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August 2011 Moms
catahoulatte
member
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BTDT moms: please spill your "false"/early labor stories!
catahoulatte
member
Because if I'm really looking at a week or more of being kept up all night by contractions that gradually fade to once an hour during the day, I may commit a crime.
Did anyone have a prolonged "false" (false my azz! It hurts!) labor before they went into labor? How far apart were your contractions, and how long did it take before you finally started getting them at the magical 5 minutes apart time?
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Re: BTDT moms: please spill your "false"/early labor stories!
ooh Houla! You're having some FLC? Maybe baby Houla will make his appearance before your OB leaves!
Sorry, that response doesn't help at all, but I'm excited for you
Hey girl!
By yesterday morning they were 7-8 minutes apart and they hurt! Then they faded back to 15-20 minutes apart for a while. Then last night they started getting super close together again, and I think I got like 2 hours of sleep! And of course, since 6:30 am, I've only had 3. Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I hope you're right though!
While I have NO experience in this, our Bradley class tells us that excitement can result in adrenalin, which can stall out or slow contractions. Also, they say if you're not sure if it's real labor to Eat, Drink, Walk, Shower, and take a Nap. If they are still consistent after you've done all that it's probably real labor.
Thanks Destined and Mcatmay!
Destined-I'm working on those now
Did them all yesterday and contractions stayed about 10 minutes apart for a couple hours afterwards until they slowwwwwly dropped off. Getting ready to do the shower part for today, though they slowed down a couple of hours ago already.
Hope you're right mcat! I wouldn't mind if he waited another week or so...but I don't want this to last another week!
Ah! I can't believe you've been dealing with this for 3 weeks
I'm so sorry to hear it. I hate complaining about it and I know that it's just our bodies getting prepared, but I am miserable with no sleep. I hope you get something 'real' going SOON!!!
That happened for like a week straight before DD was born. What helped me the most was to get up and take a warm bath. It seemed to relax those muscles a little bit and make them less painful. I think they went away faster that way too. Give it a try! Good luck to you! It's getting close!!
Mine is the opposite of yours - I am sleeping fine (minus the bathroom breaks) but my contrax are during the day. I hate complaining, too, and I hate feeling so impatient, but seriously...come on, little girl! I've been going on walks 2x/day, eating pineapple, drinking raspberry tea, bouncing/sitting on an exercise ball, nipple stimulation... The only other thing I want to try is sex, but all of a sudden DH thinks that's "just weird."
I've had perfect 1 min long contractions every 5 minutes for the last 2 days.... Nothing stops them, BUT they're not that painful. My back hurts. I have mucusy discharge. The whole 9 yards. I finally gave in and went and got checked yesterday - nothing. Just 1 cm dilated.
I obviously got sent home and told not to come back until the contractions are painful. The nurse said it could be hours, days or weeks. ARGH.
Yup, I had the exact same thing with DD. It started on my EDD, I started losing my MP and had contractions. They were irregular, and then in the middle of the night they started to become regular. I hit the 5-1-1 magic number and went into L&D but was sent home because they weren't doing anything. (They told me to come in when they were "really painful," which is funny because they WERE painful!) After I got home they diminished but I still had irregular strong contractions for the next 5 days. It was awful, I couldn't sleep because I would be woken up by them. I called my OB's office in tears asking for any advice they had for me, and they said to take Benadryl, which didn't work at all.
On the afternoon of 40w5d they started becoming much more painful, and by 8pm that night they were 5 minutes apart. When I went in to L&D I was 3cm and after walking around for an hour was admitted at 4cm. DD arrived the next day.
Hang in there, I know how much it sucks!
My false/early labor lasted 2 weeks... I was admitted into L&D on May 1 and told my baby should arrive that night. She came on May 14... (EDD May 8). I actually went to the hospital 3 total times BEFORE going in for the final birth. Each time my contractions were painful, but I don't remember how frequent they were. Each time the doctor offered to let me stay and start pitocin the next morning, but I was really hoping for a natural birth so I went home each time... it was humiliating.
My problem was that I was doing everything to "induce" labor on my own, so I'd get the contractions really close together but they weren't the real deal because baby wasn't ready. For example, I'd go for a long walk and get the contractions starting, but I wouldn't relax or change positions to see if they went away. Instead, I'd get so excited I would try to keep them coming. Yea... don't recommend that unless you want to be induced when you get to the hospital! Baby will come in his/her own time when they are ready.
Needless to say, I am waiting until I KNOW that it is the real deal and contractions are 3-4 minutes apart this time around.
Not to discourage you, but I have a close friend who had prodromal labor for weeks - contrax 3-5 minutes apart that would stop her in her tracks. She went to L&D a couple times and her cervix wasn't changing at all so they kept sending her home. Her BP eventually sky rocketed because of how stressed her body was and they ended up inducing her. The good news is that because her body had been practicing they really only had to break her water to get the show on the road.
Hopefully baby comes soon!
Need help with high fat food ideas? Chunky Monkey
Thanks so much you all! I feel better knowing I'm not alone, as much as I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It could be worse, it's just frustrating and painful.
They did tell me to go to L&D to get monitored if I wanted to, and honestly, I was a little worried they would start induction talk since I've been at 3cm and 90% for almost 2 weeks. I appreciate the words of wisdom, and I know it will happen eventually. It's just nice hearing that others of you have survived
With my first, I had PTL, prodromal labor, false labor, whatever in the hell you want to call it for almost 10 weeks!
We're talking timeable, 5-7 mins apart for WEEKS on end, at least once a day. I thought I was in labor every single day. It sucked balls.
Then, wouldn't you know it, my water broke at 38 weeks on the dot, and I didn't have a single contraction and pretty much had to be induced, LOL!
Luckily, it went well.
Good luck! I hope it happens for you soon!
I never had it with DS, but I just wanted to say that while you might consider it "false" labor--it most likely IS doing something--dilating/effacing you. So while it's annoying, just remember that the more dilating you do from these contractions during "false" labor, it's less work for you to get done during REAL labor
Yeah, I didn't know if I should put false in or prodromal, since "false" is what most people seem to refer to it as. It doesn't feel false
, and I do hope that it's moving something along so there will be less to get through in the hospital. That's what DH keeps telling me, too!