False Labor

So, last night Michael and I went to the temple and when we got there I started having contractions. (When the contractions started, it made me think of a conversation we had the other night with some friends, that we thought it would be a cool story for the baby when they got older to tell if they were born in the temple, but not so cool for the mom if she happened to be at the temple when she gave birth). Anyways, the contractions weren’t lasting too long – most about 30 to 40 seconds long, but they weren’t all that far apart for the most part either. For a while I was thinking that it might turn into something real, and after 2 hours of some contractions that got pretty strong I thought I was in labor for sure. We headed home, with a few people making comments that I looked like I needed to leave. I told Michael that it would be kind of a cool date for Courtland’s birthday – just because Kolby was born on Oct 31st and Eli on January 31st, so it would be kind of fun if Isaac was born on Oct 23rd and then Courtland on Jan 23rd. But when we got in the car to head home, the contractions slowed down a lot, and then stopped all except 2 or 3 more after we got home. You hear a lot about women having “false labor” and starting to have contractions but then stopping, but that has never happened to me before. With all of my previous pregnancies (except Kolby’s, because I was induced with him) once the contractions have started to be somewhat regular for over half an hour, they continued to get stronger until we went to the hospital and had the baby. Can you say, “Disappointing?” And not only had I gotten my hopes up after 2 hours of contractions that I would be having the baby, but I was tired and worn out, and then didn’t get to go to the hospital after that. My mom said that with my little sister she had that happen several times before she had her, and that by the time she went in to the hospital to be induced (and she wasn’t even in labor at that point) she was already dilated to a 4. So maybe it just means that my body is getting ready. But I felt pretty ready to have this baby last night. Oh well. At least it can’t be too long of a wait, no matter what, since we have an induction date set for February 10th, so I know I’ll have this baby sometime in the next 17 days (no, I’m not really counting down the days yet, but I tried to explain to Kolby this morning when he asked when Courtland would “come out” that it would be sometime within the next 2 ½ weeks, and he still hasn’t fully grasped the concept of exactly how long a week is yet, so I counted out the days to explain that to him). Anyways, after last night I am feeling ready for this little guy to come. We’ll see what his plans are . . .