fake contractions

My impatience for this baby's arrival is not at all being aided by the Braxton-Hicks contractions that have been happening nightly. Braxton-Hicks contractions are basically erratic, harmless, (supposedly painless) contractions designed to gear up the uterus for labor and freak out unsuspecting and uninformed first-time moms who then lie awake, either trying to time them without any success, or writhing in pain. (How many times has someone told you, "This won't hurt"?)

The major difference between BH contractions and "real" contractions is that BH contractions eventually go away. Luckily, this little blogger did her research beforehand, so I didn't actually freak out. I did try to time them the first time it happened, but once I realized that they were getting further apart in time, and that the intensity wasn't gradually increasing, I gave up. They must have gone away, because I eventually fell asleep.

Since then, I've been averaging one or two every night. If I have any more than that, they usually taper off into nothing-ness. It's disappointing. At the same time, it's also a relief. Funny how that works. It just so happens that my mom is out of town until tomorrow or the day after, and my (very intelligent and studious) boyfriend has a test on Monday. I've been told I'm not allowed to go into labor until at least next Tuesday.

Honestly, I'd prefer it that way, too. I have a movie night scheduled for tomorrow and a trip to the zoo on Sunday. Not to mention the condition of the nursery... You know how, when you're organizing a room, it's got to get worse before it gets better? Well, I think it's going to look great when I'm done cause it looks pretty bad at the moment.

Anyway, what do contractions feel like? Well, for me, they feel like period cramps. I remember, when I was a freshman in high school, having terrible cramps that left me lying on the bed crying for a half hour. These aren't quite that bad, but then again, these aren't "real" contractions. It's different for everyone. Other women have described it as a stabbing feeling, a pulling feeling, just about any feeling you can imagine, actually.

So yes. Period cramps. The kind that radiates into the small of your back. Really, since I've been dealing with this kind of pain for (goodness) almost 10 years now, I'm rather encouraged. Again, it just makes me want to go into labor. I've held my own against some mighty cramps in my day. How bad will the pain actually be?

Does anyone know how to launch this thing?