractions for a while now, but they have always been random and really spaced apart. This last weekend on Friday night, I laid down on the couch and started noticing that I was having them really frequently. I didn't really think it was that big of a deal and figured they'd go away after I'd relaxed for a while.

Well, they were still going when I woke up on Saturday morning. I had a fairly easy day and wasn't doing any major physical activity, so by evening when they were still going and I really started aching in my stomach and hurting in my lower back I got kind of worried. I laid down for a while and we timed them and they were literally four minutes apart.

I really didn't want to call the OB after-hours line because I felt like I was probably just being paranoid, but David made me. :) The doctor called me back immediately and told me that if they were closer than 10 minutes apart that I should definitely go in to Labor & Delivery to make sure I wasn't actually in labor.

So...David and I spent most of Saturday night in the hospital with them monitoring my contractions -which stayed consistent the whole time- and testing all sorts of things and making sure I wasn't dilating and that the baby was okay. I ended up being alright and they sent me home with a list of a TON of different little things to watch for and to come in if anything changes at all...so now I have to be super careful - but at least I'm not on bed rest! Anyway, it gave us a good scare, and the contractions are still pretty regular, but as long as the intensity doesn't increase I should be okay.

This is as beautiful as I get taking a picture of myself in a hospital bed at 2am...