37 weeks 4 days. Dr appt update | LOTS of contractions

Last Friday at my doctor's appointment we discussed how I'll know when to head to the hospital.

•  My contractions need to be between 2-4 minutes apart for an hour, and need to be bad enough that I can no longer talk or walk through them. 
• If my water breaks
• If I have a lot bleeding

My Braxton Hicks have definitely picked up this past week and have been feeling much stronger than they use to be. At times I even feel them in my back which is actually a sign of REAL contractions. So of course I get all excited after a few that feel pretty close together, and I start to time them. 5  minutes apart, 4 minutes, 3 minutes... All of this for about 30-45 minutes but varying in intensity and then boom... they drop off and I don't have one for 11 minutes, and then 15 minutes and then 8 minutes. It's literally the most frustrating thing!! Especially when they start off as strong as they do sometimes.
Last night I was up until 12 because I could feel them so bad in my back, it was hard to get comfy, but I didn't bother timing them because I could tell they were all over the place and not picking up at all. They woke me up at 2, 3:30, and again at 5:30. For them to be waking me up now, I can tell the tides are changing and my body is making progress but it's still sort of confusing and frustrating letting all of this play it's self out and waiting to see where things go all of the time.

Since today (Monday, 1/18/16, MLK day) is Barry's pick, I decided to try to get things going on my own. This morning when I got to work I walked a mile on the treadmill and another mile at lunch. The one at lunch brought on some SERIOUS back discomfort but it's hard to tell if it's contraction/baby dropping related or if its from being so active. (maybe a little bit of both?) I've had some really good contractions today too but only one or two back to back and then nothing at all for 30 minutes or so and then just regular, annoying braxton hicks every 5 minutes for close to an hour and then nothing, and so on.
I'm going to get a fitness ball tonight and sit/bounce around on that thing for a while and see what happens.
If nothing else, I can DEFINITELY tell that all of my efforts today have dropped her a little lower as when she moves her little head around in there I feel a very distinct, uncomfortable, and at times, painful pressure right behind my pubic bone. And the lower she gets in there, they more pressure she'll put on my cervix to dilate it. I'm already so anxious for Thursday to get here so I can get my weekly check done and know if any of this is making a difference.
OH! And I get to have an ultrasound on Thursday! They said they felt like she was measuring big and sitting higher up than she should be at my last (37) week appointment so she wanted to get a better idea of how big she is with an ultrasound.
If they talk to me about inducing, I may just say yes at this point. My belly is so sore lately, and now my back hurts too. It's hard to breathe, especially during some of my stronger contractions and at night when I'm laying down in bed. Which already sucks because it's hard to get comfortable and I get so itchy at night too. And now on top of that, I can't hardly breath and I'm laying there panting like I just went for a walk!
STILL NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT ANY OF THIS. I've had it so good and I still do. Even though everything is uncomfortable and hurts most of the time now, I'm excited for it because I know what it all means and it's just one step closer to meeting little Elle :)