3rd Trimester
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should i go to L+D?
for the last 45 min, i have had contrax every 5 min. im just sitting down though. im afraid that if i get up and start moving that they may go away... i just want it to be the real thing and be done with this! the contrax are not very painful, just breath taking so far. but they are consistant.
and i did have a dr appointment last night and i was already 3 cm dialated.
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Re: should i go to L+D?
i would drink some ice water and get up and walk around, wait a little bit and see if they are still every 5 minutes, sometimes I will have contractions back to back (2-3 minutes apart) but once I get up and move around it calms things down.
also- try emptying your bladder. a full bladder can cause contractions.
My doctor's advice last time around: I'd know it was time to go when I would be willing to call up an ex-boyfriend to drive me to the hospital if my DH wouldn't, lol
. In the end last time though my water broke and I didn't have contractions . . . so I never got to that point at home.
I dont really think this is a good idea, I went into preterm labor 2 weeks ago, I was having contractions for 4.5 hours before I called the dr. (they were 6 minutes apart when I called) 20 minutes later when we are on our way to the hospital they were only 2-3 minutes apart.
There's nothing wrong with laboring at home longer...as long as you keep in mind how far you are from the hospital and signs of transition or being close. It's a good way to avoid unwanted interventions.
There is also a big difference in PTL contrax and normal time to have baby contrax. I had PTL at 32w, and called my OB after 2 hr of timeable contrax... This week, my Dr. said they would not stop labor if I went into PTL again.
But for a full-term baby, you can be more lenient depending on 1.) your history of delivery (if any), 2.) your distance to hospital, and 3.) if your water broke or not yet.
For example, for me... I live 45+ minutes away from hospital, and had a very quick labor with my DS. Therefore, I will time contrax for 1-2 hours (even at full-term) before calling unless my Dr. tells me otherwise. (which I doubt)
Once you are in L&D, they are going to check you. If you are 4cm or less, they may not admit you at that time. Best to wait until contrax are less than 5 minutes apart, and increasing in intensity or shortening in distance apart.... If you can talk/walk through them, there is no need to go to hospital quite yet-- depending on your distance to hospital.