Maternity Pictures and Contractions!

I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions ever since I was about 25 weeks pregnant.  Yesterday evening they suddenly started changing and becoming more frequent and quite strong.  My parents and I went out for Rancho Grande so I could eat some spicy food.  While we were at the restaurant, after having these stronger contractions for about 2 hours, my mom decided to start timing them and they stopped.  Completely.  Go figure.  They did start up again when I laid down in bed to go to sleep, but I was able to sleep through the night just fine.

This morning when I woke up they started up again and have continued irregularly all day long.  Since they haven't been painful at all, it took my mom a while to convince me that these were signs of false/early labor.  She is convinced that I won't make it to my next doctor's appointment, which is on Tuesday.  I, on the other hand, think it's possible she will come this next week, but also think that I will see my doctor one more time before then.  My guess is by the end of the week.  My mom thinks I am crazy and I think she is crazy.

...okay...that last contraction did make me go "OWW!"...but I'm still not entirely convinced.

The only thing I have been focused on the past couple days has been walking and getting a few loose ends tied.  I packed my hospital bag yesterday and did all of my laundry today.  I paid off my credit card, worked out my budget for the next couple months, and put a good chunk of money in savings.  I also emailed my professors to give them a heads up and finished my school work through next week.  I can have this baby confidently now!

I have been keeping Austin up to date on these newly developed symptoms and he has his bag packed and is ready to come the minute I know I'm officially in labor.  I have been really proud of how he has been handling this.  Anything I have suggested he do as far as preparation goes, he has either already done or at least thought about anyway.  He's such a good daddy already!  He is really excited to meet his daughter for the first time and so am I!

Enough of that though.  Molly still isn't officially due for another 9 days and I really don't want to get my hopes up if she's just tricking everyone (she could still be an April Fool's baby after all).  The way I see it, even if she is late, I will be be able to hold my baby girl for the first time in about two weeks and that is the most exciting thing in the world!

So besides all of these contractions today another thing made me very happy.  I got my maternity pictures back!  I wasn't expecting them for another couple weeks so I am thrilled that they got back to me so soon and before Molly is even born!  I picked out my favorites but I had a lot!  So here they are...

I liked the look of the pictures larger but a couple of them had bad resolution when I made them big and I'm not sure why.  So I left those smaller because I just liked them so much I couldn't leave them out!

As things start to progress this next week or so I'll try to keep everyone updated via Facebook as much as possible.  And of course, I will post pictures of Molly as soon as I possibly can too!  My camera is already packed in my bag and ready to go.

Her birthday is getting really close now!