So that's what that is

I kept reading about braxton-hicks contractions, but I assumed that I would be feeling ...what I imagined was labor pains. The other day, I felt pressure on my belly and my belly was hard to the touch. Fortunately, my dad was around to tell me that I was experiencing braxton-hicks contractions. I thought contractions meant pain, but, in this case, it's just a slight pressure and mostly uncomfortable.
I finally got to reading what those actually meant and it's the muscles of the uterus tightening. What causes b-h contractions? The American Pregnancy Association (there's an association for everything...) says:
When you or the baby are very active (that explains a few things)
If someone touches your belly (I haven't had that happen yet, but, I wonder how, exactly, someone would have to touch my belly for my uterus to go "Hey!" and tighten up.)
When your bladder is full (or it could just be a full bladder....)
After sex (now women can know what it's like to be a guy)
Dehydration (Look, it's hard to drink a lot when you know you'll just have to pee in a matter of seconds, OKAY!)
So those times when I thought O was just getting mad at me and pushing on my belly if I was overdoing it in the activity department, it was O's casa that was the culprit and this is a common occurrence in pregnant women. That doesn't make it any less strange when it feels like you can pop your belly with a pin at one moment and it's soft the next.
Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my pregnant twin, Renata. We went shopping today and took full advantage of being pregnant and stopped at Ethel's chocolate cafe and had hot chocolate and s'mores...warm s'mores.
If you can swing it, I would recommend having a friend be as pregnant as you are. It's good to have someone who's going through exactly what you are going through (someone who can remind you that NOW is the time to act on those sweet cravings)...and we pretty much are on the same page.. Well, except I am woefully behind the times on registering and buying baby things. Hopefully that will change tomorrow when I bring in the pros (aka sis and Kata) and we do some damage at babies r us. I am sure I will have a blog about that tomorrow.