November 21st - 36 Weeks and 4 days

Its 4am on Monday morning and I am awake with one of the worst headaches I have ever experienced. I though I would take this opportunity and update what’s been going on over the last few days.

It all started on Saturday when I met a friend, who also happens to be pregnant, to do some shopping for last minute baby necessities. We went to two baby stores and had a good time. While we were at the second store, my belly started to feel really heavy. As all women with have been pregnant know, this is a fairly common feeling. I just figured it was a typical pregnancy symptom and went on with my day.

Next, we headed to get a late lunch and unfortunately, I ate way too much. By the time the meal was over I was in pain from being so full. I had that really full, bloated, totally uncomfortable feeling. I just assumed that it would pass as the meal digested.

My next stop of the day was to meet another friend to do some Christmas shopping. We met at a store and began walking around. I realized at this point that I was having contractions. I guess my discomfort was written all over my face because my friend happened to ask if I was ok. At this point my response was “I’m not sure” and I began to take note of my symptoms. My belly was still feeling heavy and was still really uncomfortably full. I happen to take note at this time that it had been almost three hours since lunch and yet I was still SO uncomfortable. I decided to head home

Once at home, the symptoms only intensified. My contractions, while they were never painful, were becoming so intense that Andy and I decided we needed to pack our hospital bag and call the midwife. Here is what the midwife told me. She said early labor and active labor are two totally different things. Early labor can happen for a day or so and go away and I could still be pregnant for another two weeks. On the other hand, she said this could all intensify, the contractions could become painful and closer together and tonight could be the night we have the baby. She said she didn’t want me to go to the hospital until we knew for sure. Well, my discomfort did not leave and at 2am I was on my hands and knees on the living room floor trying to get comfortable.

I should probably explain what I was feeling. Like I said, I was having intense contractions but they were very inconsistent. I would have three that were 5 minutes apart and then nothing for 45 minutes. While never painful, they were just intense. I was also experiencing lower back pain, feelings of an upset stomach, and cramping in my lower abdomen. To top it off, the baby was wide awake and ready to party. I don’t know if the hours of contractions had upset her or what but she was moving like crazy.

Finally at about 2:30am I feel asleep on the couch. My symptoms were beginning to subside and while I was up every two hours trying to get comfortable, I was not in as much discomfort. By 10am the next morning, completely exhausted and desperately needing some sleep, I was feeling almost back to normal. It was the strangest thing. The contractions were gone and so were all of the symptoms.

Yesterday, I got a new symptom. This headache!! All the others were gone but what was left was this terrible headache. I finally broke down yesterday afternoon and took some Tylenol which only helped for a little while. By the time dinner rolled around, my head was killing me. I took some more Tylenol and called the midwife again. She said while headaches in pregnancy are definitely something to be worried about, she was happy to hear that the Tylenol was at least helping some and she thought maybe it had more to do with my lack of sleep. If I wanted to go to the hospital, she could give some narcotics for the pain or I could wait until my Monday morning doctor’s appointment.

I had no interest in going to the hospital or taking narcotics for that matter. I went to bed at about 10pm last night and slept until 3am. Its now 4:30am, my head is killing me and I am counting down the hours until my 7:45am doctors appointment. I am actually headed to the specialist so they can do their monthly ultrasound to measure the baby’s growth. I am hoping to get two things out of this visit. The first are some really great new ultra sound pictures of the baby and the second is some answers to what the heck is going on with my head.