This afternoon was rough. I had a number of meetings to get through before my day ended, but the “practice” Braxton Hicks contractions kept my day a lot more eventful than it really needed to be. Sometimes, I felt dull pain in my lower back. Occasionally, I felt like I was having menstrual pains in my abdomen. I was really hoping this wasn’t early labor, but lower back pain and the sensation of menstrual cramps during pregnancy are all signs of labor. I’m currently in my 34th week of pregnancy, and if this really were signs of early labor, this would be pre-term labor, which really would not be good. Pookie Bear is still growing and her lungs need to fully mature, and they aren’t quite there yet. While she’d likely be totally fine and healthy eventually as a full-term baby would be, labor at this stage would definitely worry me. The doctors say that it’s fairly normal to go into labor from week 37 onward. Week 39 onward is really the ideal time, though, because at this stage for the most part, lung development wouldn’t be a concern.

Luckily for me, after lying down for a little bit and changing my position a few times, the tensions in my belly stopped. I just continued to feel exhausted, though. Third trimester exhaustion is going to be in direct competition with my desire to “nest” and get everything ready for Pookie Bear’s arrival.