THE LAST MONTH

.....I don't know why I'm smiling in this picture- maybe because we took that a couple weeks ago and thought I'd for sure have the baby by now...
..... I've been warned about a lot of things- but I don't think anyone warned me about this last month. I know, I really shouldn't be complaining 'cause I have had an awesome pregnancy. But I swear, this last month just about did me in. I've seriously been fine 'til these last couple weeks. My hands and feet are swelling, I'm always hot, I can't really get a good nights sleep, all of my maternity garments and clothes are too small now, I'm in constant pain whether it's my back, or ribs, or legs, or stomach- I just can't seem to get comfortable. It really is the worst because I just want this baby to be here! I want to know if it is a boy or a girl, I want to hold him/her and see what they look like. I want to start waking up because of a crying baby instead of a full bladder. Only 5 more days and I'm hoping and praying the baby will be here.
.....The last few times I've gone to the Doctor I've been dilated to a 2 and 80% effaced and the doctor made it sound like I could go into labor any day. So, every day I've been telling Ryan, "Maybe today is the day!" and Ryan always just says "I wouldn't get your hopes up" well, he was right. It's just so frustrating because I swear if you're dilated, things should be progressing, especially because I've been having contractions too! I never really knew what they felt like, but my doctor said if I feel cramping and my stomach is tight that I'm probably contracting. So, on our way home from my appt. Thursday I was getting them like every 10 minutes on the dot, but they didn't hurt too bad, so I wasn't very concerned. Then I kept feeling them throughout the days Friday and Saturday, but nothing extremely regular 'til yesterday. I was having contractions every 5 minutes for like an hour, so I called my mom and asked what she thought, she said I should go into the hospital- but I really didn't want to drive all the way there and get my hopes up so I called the hospital and asked a nurse what she thought. She said "once they're so bad you can't walk or talk you should come in" Well, they definitely weren't that bad. I could walk and talk just fine, so I thought I'd give it a few more hours. I had them every 5 minutes for the next hour then they weren't quite as consistent after that and they ended up finally stopping around 9:00 at night. So, that was kind of a bummer. I really wish there was an easier way to tell when you're in labor, Ryan and I have no clue what we're doing here and feel like my water will probably break before we go in. Anyway, not that anyone really cares what's going on- I've just had a lot of people ask, so I thought I'd give them the low down.