Finally, some answers

We FINALLY have an answer for the craziness that has been happening for 8 days!! I have prodromal labor - not to be confused with false labor. It is very different! Basically my body has been preparing for labor for a week with strong irregular contractions. Even though my baby is in delivery mode, my uterus is not ready. My cervix is effaced, but won't dilate until in labor. After strong contractions ranging from every 3 - 20 minutes, I am extremely exhausted. Sleep is not an option with these contractions. I have lost 6 pounds because I have zero appetite. My poor inlaws were here since last Tuesday and now have made it home to wait for the "real" call! It is still confusing to know when the real thing will be.

I have used every option I could to find out exactly what is going on. With many doctors that thought I was just being a wuss about braxton hicks contractions, and so many unhelpful advice, I finally got my answer this morning. I called my doc office and she wasn't there. Thank goodness they told me to go in because they wanted to check the baby out. They were WONDERFUL!! The usually annoying nurse practitioner was so sweet and helped answer all my questions. She stripped my membranes AGAIN and got me dilated to a 4. They then hooked me up to the monitors to look at me and baby. Of coarse, I wasn't showing any of my crazy contractions when the pressure is on, but the baby looks great and that is all I care about. They said to call if nothing is progressing like it should this afternoon.

A nurse in there is the one who told me I have prodromal labor. Her neice had it just like me. Intense, killer, contractions that sometimes have a pattern but always go away. She assured me that I am not crazy and not a wuss - what I am having is REAL and very frustrating.

So now it is just up to my uterus to decide when to work well or not. Eventually it will. In the meantime, they wrote me a prescription for a "pill form of a margarita". Since I am a weirdo about taking anything at all, I was worried when she described it, but she said it won't affect the baby at all. She also said that it will calm my body down enough to quit fighting labor and let it happen. Wish us luck! I am not trying to make this little boy come any faster than he needs to, I just want this process of frustrating labor to be of normal length and be over with!

Waitin, Waitin!

I haven't talked to too many people who have the same labor experience I am having! With all the advice and all the stories from so many people, I have officially stumped them. I can now say that I have had labor contractions since last sunday... yep it is wednesday. They come and get closer, closer, and closer, and then well they just decide to go away! I have lost my mucous plug (disgusting... sorry) two weeks ago and have also had "the show" (disgusting x 2 i know) since yesterday. When I talk to people they say that means "things are rollin and it will be no time!" well it is now the next day and guess what... no baby! I just keep having these false labor contractions that have even gone down to 12 minutes apart for an hour. So my in laws have came in and we are just waitin on this cute little boy! I really want to see him soon! 

Stoney, Cross, Eli, Randy... I sure do miss you boys!

I think this little boy is heading out soon! Lots of contractions in the past couple days, but they don't seem to want to get regular. They are getting stronger and stronger though. I even had some last night that I thought, "okay why the heck do I feel the need to go natural if there are going to be a million times stronger than this!?" I have had all the other labor symptoms... especially the not so cute ones. I have a call into the doctor to find out what to do. They told me kinda black and white of when to go to the hospital, but I am in between a lot of things and not sure exactly what to do. They know I want to labor at home for a long time, but I'm thinking I could already be getting close, so I'm not sure what to do. In the meantime, I am scrapbooking, showering, cleaning up (even though there is nothing to clean), and getting things together. At this point it could be a couple hours til we leave or a couple days.... I have no clue! All I know is that I think I am in complete denial on what is about to happen! I have so many thoughts going on in my head! I just can't wait to meet this little guy and get to hold him finally! I can't wait to see Corey's face when he sees him for the first time, and I can't wait to have those first moments of parenthood with Corey!

So I have a ton of emotions going on today. Here is just one of them that is going on in my head right now. I went for a long walk this morning and I was listening to some texas country music (the title of this is singers of texas country in case you were wondering haha). It was all the songs that Corey and I used to dance to almost every thursday at the Wicky Wicky in Lubbock :) I started thinking about our last seven years together and how much fun we have had! We are so lucky that we have spent our biggest life experiences together. College was a stinkin blast! We made some of the best friends ever and had the opportunity to literally soak up every aspect of the college life. He is my best friend and I would give anything to go back to one of our Lubbock nights filled with music, dancing, and good times. My mind wonders there sometimes and I get so sad thinking that chapter of our life is closed and will never be opened again. I cannot express how much fun we had together. I have never smiled so much than some of our nights in college with just me and him. Here are some of my favorite pictures from college memories:

The amazing wolfpack... the best group of friends ever!!... and the scariest!

At the Wicky

Our last night in Lubbock :( Thanks to Hicks, it was a little wild for me!

My 22nd birthday party and the best party I have EVER been to!

Amanda Burns (Gibbs) Birthday Party - so much fun! Crazy picture i know!!

My cute hunny

Wade Bowen concert

Everything has its season though, and it was time for us to move on to different things. The last year has been us adjusting to real life... and for most of it, I have been pregnant! We have been blessed to have my parents give us two great jobs. We still miss our college life so much and all our college friends! Its so hard because we always said how often we would go back and we haven't been back for a good time once :( My mom always has said the my 20s would be the weirdest part of my life where I would do the most growing up. You get married, have babies, and figure out the rest of your life. We are definately in that stage right now and are trying to figure out where we are headed and what our major plans are.

But for now, we are about to welcome a beautiful little boy into this world and cannot be more excited! God always knows where we are goin even though we don't have a clue! And his plans are always so much better than ours ever were! I don't know where we will end up and what life has in store, but I am so glad and have such an amazing husband to go through it with! He makes all the stress and worries of life worth the ride! I can't wait for our next adventure together and for us to now meet this little boy that is half of each of us! Who would have thought seven years ago when I met him in colorado (thanks to Kevin Burns) and thought he was the craziest thing I ever laid eyes on, that we would be here in life?! I could have only dreamed of marrying him once we started dating. I would imagine what our little babies would look like and in a few days we will know! I know we will always miss that life, but it is so reassuring knowing that God only gives you as much as you can handle in life and that our next chapters will be great too! God is so good!

uuuuugggggghhhhhhh

So I am officially frustrated. After dealing with the stress from Corey having to be out of town next week, we had finally had a plan. I was gonna take it easy and try to not "help" him come until after his due date. I am still not uncomfortable and I felt like I could manage another two weeks. WELL then corey finds out it might be the next week. So this baby either needs to come like today or hold off until my induction date of August 1. I started feeling lots of weird changes last wednesday and was thinking he might be coming soon. I had a couple incidences that I wont say because they are gross, but parts of the pregnancy things that no one talks about!! Well, I wake up this morning and all my cramps and weird belly twinges are gone. I feel totally fine. I don't want to be stressed during this time, but I want my hubby to get to spend time with his new baby rather than have to be 6 hours away for a full week!! I just wanna cry! Being stressed is exactly what will make this baby stay in my belly longer so I need to chill out! I am saying lots of prayers and giving it up to God after this post is over and I'm done complaining!!

Everything is slowly coming together and things are starting to feel more real! Every morning Corey asks me if he is going to meet his son today and it gives me goosebumps! Thinking of actually meeting him is so surreal. I can't picture what the moment will be like at all! I am not as anxious about the whole birth part as I thought I would be. I remember freaking out waiting for my nephew and neice!! Now for my own baby, I feel really calm and just happy :) I dream of kissing his cheeks and smelling his sweet skin! Seeing Corey with him makes me the most excited!

I have a lot of nerves about labor since we took our birthing class. I am really going to try to go natural. Of coarse, EVERYONE has an opionion when I tell them that. If they went natural themselves, they get a sense of pride like we are about to be in the same clug. If they didn't, they seem like they have very strong reasons why they didn't and they try to convince me to get one. I don't understand why they get mad!!?? 

I know Corey is going to be a great birth coach. In class, he is the only one who asks questions and really tries to figure out what I am going to want when I am in immense pain!! However, if I am being mean or cannot relax, he is supposed to tell me to GET A STINKIN EPIDURAL!! If I have to get induced, I will get an epidural because my doctor induces with pitocin which causes terrible contractions. 

So our classes are over, our pre-registration is in, the car is detailed (thanks to my amazing brother in law that did it for us randomly), we know where we need to go when I go into labor, our carpets are shampooed, the house is super clean, now we just have few obstacles :( I took my state board written exam today (92% baby!) and I take my practical on monday. I have to stand for the whole thing and it will take about 3-4 hours!!! If I need to potty (which I will about 10 times in that time span), it comes out of my testing time. So hopefully it goes smoothly! God is getting lots of prayer requests for this! 

But the worst part... the part that makes me so sad is that Corey has to be out of town for the WHOLE WEEK before my due date :( It would easy to just be mad at his boss, but well, it is my daddy and I know he would not make him work that far away if he didn't have to do. There is no one else that is licensed to work at this job and Corey at least has to make an effort to be there. He will be six hours away and hard to reach during the day. So PLEASE say lots of prayers that Brigz comes on or after his due date so that Corey can be here! 

Other than that, life is great. Corey and I are trying to enjoy our last Corey/Abbey time before there are three of us. This makes me really sad thinking about. I am so happy to start a family, but I know that things will never be the same. Since we have an amazing marriage/friendship/love, it makes me sad that it will change. But I know that as long as we keep God in the middle of us, it will change for the better! I am excited to see what that change will be! Life is crazy!