Am I in slow labour?

chris7197

I'm 37+2 weeks pregnant and I'm having a very large baby - he was measuring 7lbs 8oz at at a growth scan at 35+5 weeks, and in most of his scans he's measuring weeks ahead! I had a consultant appointment last Friday and they said he hasn't really got any more room to grow so it's likely he'll make an appearance before his due date, but he has another growth scan arranged for the 16th (just over a week before my due date) to check him again. At the appointment she felt his head (which was 3/5 engaged, up from 2/5 from my midwife appointment the previous day). Soon after the appointment I started getting some pains - I've never had a baby so I don't really know what contractions feel like, but they were basically sharp pains at the bottom of my bump/uterus that came in waves, and built up in intensity before dying down. Later that evening they got a lot worse, and I was in agony so my fiancee phoned the hospital who told me to go to Labour/Delivery to get checked. When I got there the pains eased off, but they hooked me up to the monitor and gave me an interal - she said my cervix is closed (but she could fit a finger tip in) and it's quite far back, but she could feel the babies head, and he's now 4/5 engaged! After an hour or two of monitoring (his heart rate was erractic, going from 130bpm to 180pm) I was sent home.

The next morning, I had quite a bit of brown mucus on my tissue when I wiped - I don't think it's enough to be the full mucus plug but it was quite a lot! I thought this may be because of my internal examination but I'm not sure. Throughout the day I had the pains reappear again, and Saturday night I was up all night with waves of period type cramping where my stomach would go hard too. Yesterday (Sunday) wasn't too bad but I still had the pains, so they same really irregular. Today I've had some on/off pains and I've lost some green mucus too.

My midwife thinks this is likely to be early labour, which can last for hours or weeks! Did anyone else have these sort of irregular pains when they were close to their due date, and how long did it take for you to go into full labour? Any tips on progressing it quicker? They may need to induce me if I don't go in soon as he's likely over 8lb already and I really want to avoid that!

delujm0

First of all, growth scans can be, and often are, grossly inaccurate.  Example: my friend was told at 38+2 that her baby was "at least 8lbs."  When she was induced at 39w, and the baby born at 39+1, she was 6.5lbs.  That having been said, I had one at 38+5w that read 7lbs, and LO was born at 39+6 at 7lbs 7oz, so it was probably at least close to accurate for me.  But honestly, I've heard a lot more "it was horribly inaccurate" stories than "it was super on point" stories.

 

I was losing parts of mucus plug for at least two weeks, and I was told that her head was extremely low and engaged as early as 36w, but I wasn't in active labor until 39+6.  If your cramping is irregular, it's probably BH.  Drink a LOT of water (like constantly be drinking water) and get off of your feet if possible.  You want your baby to cook as long as it needs to.  I did usually have light spotting/plug loss and some cramping after internal exams.  When I went into labor, I had irregular, light period-like cramps starting around 2am with a bloody show shortly thereafter, and my active labor contractions started around 9:30am that day (were about a minute long and 6 minutes apart at that point, wrapping around to my back, and I couldn't stand while they were happening).  My water broke at the hospital when I was 6cm around 5pm (I remember this vividly because it happened right as I was about to get my epidural placed), and I delivered at 11:55 that night.  But my experience has nothing to do with how yours might go.

Bigboobsmcgee

You still have a few weeks to go so I would not agree to be induced based of the estimate from a growth scan. Like PP said, those can be very, very far off from the actual birth weight. You don't want to speed this up, you want to keep that baby in as long as you can.

With that being said, it sounds like you are having Braxton Hick's contractions. They are irregular, they come and go and your stomach is hardening. All classic signs of BH's. I had those for months before I went into labor. My daughter (my 2nd kid) was very, very low down for many weeks and gave me a lot of pain because she was low down for so long. To help with the BH's, drink a lot of water, lay down and try to relax.

Real contractions will be very regular, very painful and will not ease up or go away. You'll be able to tell the difference. It is a pain you cannot deal with or even talk through them.

Hang in there.

 

ashleywuli

I was induced due to one of my twins being extremely smaller than the other.... They were born and less than 1/2 an ounce difference between them. As PPs have said, these can be VERY inaccurate. Both were great weights for 37 weeks, but u wouldn't have had them that early if it was not for the mistake.

celainev

I'm a FTM but I am a nurse and have worked Postpartum before. I'm a bit confused as to why 7lbs8oz is considered "very large"... And have to agree that it is an estimate and can be very inaccurate.
It sounds to me like Braxton hicks. I agree with PP in drinking a ton of water. Baby could be here any day now, or you might have a couple weeks to go yet. Good luck. ❤️