Somethins a brewin!

I was woken up today at 6am by painful cramping and lower back ache combined with a very rock hard stomach. Is that awesome or what?! It wasn't too painful, I could definitely function through it but it was very uncomfortable and I kind of moaned and withered in pain. Is it...could it be...is this a contraction?! Like a real one? I still am not sure but it didn't happen again until later this afternoon. I had quite a few of them and they were pretty frequent but not at all regular and they eventually stopped. It was always crampiness and lower back pain which is the difference between today and my normal Braxton Hicks. I'm hopeful it was some kind of productive contraction so I'll be greatly disappointed if I go to my appointment Tuesday and once again I'm told "shops closed for bidness!"

To further fuel my excitement, Bryan's mom said I look like I've dropped compared to last weekend. I quickly blew it off since I've heard that one before (plus she's as much of a wishful thinker as I am and she's frequently blinded by positive thinking vs. reality). But then I started looking in the mirror thinking she may be right. I finally realized if you are looking for something long enough you can make yourself believe whatever you want. I have since concluded that I have not dropped.

Here I am today at 38 weeks/4 days compared to 36 weeks/1 day. It's hard to get a perfect comparison without the exact same pose and outfit and as you can see the pics are actually different sides. No, my tattoos don't change daily, the pic on the left is really my left side and the one on right, my right side. Photo editing, isn't it amazing?

vs.

vs.

Anyway, I don't see a difference really but I'm hoping I'll get some more of those contraction-like thingies. I really hope that's what it is and soon because I'm seriously running out of clothes that fit me. I don't know why but I hardly have any large shirts so none of them really cover my belly anymore and the elastic in most of my bottoms is stretched to the max. I have one pair of XL capris my sister had given me (which I SWORE I would never be big enough to fit in) and I'm not even a capri kind of gal but they are about the last comfortable thing. I can't bring myself to buy any more maternity clothes at this point.

And yes, 38 and 1/2 weeks and still stretch mark free (I have to make myself feel better about something!). But damn, I hope that my linea nigra goes away, it almost goes clear up to my chest!