Possibly more annoying than the real thing

[kuddliphish]

I've been have a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions over the past week, and they are so bloody annoying. They don't hurt exactly, but they are often uncomfortable and distracting. One thing they have been good for is prepping Raine for the real thing. At least when we were walking home from Co-Ho tonight, I kind of groaned as we entered the house, and Raine turned to me and asked if I was having a contraction. I think at that point my back was just hurting--my back has been killing me the last few days--but it's hard to say for sure since they come and go so often. I didn't have pre-labor like this for Raine at all, and my mom says that she never really had Braxton-Hicks contractions except for one scary episode more than a month before the twins were due. And I do remember once having contractions very early and close together for Raine, such that we were worried enough to call the hospital. This time around they've never been particularly regular or frequent, but once every couple of hours is annoying and disruptive enough. I don't remember being as impatient for Raine to be born as I am for this baby--and in all honesty I would like to wait another week at least, to get a few more things done around the house. But I'm two weeks away from my due date (and really really trying not to count on having the baby for another week after that) and I am so ready to be done. I know that a long pre-labor can lead to a shorter easier active labor (Braxton-Hicks are contractions after all, they are just not as effective as "real" contractions) and I try to focus on that, but mostly it just sucks. I've had about four contractions in the last two hours that I've been awake, and am seriously doubting whether I'll be able to sleep anytime soon. It's a sad state of affairs when one is convinced sleep will improve with a newborn in the house, but I'm just about there.

So I didn't expect this post to turn out so whiny, but there you have it. And given that I just had another contraction, I think I'm going to drink some water and go lie down, since it would be nice to put off labor for another week...at least that's what I keep telling myself.