Contractions eased off - false alarm?

chris7197

Hi I'm 39+4 weeks pregnant with a big baby boy (estimated at 8lb 6oz at 38 weeks) and he's very, very deep in my pelvis (they couldn't measure his head properly because he was so deep). The consultant also said last week that my cervix is soft and partly effaced, he didn't mention dilation but he said he could put his finger in.

Yesterday, I woke up and had some blood streaked discharge (very 'slippery' like snot!) which must have been my mucus plug, or part of it. When I tried going to sleep I noticed I was getting niggling period type pains every 7-8 minutes, and throughout the nice it got much worse and I realised these were contractions because my belly was going really tight

After having no sleep or night and with the contractions now really painful (but bearable), I woke my fiancée up and we then phoned the hospital who advised to wait until it's unbearable and then phone again. At this time I again had another bloody show, I guess because I'm dilating more?

But the contractions eased off, and are only every 30 minutes or so now (12 hours after my initial period type pain) - it's still painful though! I'm really hoping this doesn't turn out to be a false alarm - did anyone elses labour start like this? How soon did the contractions get bad enough for hospital?

kynbar5

Labor can start and start multiple times and a lot of the times that's pretty common. It sounds like you've definitely stalled since you said it went from 7-8 minutes to 30 or so minutes. In wasn't advised to wait until the contractions are just bad but to wait until they're also regular, timed (think every 3-5 minutes time frame) contractions that has been lasting an hour. Another tip is to drink plenty of water when you start contracting and if they start easing up instead of getting more often and intense then it's probably not active labor yet. I also wouldn't say you're baby is big because 8ish pound range is pretty normal (for me and women I've known at least) but also, those measurements are notorious for being off in both directions. I'm not a doctor but it does sound like your body is working up to labor so congrats and good luck! Walking is always a great thing right about now- a lot of walking and a lot of water!
ETA- if you can laugh or talk through a contraction then it's not bad enough yet

Bigboobsmcgee

kynbar5 said:

Labor can start and start multiple times and a lot of the times that's pretty common. It sounds like you've definitely stalled since you said it went from 7-8 minutes to 30 or so minutes. In wasn't advised to wait until the contractions are just bad but to wait until they're also regular, timed (think every 3-5 minutes time frame) contractions that has been lasting an hour. Another tip is to drink plenty of water when you start contracting and if they start easing up instead of getting more often and intense then it's probably not active labor yet. I also wouldn't say you're baby is big because 8ish pound range is pretty normal (for me and women I've known at least) but also, those measurements are notorious for being off in both directions. I'm not a doctor but it does sound like your body is working up to labor so congrats and good luck! Walking is always a great thing right about now- a lot of walking and a lot of water! ETA- if you can laugh or talk through a contraction then it's not bad enough yet

All of this.

Don't wait until they are unbearable, wait until they are consistent for an hour. I waited too long and almost had my DD in the car.