Labor and All of it's Glory

sjo_thetwins

Post here anything labor related! Really, anything. Whether your labor buddy is at the hospital, your water breaks, your contractions are irregular or timetable, you're dilating, you're in pre-term labor or false labor, or even on the way to the hospital! This is the thread for all of that. And also - if anyone has any questions about labor related issues/symptoms/things, post those here too. Not that we are doctors, but some STM and TTM ladies may have experience or advice! 

Yay, babies are coming! 

LauraPCOS

I saw this post and was all  she had her babies!!

sjo_thetwins

@LauraPCOS lol! I kind of wish! 

Nope, just me and my contractions being BFFs. 

LauraPCOS

After last nights absolutely no sleep due to the aches and pains throughout my body (but not labour pains) I kinda wish I was heading in now too! Not sure how I'm going to go another 4ish weeks with pain.

ibabyloveb87

@LauraPCOS Same thing here. I'm not sure how I can manage feeling this way another 4 weeks. I see why people start leave early and I so wish I could do that!!! 

mrszoess

how do you differentiate between BH and 'real' contractions?

kmtz89

I just googled "how to know if you're in labor" and ended up reading this article. UGH. 
https://nymag.com/thecut/2015/03/18-women-on-what-contractions-really-feel-like.html

jennielu

@mrszoess, I have the same question. I just assume that if they aren't regular, or getting stronger, they are BH. My doc said "If they aren't hurting, they're not opening your cervix". Anybody else have input? 

LauraPCOS

kmolleltz said:

I just googled "how to know if you're in labor" and ended up reading this article. UGH. 
https://nymag.com/thecut/2015/03/18-women-on-what-contractions-really-feel-like.html

Awesome! Like I wasn't freaked out before lol

kmtz89

LauraPCOS said:

kmolleltz said:

I just googled "how to know if you're in labor" and ended up reading this article. UGH. 
https://nymag.com/thecut/2015/03/18-women-on-what-contractions-really-feel-like.html

Awesome! Like I wasn't freaked out before lol

Yeah. Miserable sounding. 

sjo_thetwins

Labor contractions are timetable/have a pattern, cause more pain than just being uncomfortable or tight, and can wrap around your front from your back rather than just focusing solely on the front side of your bump. Once they start getting closer together, come every x minutes, or are painful, I would say those are no longer BH. 

@mrszoess @jennielu

LauraPCOS

@sjo_thetwins I know you've mentioned it a few times, but what's the app you use to time your contractions?

NoraAurora

I wonder if you can dilate a little & then go back to not-dilated?

kmvisioli

@NoraAurora yes, you can go backwards. It's actually not unusual for labor to ease up and dilation to regress when you arrive at the hospital, most likely because your stress hormones go up and because of changing positions. Also if different nurses and doctors check you, they may give different numbers simply because of their own hand size.

kmvisioli

Also I just saw that the question about real vs false labor is here, but I commented a little on the Sh!t Got Real 2 thread about what my Bradley coach told me regarding that. Sorry it's in the wrong spot!

annabenanna

I'm kind of sad that if this baby is breech at 38 + weeks and we go through with the scheduled C section, that I won't get to experience labor.  That whole "omg is it time???"  seems so exciting, and I'm sad that I may possibly not experience that!  

PCOSbaby

NoraAurora said:

I wonder if you can dilate a little & then go back to not-dilated?

I asked my MFM this and he said absolutely not. Once you start...there's no turning back. Now it's quite possible to remain at a certain cm for a few weeks but you can't go from 1cm back to zero.

ETA: Just saw that @kmvisioli has been told something different. 

sjo_thetwins

To back up @PCOSbaby, my MFM and Doctor also said its not possible to dilate and then close back up. However, it is possible to only dilate at the front end and not all the way through to the baby. So while I had pre-term labor and "dilation" at 24 weeks, we were dilated almost 2cm but not all the way to the baby, just a little in the front. Now, I am completely dilated 1.5cm straight through to the baby, where my MFM touched the baby's head - that can't be undone. @NoraAurora

@annabenanna don't lose hope yet! Even if the baby is breech and you need a c-section, you may still go into labor on your own that just results in a c-section. Ya never know! 

sjo_thetwins

@LauraPCOS I use "Full Term"

LauraPCOS

sjo_thetwins said:

@LauraPCOS I use "Full Term"

Thank you downloading it now.

MRSCORKER

I can't wait for our first drive-by "is this my mucous plug?!" post! 

nlane0723

I had an MFM appointment yesterday and contracted the entire time, every 5-7 minutes. The nurse said "make sure you time these when you leave" and got me all excited. Here I am the following day, still contracting, waiting for them to get more intense or go away. THIS IS BS. 

annabenanna

LOL @MRSCORKER!

krzyriver

@annabenanna I had that moment the other day when I realized they might induce me. I'd still experience labor, but it would take the excitement out of "is it time?" "do we go to the hospital yet?" etc. I trust my doc and I'll do what they recommend, but it's slightly disappointing to hear that I may miss out on some of the chaos that I've been looking forward to for so long.

serenaxo84

annabenanna said:

I'm kind of sad that if this baby is breech at 38 + weeks and we go through with the scheduled C section, that I won't get to experience labor.  That whole "omg is it time???"  seems so exciting, and I'm sad that I may possibly not experience that!  

@annabenanna they will most likely schedule the c section very close to your due date. With DS1, he was breech and my water ended up breaking at home and I went into labor the night before my scheduled c section. I ended up with an emergency c section but I still felt let labor. My contractions were 2 minutes apart by the time we got to the hospital and I was 8cm dilated! It can still happen even if you have a planned section. 

annabenanna

@krzyriver, it's kinda silly because it doesn't impact anything...like I still get a baby at the end... but I was kinda hoping for the hollywood version, you know?  Eating lunch at a sunny restaurant on the patio.....then turning to DH "honey it's time, it's TIME!!!!"  LOL

@serenaxo84 , they scheduled me for Oct 6, at 39 + 2...they said that could of course change if baby turns (we then wouldn't need it), but they secured date and time (6AM holy moly) anyway.  I just would like to know what labor feels like! lol.  

LauraPCOS

Right now my guy is so low that when he moves it causes pain and I'm all "is this a contraction or him moving?" especially when it radiates to my whole stomach, my only indication that says its him moving is that the pain doesn't last more than 2-3 seconds.  Though I have to admit, with how I'm feeling today, the aches, pains, sick and no sleep, if someone said to me they can take him out with no complications and he would be perfectly healthy, I don't know if I'd pass it up.  I really don't know how to go another 4-6 weeks if this pain doesn't go away.

krzyriver

@annabenanna Lol! I know exactly what you mean. I keep picture myself waking up in the middle of the night and shaking DH awake to go to the hospital. Which is silly, but going in and being induced is not at all the same thing. And then I kick myself because why do I care, I just want this baby! Lol

@LauraPCOS I hear ya. This girl at work just lectured me about the fact that my doctor is giving me an US to decide if I need to be induced. And I just want to be like "You know, im f***ing miserable! If they says he's ready, he's ready! Get him out!" Lo

AshleyGemini24

It seems I'm having Cx nearly every day. So much so that Monday morning we went to L&D because they were every 25 minutes and felt like real back labor. They monitored me for 2 hours and sent me home. At this point, I'm ready for little man to come. 

kmvisioli

My answer about dilation is mostly from Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, not personal experience. But I have heard it confirmed from friends who are L&D nurses that you should have the same person check you to keep that consistent.

annabenanna

Okay so what does a contraction REALLY feel like?  Is it like a period cramp?  Or like a "omg i have to poop it hurts" kind of pain?  Doc says I'll feel it on my entire belly.... and so far my BH contractions have been painless.  Just a hardening sensation.  

So when it's the real thing, what does it feel like?

mrszoess

it feels really tight and tense 

sjo_thetwins

@annabenanna I think you will get a bunch of different answers on that one because no two people really feel them the same. My BH contractions feel a lot like the contractions the docs call "labor". The only thing that makes them labor contractions is whether or not they are changing your cervix. 

Some people only have back labor so they don't really feel them as much in their ute, others feel them in their thighs and lower abdomen like period cramps. I think it just depends on you. I think once they get stronger, you'll definitely know that it's not a normal/every day kind of thing. 

annabenanna

omg @sjo_thetwins they feel it in their thighs?????  for real?  i'm so confused now. lol.  their back too????

waterfall213

annabenanna said:

Okay so what does a contraction REALLY feel like?  Is it like a period cramp?  Or like a "omg i have to poop it hurts" kind of pain?  Doc says I'll feel it on my entire belly.... and so far my BH contractions have been painless.  Just a hardening sensation.  

So when it's the real thing, what does it feel like?

I know it's cliche to say you'll know the real thing, but you will. Your whole belly will get tight and it's more intense than period cramps. My contractions wrap around to my lower back. It's a sharp pain that lasts around a minute. I didn't get the "I need to poop" sensation until I was ready to push. That pressure is undeniable.

ibabyloveb87

Yep @annabenanna. Stomach, back and thighs are all legit. The couple of BH I have had are worse in my back than anywhere else. 

annabenanna

@waterfall213 @ibabyloveb87 wow!  curiouser and curiouser.  I'm gonna watch out for this "this is it!" feeling!

jlm684

I'm late to the party...first time posting, due Halloween. My DD1 was born last August. Be lucky if you know you go into labor. My water broke with no contractions. I just had a weird feeling and called hospital. They told me to come in. I drove myself there. My SO had just played 12 hours of softball and was tired. Pitocin is no joke.......mutant cramps on that stuff....

LizaKate1213

@annabenanna, for me the first few felt like period cramps. Then they were really bad period cramps. Then it just progressed from there, with increasing intensity. My BH just feel really tight but without any pain.

jlm684

I only know Pitocin contractions and they were my whole middle like I was going to rip in 2...blinding pain, not tryi,g to make it scary. And that's again....on Pitocin. That stuff makes for insanely intense where you can't think atraight contractions. But with epidural it's a cake walk....I tried to do it with out but I'd rather remember the experience than be blinded by the pain.

jbal918

I'm laughing to myself because I went to the hospital the other day thinking my water broke but apparently (TMI MOMENT) I was leaking watery mucous. I wish it was labor honestly! I've been having BH and I'm dilated only 1cm and 20% effaced as of my hospital visit on Sunday lol.