Should I Suddenly Stop Posting/Responding...

This is a Grumpy, Ranty, Impatient Post.

Mother nature is pretty unpredictable and even though I'm trying to become a more laid back person, I'm having a very hard time accepting that.

Bébé and I are at 36 weeks and 3 days, and my body is not following the pattern they told me it would in my birthing classes! 

Theoretically, you're supposed to be having less than 10 painless Braxton Hicks contractions a day up until 37 weeks. And then when real labor hits, they'll start coming in progressively more frequent intervals of 20-30 minutes and then 15-20, 10-15, etc. But that's not how this has been going down at all, and it's driving the planner in me nuts.

Last week, I went in for monitoring and had about 20 short contractions, with about 10-20 seconds of down time in between each, over a 30 minute period. The midwife was slightly concerned and sent me home with Spasfon (a drug that's very often prescribed in France), telling me to lie down a lot and try not to deliver for another 2 weeks. Since then I've been having regular contractions (as soon as one finishes, the next one starts) all evening and often throughout night, only to wake up to calm the next morning. They're usually accompanied by strong menstrual cramps and I have to breath through them.

But guess what?! Apparently, that doesn't mean anything. You can painfully contract like that up until 42 weeks and still end up needing to be induced. If the contractions are coming and going, it's not real labor. 

Why did no one mention that to me before? No one said "You can also experience (mildly) painful contractions, that are coming at less than one minute apart, over a 10 hour period, and it might be just for fun! If they stop or don't get stronger - No impending labor! This funny little game could go on for weeks!"

They don't tell you that in birthing prep classes.

I keep getting excited and thinking "This might be it!" on pretty much a daily basis. Only to be disappointed when I wake up the next morning and they've calmed way down. I'd be less annoyed if they were painless, or if my fairy godmother would come down and tell me exactly how long I had to put up with them.

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Anyone else feel like it's less difficult to push through something when you know exactly when it's ending?

Rant Over... Happy post coming tomorrow!

But after tomorrow, all bets are off. Who knows when baby's coming! I could disappear tomorrow or still be posting pregnancy updates (and be slightly grumpy) 5 weeks from now.

Whenever the big day comes, you can expect me to take a little maternity leave from the blog for at least 5 days. But I promise I'll be back very quickly!