Dilating, 2 min apart, and sent home from hospital?

Purls85

Hi all,

So I'm typically just a forum lurker, and haven't posted anything. But now I have a question: due June 15, went in tonight with contractions strong and evenly apart--the monitor there showed 2 min apart. They said they looked strong and even, and I'm dilated to 3 cm. And then they sent us home?! Still coming strong and close together, confused when I'm supposed to be in "serious labor" ?? My first came at 37 weeks and I was admitted with fewer "real" symptoms than this time?? Any help, advice, etc. much appreciated..

cMichelle0423

Some hospitals won't admit you if you're not dilated/effaced enough/not progressing fast enough.

Purls85

They said I look to be likely in labor, and told us we might be back later tonight. It's after midnight already, though... I am utterly confused!! We live 30 min from the hospital, so it isn't the quickest of drives...

Purls85

cMichelle, I expect that, too... but I'm not sure how much further I should be? lol.. since theyve gotten stronger... all i can do is try to breathe through these contractions .. hm. i guess we'll see.. thanks

Purls85

they only kept us thirty minutes on monitor, too--in which time they checked and found the dilation, the contractions on the monitor showed strong and even, and they told us there was definitely progress... seemed weird to send us on a 30 minute drive home at 11.30 at night, telling is they might see us again before morning. i'm probably worrying about nothing, though now it is after 1 am. and these haven't stopped are keeping strong... i guess we'll find out soon enough, one way or another

ncbelle

If you are only 3 cm and having contractions that you can still easily talk through, you aren't in active enough labor to be admitted.  Better to labor at home where you'll progress faster than to be hanging longer at the hospital.

fsumom

Active labor really begins at 4cm dilation. I was admitted at 3.5cm but only because my water broke. Since I am GBS positive, I had to have antibiotics which is why I didn't labor at home. The contractions should be intense enough to where you can't talk through them and 3-5 minutes apart.

lynnblack

You can be in active labor and talk through contractions. They told me it wasnt real labor if I could talk through them with DD1. So I waited to go to the hospital. DD was almost born in the car. If you think it is time go back trust your instincts.

ChristineBaker23

That seems incredibly shady. With my first I was 3 cm with contractions 3 minutes apart when I went in and dilated to a ten in about four hours. I was glad I was in the hospital for that because when I started to dilate it happened really fast (went from 7 to ten in under 5 minutes) and I would not have made it to the hospital in time if I had stayed home and waited for stronger contractions. If you feel you are progressing or would be more comfortable laboring at the hospital (just in case sh** gets real, real fast) I say go back. I imagine you are dilated more by now if the contractions are still going on. Also, call your doctor.

Rawa1416

Same thing happened to me. I went from 1cm dilated on Tuesday to 3cm and 50% effaced on Thursday with contractions 10-15 min apart. They sent me home and said if my contractions got any closer together to come in. Well that night, they got to be 5 min apart and they had me come in. Sure enough my contractions were showing up 2-5 min apart on the monitor but I was still only 3cm so they sent me home and told me my contractions weren't "strong enough". They said it's prodromal labor and it can last anywhere from days to weeks. That probably doesn't make you feel any better but hopefully knowing you're not the only one experiencing this helps a little.

becomingmommyagain

We went in on Saturday night because contractions were 4-6 minutes apart and I had been at 3cm at my Friday afternoon appt.  My last 2  babies were born within an hour of being admitted so the doctor wanted us to not wait it out til contractions got closer.

When we arrived, they checked my cervix and was still at 3cm - same as Friday.  They monitored the contractions and they were consistantly 6 minutes apart and lasting for 1-2 minutes.  The nurse said the monitor does not tell intensity, just that they are happening.  They measure intensity by mother's ability to talk through the contractions and pain/discomfort level.
I've been measuring big for weeks and the nurse alerted the doctor that I was huge (thanks) and my last ultrasound was at 26 weeks so the doc ordered another one in L&D.  Baby still measured big 8lbs at 37 weeks with excessive fluids.  After 2 hours of continued monitoring, they checked cervix again and they said still at 3cm but a little softer and sent us back home.

I think its strange that they would only monitor you for 30 minutes before sending you home.  Did they do at least 2 cervix checks to see if there was progression?  We were told to come back if the contractions were between 3-5 minutes or if they became painful, water broke, or bleeding.

curlylocks3

What @Nellebelle1‌ said. Also, how your contractions look on the external monitor does not determine how strong they are- only an internal monitor can do that.

Purls85

No 2nd check to see if my contractions were dilating me more. Still coming strong and close together Haven't slept all night.. Headed to regular doc appt. Will see if dilated more ... all the responses from everyone help, thanks.

becomingmommyagain

Good luck at your appointment.  That you've made it this far sounds like things may be not be progressing too quickly.  

Purls85

As an update:

My doctor sent us back to the hospital immediately--she wanted to do it by ambulance, but we declined and assured her my fiance could drive the distance just fine. My blood pressure was extremely high (and I'm normally in a really good, low range), and the doctor felt we shouldn't have been turned away so hastily. I'm attempting a VBAC, so while early admittance isn't important, and we want stuff to move along at natural pace, my doctor was concerned because of the previous C-Section and high blood pressure risks.

We got to the hospital and found I'd dilated more and was effacing. They decided to have me walk to see if it progressed. The doc on call said since I'm a previous C-Section attempting a VBAC, they don't want to admit me in case I did stall out at the 4 cm mark because Pitosin etc just isn't an option, and we do want to avoid a c-section.

After walking, I'd made some progress, and we thought we might go--but still, not enough to admit me yet. They wanted to do an u/s to check some stuff, and we were ready to go home after that, but the nurse came in and said they would have to put me back on the monitor for another 2 hours --they saw a small problem with baby's heart. It was nothing, and they figured it was nothing, but they wanted to be safe. It's a hospital that does nothing but women and babies, specializing in high risk, so safety is their thing... During the 2 hours of monitoring, I started having contractions close together, strong and even again, and the nurse was convinced I was moving along finally. They decided to check my cervix ONE MORE TIME (I had three cervix checks yesterday alone, and one on Monday night)--and would admit me if I made significant progress. The cervix check showed progress, but not a ton. So, finally, after midnight, the doctor came in and said we had two options: go home, wait out labor (which we are obviously doing, which is obviously taking its sweet time), or go ahead and be admitted, but know that we would likely have a C-Section if it gets really lengthy since Pitosin is not an option.

Sorry for the super long novel here--but thanks for all the responses!

Purls85

They told us to come back if they were "5-7 min apart or if my contractions caused rigidity to the abdominal region," which my contraction were 3 min apart and definitely causing rigidity... which is partially why we were perplexed as to why they were sending us home

But like you and a few others said, they don't want to admit you until you're at least 4 cm... and now I'm around that, and they would have admitted us yesterday, except I'm basically a Catch 22 as a VBAC--they don't want me being a slow labor since speeding it along with meds isn't an option... We were totally welcomed to be admitted, if we wanted to go through with a c-section if it went slowly. Basically, we don't want a repeat c sec... They said hopefully I can wait to come in when I'm past 6 or 7 cm !!