Well ...

Yesterday I started having contractions. So, I started thinking.
And, well, yesterday would have been maybe the most convenient day for BabyGirl to come ... MomC could have taken the kids and had them sleep over, since there's no school today ...

But, yeah, the contractions weren't long/often/regular enough to justify doing anything.
Not that they were what I'd classify as being "comfortable" by any means.
And my water didn't break ... so ... like I said, there's no reason to rush into the hospital.

Besides being a Nervous Nelly, that is.

So, I keep thinking of which days it'd be best to NOT have this girl:

• Valentine's Day - Because, if she's born on V-day, and Michael and I wanted to go out?
  Either we'd be deserting our little princess on her BIRTHDAY ... OR we'd not go out and I might resent that.
• Before noon on the 16th ... Michael needs to be able to pick up his paycheck.
  Also, this way, my cool diaper bag should have arrived. And it'd be a perk to BE HERE to get it from the delivery person. Let along just KNOWING that I'd have it.
  (No, his company hasn't gotten direct deposit set up. It'd be nice. Someday. Someday.)
• The 22nd ... The kids have a dental appointment. It's just easier if I can go with them to it.
• The 24th/25th ... since I don't want to miss my Bri's baby shower ... and it's that second day. And, well, I have no idea how soon I'd be able to leave the hospital. (Last time, I was on a MagSulfate drip for 24 hours. UGH. And Bruise had jaundice and was under observation ... so we were there for four days after the kids were born. I don't think we'd be there THAT long this time ... But, yeah, I have no idea.)

But, yeah ... it's not like my body's really going to listen to me or anything.

Especially since I'm so dumb when it comes to pain.
When something REALLY HURTS, my FIRST THOUGHT is to have Michael or someone feel my forehead and tell me if this is bad pain or not.

It's like I don't KNOW that PAIN ISN'T A FEVER.
Pain is subjective ... other people can't really observe it.
I theoretically KNOW this ... but, gosh, it's like I FORGET it when I'm IN PAIN.

And THEN, oh my goodness ... I'm not really good at saying where on the pain scale I am.
(Link goes to a Hyperbole And a Half comic. There are swear words. However, whenever I think of pain scales, THAT STRIP is what comes to mind.)

I mean, after the kidney stone fiasco, I have come to realize that maybe I try to downplay my pain.
The nurses would ask, "About where, on a scale of one to ten, is your pain?"
And I'm be all, "Um? A seven? Maybe an EIGHT?"
And Michael was all, "NINE. IT'S A NINE."

At one point, Susan (one of my nurses. She was there when I was in the hospital with preeclampsia, too), had to tell me to call her (I hate being ... NEEDY or inconvenient. Maybe it's an only child-type thing) when the pain got to a certain point. And she and I agreed that I'd get her if it got to a five.
Since my room was RIGHT BY the nurses' desk, at one point, I dragged myself out of the bed with my IV, and stood in the doorway and was all, "Susan? ... I think it's at a 4.6 now."
Because ... pulling on the cord seemed a LITTLE extreme.
(That bed's "call nurse" button didn't work. I got a little better about using that by the SECOND TIME I was in the hospital for my pansy of a kidney. ... And I was in a different room with a button that worked. ... Not that, in the first room, I could even REACH the cord from the bed. Not without some serious contortions ... which wouldn't have been very doable unless I WANTED to take a chance of ripping out my IV. Just sayin'.)

But, yeah ... I have learned this year that once my pain gets past a 7.75?
I vomit.

After it gets past an 8? I can't cry with tears ... or, maybe it's just with that stupid kidney, where I was pretty dehydrated (from throwing up due to the pain), that I just didn't have any water left to make tears.

But those are MY numbers ... so maybe it's more like, respectively, an 8.75 and a 9?

But I'd figure that on the nurses' scale, a 10 would be pain that would kill you.
With the amount of pain I was in, I wasn't DYING ... I just wanted to crawl into a cool cave and lie there until the pain went AWAY ... so I wouldn't BOTHER anyone by being a wimp.

I HAVE ISSUES.

IT'S TRUE.

But, yeah ... Isn't that why y'all come and read this? So that you can KNOW FOR A FACT that you're not nearly as insane as I am? (Or, if you ARE, that you're not alone in this level of insanity? ... That, in fact, since there's someone else as crazy-head out there, we just MIGHT be normal?? ... Which, you know, is a bit of a disturbing thought. Just sayin'. :P You know I love you.)

But, yeah ... No contractions, really, this morning. And I've been awake for over an hour.
I was able to sleep through the night ... so they did taper off at some point.
And, YES, I was drinking LOTS of water and resting. I also made sure to go to the piddly-diddly department, so that there wouldn't be THAT pressure on my uterus. I've read the books, checked the websites.

So it's just a big game of "Wait and See."
And, to quote Inigo, "I hate waiting."

(Seriously, as much I love this little parasite? It'd be nice to KNOW when she's going to come. This way I can make sure that I have childcare set up in advance, I'd know if I'll get my diaper bag and bengkung in time ... I'd even have an idea of HOW MUCH HOUSEWORK I'd manage to get done in advance.
But ... well, she's not sending any engraved announcement cards. So ... I'll just live these last few hours/days/weeks on the edge of my seat. ... I suppose this means that I should stop procrastinating, doesn't it?)