Uh oh... is it time?

Around 2 o'clock this afternoon, I seriously thought my work day was going to end much earlier than usual. And it wasn't because I had comp time to burn.

I was in the middle of drafting a press release about the opening of North Carolina's first "green" rest area when I began to feel pangs of pain in my belly and along my lower back.

"Ugh," I muttered as I thought back to my lunch. "I probably shouldn't have eaten that tortellini so fast."

Pang... pang. Pang-pang-pang!

It clearly was not the pasta that was causing this pain. It was something different that I hadn't felt before.

At first, I assumed the Wonder Twins were just pushing extra hard against my tummy. They tend to do that after I eat, which makes my baby bump feel quite firm. Sometimes, the pressure is so great that I can't feel gentle touches around my belly button.

This time, though, it wasn't them lobbying for more womb room.

My heart started to race as I pondered the possibilities. Was I in labor? Was I having contractions? Was the Secretary of Transportation going to have to drive me to the hospital in the state SUV?

Being that I have never been pregnant before, I don't exactly know what contractions feel like. Everyone keeps assuring me by saying, "Oh, you'll know." Yeah, right.

My doctor told me contractions would feel like really bad mentrual cramps. The pain kind of felt like that, especially because of the lower back aches, but there was no rhythm to the sensations. They just sort of pulsed to a random beat.

I whispered, "Please don't come yet, girls. You've got four more weeks to finish developing, plus two showers to attend. It's not time."

They must have heard me, because about an hour later, the pain went away. Apparently, the twins enjoy parties just as much as mommy and daddy, and they didn't want to miss out on any celebrations in their honor!

I really think what I was experiencing were Braxton-Hicks contractions. The fake contractions. They're supposed be sporadic, irregular in intensity and not grow stronger with time. That pretty well describes that I felt.

Thank you, baby books, for reminding me of this phenomenon. And, thank you, Dr. John Braxton Hicks, for detecting it in back in 1872.

Next time, I will not allow imitation contractions to fool me! Oh, no. I will walk them off or deep breathe them away. That is, unless they're real contractions.

In that case, I'll make a beeline for the state SUV.