the real deal

Well folks, this is it. Labor has officially started, at least according to all the materials I got in my Prepared Childbirth class. Here's my status: dilated 3 cm, and 50% effaced (measured by my OB this morning), and I'm having mild contractions, at least 4 within one hour. With those statistics, I am definitely in the prodromal labor stage. But for all of you out there who are as ignorant about childbirth as I was until about a month ago, this stage lasts anywhere from 1-4 weeks. So don't get too excited just yet...though if you want to get a little bit excited, that's OK with me. I certainly am.

It's fun to know that my body's actually starting to do this. It may be "starting to do this" for another several weeks, but hey, so far so good, body!

With today's measurement, my doctor told us to make sure we had a bag packed and had the car seat in the car. So, we came home from the appointment and started to get things ready a bit. Then Sam and I went swimming which felt absolutely heavenly for my lower back and abdomen. This evening, we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse where we had a gift card. We got buffalo wings, ribeye steak, and ribs to share. It was really yummy, and by eating slowly and taking small bites, I was able to enjoy almost half of everything.

Here's the latest pregnancy pic. I'll be 36 weeks on Monday. Though I haven't gained much weight, the baby is still measuring within the normal range and my doctor says she thinks we're both healthy and fine. Today she told me, "You sure have done this pregnancy right!" She's a nice woman :)

Wish me luck in the weeks to come!