January 2015 Moms

Prodromal Labor

So, the night before last, I was in L&D due to contractions coming about every 7 minutes. They started out at 15 minutes apart and were slowly getting closer together - HOORAY we're gonna have a baby, right? Wrong. I was checked for dilation and was completely closed. They hooked me up to the machines to monitor contractions and baby, then checked dilation again an hour later. No change. Cervix is soft, but that's it. Some of those contractions were getting pretty intense and they were coming at specific intervals - definitely unlike Braxton-Hicks.

But, alas, I was sent home. The contractions had begun around 9:15pm and I felt them until about 2:30 am. They were getting weaker and farther apart, and I was exhausted, so I was able to fall asleep when we got back home.

Morning rolled around and it was like nothing had ever happened! Same deal last night. Contractions started up like clockwork, right around 9:15. I tried my best to just ignore them and get some rest. A few woke me up, but they weren't terrible.

Here's some info on prodromal labor, if you're curious: https://birthbootcamp.com/prodromal-labor-what-is-it-and-what-can-you-do-about-it/

It's creepy how close the description at the top is to my case! It sucks because I was so sure we were getting a baby that night. I'm really not upset over the contractions (unless they start getting a lot worse). Mainly just want my little dude to be here! My due date is next Tuesday. He's already a mondo baby, though. Weight estimate last week was already 8lbs 12oz, which I know can be off by a pound or so (but, that could go in the plus or minus direction). His head was also measuring above the 97th percentile! I am a little paranoid that his head is not fitting correctly in my pelvis, and that's the reason for the prodromal labor... :/

But, I'm trying to keep my hopes up and tell myself we can do this! Baby was super strong during the monitoring session and they said he would take labor like a champ!

If anyone else is going through this, I would love to hear your experience.
Sorry, I know I have not made hardly any posts on here. Mostly just lurk, unless I have something meaningful to post about. Hope you late bloomers are still hanging in there with me! :)

Re: Prodromal Labor

  • I could have written almost this exact post to the tee. I was in on Saturday at the hospital overnight for timeable contractions. They were 60-90 seconds each, most were painful and they were close together. But I got sent home for having no further dilation. I have also been experiencing timeable contractions on and off for three plus weeks.

    My baby was estimated 9 pounds last week, head over 99th percentile which it has been at three separate ultrasounds. It sounds like a very similar situation. I had the same exact fears you're talking about.

    In my case, I have a lot of family history of 4th degree tears with 10 pound babies, (which is a highly unlikely situation for most people), so they have ended up scheduling a c section for me tomorrow morning. I'm sorry I can't give you further advice on that but I just wanted to say you're definitely not alone in the experience. It sucks!


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  • So, I just read up on some other posts and it seems like quite a bit of us are experiencing this, or something similar to it. I had just never heard of the term for it. Glad to know I'm not a freak of nature, though! I'm a FTM, so still a little in the dark about some things...
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  • Ahh, @Roxycc55‌ thank you! Yeah, my mom had all 8lb+ babies. My brother was 9lbs 3oz. Husband and I were both 8lbs 13oz. I know he's gonna be big, but I've read that that doesn't always necessarily mean baby won't fit. It's usually head size. And his head was actually measuring "off the charts", but my OB said not to worry bc sometimes when they are really low, the angle of the head can cause a slightly bigger measurement on the ultrasound. I am really worried that I will end up having to go the c-section route, too. I would like to at least try induction first, though. :/
  • edited January 2015
    I had regular contractions for 4 days before it kicked into high gear. Hang in there! I nearly checked myself in for some pitocin but things eventually got started on their own.

    My baby wasn't huge though - 7lb5oz, and both my Mom and MIL had 8-9lb babies. My kid did have a gigantic skull though (90th percentile at birth) and there was some tearing. L&D wasn't bad at all with the epidural, but healing has been kinda painful.
    ************************SIGGY WARNING***********************

    Me: 29      DH:  32
    Off birth control March 2012 - Actively trying Sept 2012-April 2014
    Unexplained Infertility
    BFP on May 5th after Follistim & IUI #3
    Ryan Henry - born 1/10/15, 7 lb 5 oz, 20 1/4 inches

    NTNP for a sibling starting March 2015
    Waiting on cycle to resume while EBF


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  • Thanks for the encouragement, @southernyankeegirl‌! I am definitely going to ride them out as long as my OB says it's safe for me and baby. I have been handling the contractions really well so far. The nurses were pretty surprised at how calm I was, considering the strength and duration of them. I was actually willing them to hurt worse, so I would be able to tell we were progressing!
    Good to hear that yours didn't drag on for weeks, like it does for some. Just hoping mine kicks in pretty soon like it did for you! :)
  • I Just experienced this last Sunday night/monday. My contractions were at 4-5 min apart by midnight so off to L&D we went. Stayed until 8 am when they sent me home because I hadn't dilated past 1 cm. I continued to have contractions at home all day Monday - but they began to get further apart from each until they weren't really tiimeable anymore. I started walking laps inside my house (it was raining outside) and then me and hubby got ready for bed. By 11 pm on monday my contractions were around 6-7 min apart and excruciating. I didn't wake up hubs since they didnt seem close enough together to me, but he heard me crying and insisted we go back to the hospital. I really didn't feel like making another 40 drive if they were just going to send me home again. I went to use the bathroom, stood up, and felt a tiny little trickle. Took a step, another trickle, and another. I'm a first time mom, so wasn't completely sure if it was my water. Turns out it was! Good thing we left then because by the time we got to town my contractions were almost constant and so much more painful than the day before. I was 2.5 cm dilated when we got there, 4 when they checked an hour later, and in no time I was 9.5 and getting ready to push. At 7:46am on Tuesday the 13th we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world! It was a long two days but SO worth it!
  • Its like you were writing my experience from last night for me! Only difference is I am still having contractions and they are 5 mins apart. I was monitored for 2 hours at the hospital and the contractions went from 7-8 mins apart to 4-5 minutes apart and they still sent me home because my cervix wasnt changing.

    Dont get me wrong, I dont want an early baby, however this is baby #3 for me and this is the exact thing that has happened with both my kids before I ended up going in for csections. I am concerned now that I have been having contractions for so long and pain in my csection scar area, but the dr doesnt seem to care and I am refusing to go back in. I dont want to be "THAT" crazy pregnant lady who needs to go into L&D 100x before the baby actually comes. I was just beyond pissed and still am because I am still sitting here in pain every 5 or so minutes :(

     

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  • Hang in there. I had regular contractions 10 minutes apart starting at 35 weeks. At 36 weeks they bumped up to every 7 minutes. On the 10th they were every 4 minutes all day and then spaced back out. Every night they would drop back down to 4 minutes apart and were pretty painful. I went through that for 6 days before my little guy decided to come.

    It's going to get harder to stay patient. Your gonna feel like you or your body weren't made for this but you were and baby will come. Baby just needs a little extra time in there for some reason.
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  • Keberly91 said:

    Thanks for the encouragement, @southernyankeegirl‌! I am definitely going to ride them out as long as my OB says it's safe for me and baby. I have been handling the contractions really well so far. The nurses were pretty surprised at how calm I was, considering the strength and duration of them. I was actually willing them to hurt worse, so I would be able to tell we were progressing!
    Good to hear that yours didn't drag on for weeks, like it does for some. Just hoping mine kicks in pretty soon like it did for you! :)

    God, yes! I enjoyed the ones the hurt the most because I hoped it meant they were doing something!

    SpinningBabies has helped some with positioning, which got some people in prodromal labor moving. Otherwise I just tried to relax and visualize the contractions stretching my cervix. Even if it did nothing, it calmed me.
    ************************SIGGY WARNING***********************

    Me: 29      DH:  32
    Off birth control March 2012 - Actively trying Sept 2012-April 2014
    Unexplained Infertility
    BFP on May 5th after Follistim & IUI #3
    Ryan Henry - born 1/10/15, 7 lb 5 oz, 20 1/4 inches

    NTNP for a sibling starting March 2015
    Waiting on cycle to resume while EBF


    imageimage

  • Man I feel like this is what happened all last night, almost like time able Braxton Hicks with slight cramping, every 15 min. I haven't been able to sleep since cnm said to head to drop off ds with babysitter when contractions are 15 min apart but they're not painful like with ds, just annoying enough that they wake me every 15 min! Dh was supposed to go to a city meeting to oppose over development in my neighborhood but we decided he shouldn't, maybe I should have just let him go. Sigh, I feel like it could be hours or days and now I'm tired!
  • edited January 2015
    mali3 said:

    Its like you were writing my experience from last night for me! Only difference is I am still having contractions and they are 5 mins apart. I was monitored for 2 hours at the hospital and the contractions went from 7-8 mins apart to 4-5 minutes apart and they still sent me home because my cervix wasnt changing.

    Dont get me wrong, I dont want an early baby, however this is baby #3 for me and this is the exact thing that has happened with both my kids before I ended up going in for csections. I am concerned now that I have been having contractions for so long and pain in my csection scar area, but the dr doesnt seem to care and I am refusing to go back in. I dont want to be "THAT" crazy pregnant lady who needs to go into L&D 100x before the baby actually comes. I was just beyond pissed and still am because I am still sitting here in pain every 5 or so minutes :(

    @mail3, I am no medical doctor, but in my VBAC class at the hospital we learned that one of the signs of uterine rupture is frequent pain in your c-section scar during contractions. When uterine rupture does happen, it's apparently most often gradual and slow. I'd mention this pain to your doc again and see what he/she says about uterine rupture risk with this pain. Better to be safe!
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  • @ablake0924‌ Sounds like you had a rough time! But, awesome that you were able to progress pretty quickly, once the time was right, and get that baby! :) Thanks for sharing!
  • "I dont want to be "THAT" crazy pregnant lady who needs to go into L&D 100x before the baby actually comes."

    @mali3‌ yessss, this! I told my husband I am not going to the hospital/waking him up again until I am writhing in pain or my water breaks. We didn't get home from the hospital until 2am and my husband had to be up at 4am to work a 16 hour shift. :( I felt so bad. Even though he was super sweet and not mad in the least bit. Ugh.

    I am really hoping that things finally get going for you. I can't imagine dealing with the contractions all day.
  • @southernyankeegirl‌ Yes, that is exactly what I was doing last night! I could actually feel the contractions moving him down a little bit. I felt movement super low and started visualizing my cervix dilating, as well as baby's head fitting down there.

    I have a doc appointment this afternoon, so hopefully I'll find out if I've made any progress. Thank you again for the support! Trying to stay positive and your comments definitely help! :)
  • @hiphopdancer2007‌ thank you so much for sharing! It's definitely helping me to hear that everything eventually worked out.

    My mom was able to birth all of her big babies, so I am trying to keep the faith that my body is also capable. Still a little paranoid about the giant head. My husband is a mega genius, so I have been teasing him that it's his fault that our baby has his giant brain! Hah.

    But, yeah, I have just been trying to tell myself that my body was made for this and that this prodromal labor is really just like a good warm-up workout for my uterus. I have read that a lot of prodromal labors end up going very quickly once things finally kick into gear! Fingers crossed that will be the case for me!
  • @emmyg65‌ oh my gosh, such a long and arduous labor! Glad you got to finally get rest and that good baby turned! Praying mine does the same. So enciuraging to hear that so many people were still able to have vaginal births, even after going through this. I really would like to avoid c-section at all costs. I had a horrible d&c experience after a miscarriage a little over a year ago. I had to have two transfusions, so I am terrified of pp hemorrhage. And just surgery in general. Hah.

    I'm hangin' in there, though! I will try some of the spinningbabies exercises. Need to get my husband to help me with them. I have the worlds worst balance, pre-pregnancy and especially now!
  • In addition to Spinning babies try this website out:

    https://www.milescircuit.com/

    My Doula just sent it to me since I've been having sporadic contractions for a few days.

    BabyFruit Ticker

     

  • Thanks @misslizzy82‌! Definitely trying this out today!
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