Reality Check

Over the last few days, Monica has started to experience Braxton Hicks contractions. They don't know exactly why these occur, but they are thought to aid the body in preparation for birth. Most of the time these are painless, but in some cases they can become quite painful.

A serious reality check took place when we visited our doctor and she asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, the level of pain. Monica, who looked in serious pain, gave a reasonable response of an "8". It was then that our doctor had to reset our expectations to the Pregnancy Pain Scale: a 10 would be the equivalent of wanting to jump out the window, a 8 equivalent to wanting to strangle someone, and a 5 being just serious, but normal pain.

At some point between this statement and me blurting "oh, crap," did we finally realize what we were getting ourselves into...