Pain for a reason!

Well we had our 39 weeks, 1 day appointment this afternoon...and I'm 1 cm dilated!! Only 9 cm more & some pushing to go until we get to meet our Luci. I've been having very irregular contractions since about 4pm yesterday. They are uncomfortable and maybe mildly painful, but I'm sure I'll soon say there were nothing compared to what was to come. Usually they go something like this...

Me (in my head): hmmm...is that Luci moving or is this a contraction? Oh, I'm getting kind of hot...hmmm...kind of hurts, kind of hurts...
Me to Clay: CLAY! Feel my belly!! Is that Luci or a contraction?
Clay: Hmmm....I think it is a contraction. Your belly is pretty hard. Yep, I think it is a contraction.
Me to Clay: What time is it?

Then we wait 10 minutes, or maybe 12, or maybe 16, or maybe 20 & we play the whole game over again. I was pretty uncomfortable before bed last night, but I slept like a rock & woke up this morning feeling just fine. I had a few contractions this morning, but again, nothing regular. Please note these irregular contractions & the fact that I'm 1 cm dilated are not very good predictors of how soon Luci will arrive...but it is certainly a step in the right direction and I'll take what I can get at this point! I was going to be a little depressed if this pain was for nothing...the thought of what 'real' results bringing pain must feel like was a bit daunting. Dr. Beena said she's got 4 moms (I'm one of them :) who are ready to go anytime, and 2 of them are 4 or 5 cm dilated and have been for awhile!!

So now we keep hanging out & waiting. We'll see Dr. Beena again on Wednesday (our due date) if Luci hasn't yet arrived. After that we'll see her every 2 days and then induce no later than Wednesday the 25th if she hasn't decided to come on her own by then. Our new, cheaper cable that we had installed yesterday managed to break overnight, so Clay's watching a creepy movie on DVD and I'm going to go read a book now. We'll keep everyone posted!