Define whats normal, please?

I am guessing my previous posting wasn’t crystal clear because many of you seem to think either the babies are here or I will have them next Monday. This is not the case, however, a possibility. Dr. Rowe just told me to be very aware of how my body feels because I COULD POSSIBLY start laboring this week based on my cervix being 80% effaced and my uterus showing signs of it being time. Still for now we are keeping the date set as July 14th, but with the change in my cervix he doesn’t seem to think that is very likely.

Honestly, I don’t feel like it is very likely either. I have felt a dramatic change in my body over the last week. What once felt like a full belly is slightly painful and cramps have been increasing slowly over the last several days. Nights are the worst and early mornings seem to be when it feels the tightest except for today it’s been pretty up and down a lot. Since lunch I have been laying in bed and although my stomach is not hurting or cramping my back both upper and lower just feel miserable. It reminds me of having those times of the month. Also something new is my hands and feet keep falling asleep which is no fun because they already feel swollen even though they don’t really look it too much.

I have been thinking a lot and monitoring the way I feel and am trying to figure out how to know when to call up Dr. Rowe. Is it just one of those days or will feeling yucky go away in a few hours like it does at times? I hate pregnancy. It’s complicated, miserable and to say the least not fun. How do you know the difference between cramps and having to go to the bathroom and if pressure back there is a symptom, how do you know its pressure from labor or bathroom time? How do you know if the crampy feeling is occurring because you need to take your medicine or if its time? Even if its only your medicine your waiting for to kick in how long should you give it to do its job? Clearly I feel worse than I did a few weeks ago and am dragging a little, but aren’t you suppose to start feeling bad again? All of this makes me wish for just a little bit I was back in the hospital just so I can push that stupid little button and ask “should I be feeling this way, is it reason to worry or just let it run its course?” Part of me wishes Dr. Rowe would have just said yesterday “Okay your close lets monitor you here” as opposed to second guessing myself at home. Then however I think about being away from Ryan and my family and eating that nasty awful food and think again okay maybe not so much.