I'll have another glass of water, please.

Yesterday morning, after I got everyone out the door, I took a quick shower.  I threw in a  load of laundry and then I sat down to have a bowl of cereal.

Right about that time, I started having some contractions.  No big deal, I thought.  I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a month now so I figured it was just more of the same.

However, the contractions continued to increase in strength (ie:  they were getting pretty painful) and I began to panic.

Rebecca really needs these next three weeks to grow as she's currently only 4 1/2 pounds.  She's going to have enough problems on the outside without worrying about being three weeks early.

I was induced with Peter at 40 weeks because he was already over 9 pounds so I was in the hospital when I went into labor with him which ultimately ended in an emergency c-section.

And we were going to attempt a VBAC with Sarah if I started showing any signs of labor with her prior to 39 weeks.  But, of course, I didn't, and she was already close to 9 pounds , so we went ahead with a planned c-section with her.

I've never  been at home when contractions have started, I've never had to time them, I've never had my water break in the middle of the night, etc.  I've never had to go through any of that. 

Yesterday when these contractions started, I was a little fearful.  I decided to start timing my contractions so I downloaded an app.  Yes, there really is an app for everything.

But the problem with these contractions was that there was really no stopping and starting.  It was basically just a two and a half hour long contraction.  I could still move and talk through them so I kept thinking that these are not real contractions.  But they felt so different from annoying yet totally random and spaced throughout the day Braxton Hicks I've been having.

I decided that I would wait and call the doctor after the laundry was done.  Why wait you ask?  Because both of my pairs of yoga pants were in the laundry and the thought of having to squeeze into any other pants while these contractions were going on just to go to the doctor to be checked and told I wasn't in labor was enough to make me consider a home birth.

While I waited on my laundry to finish, I did a lot of heavy breathing and pacing. I packed a bag for the hospital, I tried to straighten up the house. I continued to try unsuccessfully to time the contractions because I knew that when I called the doctor they were going to want to know how far apart they were.

And finally, I did something that I should have done much earlier -  I consulted Mr. Know-It-All.  I Googled contractions and pre-term labor and a when to call the doctor.  And I took his advice.  I drank a large glass of water and I laid down on the couch to rest.  And literally about 5 minutes after drinking that glass of water the contractions stopped.

Hallelujah! I wasn't going into labor - I was DEHYDRATED!

Go figure.

And I assume it's because the day before, in a quest to get a decent night's sleep, I limited my fluid intake.  Guess what I spent the rest of yesterday doing?  Drinking as much water as I could handle.  And guess what I spent a large majority of last night doing?  Getting up to pee!

But I will take that any day over having Rebecca make her grand debut 3 weeks early.  I'm excited to meet her, but not until April 10th. 

Well, at least now my hospital bag is packed!