Week 36: Is it over yet?

Our week 35 was a little scary. I’m so thankful to be past that—and to find out that everything is fine with our little man. We had our 36-week checkup last Friday. I was two centimeters dilated and 70 percent thinned out (or effaced). This came as a complete shock to me! With my first pregnancy I never dilated until they broke my water at the hospital. I’m sure this would be exciting to most people, but in my case I know I’m having a C-section—so now the question is whether he will decide to come before the scheduled date of May 4. Our families both live three hours away. If I go into labor and have to have an immediate C-section there is a good chance our families will miss it!
That Friday night my family and I went to a friend’s house for her birthday party. I felt great, and we all had such a fun time. At about 2 a.m. the next morning I woke up with awful cramps and Braxton Hicks contractions. I thought for sure I was going into labor. I started timing them, and they were so irregular. Ten minutes apart—then 30 minutes apart. I eventually fell back asleep and felt fine the next morning.

The next morning I started feeling the cramps again. It wasn’t anything that unbearable, but they were definitely more painful than they have been. (Of course, they were still irregular.)
Barrett and I spent the whole day going 90 miles an hour. I got all of the baby’s clothes washed, dried and organized. Barrett was even cleaning windows! I think he was entering the nesting phase, too. Is that even possible?
Sunday morning I woke up feeling awful. On top of the Braxton Hicks contractions, my back started killing me. I was almost to the point of calling the nurse. After the last week of being in the hospital, I was just not in the mood to go again just to hear them tell me everything was normal. I ended up taking a really long nap, but it didn’t seem to help. My mom had me completely convinced I was going into labor. This ended up lasting for two days. Every night I would tell myself: “OK, tomorrow if I feel like this, I’m calling the nurse.” But I still wasn’t having regular contractions.
But the rest of the week rolled around, and I woke up feeling amazing on Wednesday. It was almost like I wasn’t even pregnant! All day I felt like I had just finished my fifth cup of coffee. I was in such a good mood and managed to get so much done around the house. Then 6 p.m. rolls around, and it hits me. The severe nausea like I had in the first trimester all over again—and that’s currently where we are. We have a little more than two weeks left, and I just might go insane if these weird mood swings, crazy cramps, and irregular contractions go on until then. Two weeks just might feel like two years!