Contractions...

EMunion777

A little confusing. I remember feeling a little lost when pregnant with my daughter. I know what they feel like... I remember. Before today they were very random, a few per day so I was told they were braxton hicks. Today's appointment I found out that i'm between 1 and 2 cm dilated. Tonight I have been timing them because they are coming on so often. They haven't been exactly on timing. In an hour and a half of timing them, they seem to come on every 7-9 minutes.

Isn't it supposed to be 5 minutes apart to need to call the doctor's? And could this just be a random event or could this mean i'll be having him sooner? I feel like I should know all of this. Any info on contractions... send it this way please. lol.

CourtJack

I would google it. I had this question yesterday, hit up google and found a fact sheet on when to call, when they could be real vs BH and how to test on your own.

imakeeff0rts

If it's regular between 5-7 minutes, call your doctor. Try drinking a glass of water and resting on your left side for a while. If they go away, no big deal. If they don't go away, call. 

EMunion777

Thank you.

Mom38673

imakeeff0rts said:

If it's regular between 5-7 minutes, call your doctor. Try drinking a glass of water and resting on your left side for a while. If they go away, no big deal. If they don't go away, call. 

Yes, I second this.  Since you are already dilated some, it's important to keep aware and call the Dr if concerned.

abell77

It's not just how far apart they are, but how long they last, and how long that pattern continues.  I remember with my first pregnancy they told me to follow the 5-1-1 rule..contractions at least five minutes apart, lasting at least one minute each, for at least one hour.  Depending upon how fast your last labor went they may modify that recommendation for you this time around.

rab2006

I'm a couple of weeks behind you, but my doctor told me that if between now and 36 weeks I have timable cramps/contractions to call OR if I have 6+ BH contractions within an hour to call. Whether or not their painful, I'd probably call because you've had more than 6 in an hour and just see what they think. I know for me, my doctor told me that if it happened now, they'd try to stop it more or less to determine if it's false labor or real. If real, they'll just let me go. With DD, I was told by 35 weeks they'd just let me go. So either way, with you being 36 weeks, they may not stop anything or find reason for concern, but better to be safe!

EMunion777

abell77 said:

It's not just how far apart they are, but how long they last, and how long that pattern continues.  I remember with my first pregnancy they told me to follow the 5-1-1 rule..contractions at least five minutes apart, lasting at least one minute each, for at least one hour.  Depending upon how fast your last labor went they may modify that recommendation for you this time around.

Now that you mention it, I remember this 5-1-1 rule from when I was pregnant with my daughter. I haven't quite gotten to 5 minutes. It seems to only be happening at night (the last 2 nights). They are 1 minute long though. I looked it up last night because I was like "oh my gosh. I don't remember them lasting this long." Felt longer than a minute sometimes. lol.

rab2006 said:

I'm a couple of weeks behind you, but my doctor told me that if between now and 36 weeks I have timable cramps/contractions to call OR if I have 6+ BH contractions within an hour to call. Whether or not their painful, I'd probably call because you've had more than 6 in an hour and just see what they think. I know for me, my doctor told me that if it happened now, they'd try to stop it more or less to determine if it's false labor or real. If real, they'll just let me go. With DD, I was told by 35 weeks they'd just let me go. So either way, with you being 36 weeks, they may not stop anything or find reason for concern, but better to be safe!

I have GD and am considered high risk so I was told that he may arrive earlier than expected. He's already a little over 5 lbs (of course I want him to bake a little longer and get a little bigger though). If I have them again like this then I will call (thank you). So far they stop for quite some time, but when I do get them it's for an hour or 2, 7-9 minutes apart, about a minute long each and last nights were a little more intense than the night before.