How Long for Contractions to Speed Up to 5 Mins Apart?

kelly2983

Hi Ladies,

We went to L&D last night because my underwear kept getting really wet while I was sleeping & I thought I might be having a slow leak. Turns out it was just my mucus plug/discharge.

Anyway, I've been having really bad contractions since about 6am - initially about 6-8 mins apart and now they're about 8-10 mins apart. My mom lives 2 hours away & wants to know when to head up here. How long after contractions start does it take for the time to get to about 5 minutes apart for an hour? That's when my doctor said to head to the hospital. I'm sure no one has an exact answer - just looking for any other Moms experiences with this. Thanks

wallace101610

At my NST on Tuesday I was 2 cm and 70% and my contractions were 6-8 minutes apart. I am still pregnant. I have had contractions on and off for the past few days, but I haven't even timed any yet.

Sporkmoostipe

You're not going to like me..:( 

I started having contractions around 34 weeks. They became more consistent at the end of week 36. At the beginning of week 37 I lost my mucus plug (Again), that night I started having really consistent contractions, but they never went to 5 minutes. It was always like 8-20 minutes apart. Went to L & D that Wednesday with very little dilation (couldn't take the pain of contractions anymore), Thursday my water broke and then Friday in the very early AM, I had my little guy. While having basically a full week of consistent contractions (that had no pattern) was torture, once my water broke, it was literally 12 hours after that that he was born. 

But I also on the other hand know people who had contractions like that for a few hours and it started becoming more of a consistent pattern. It's really a crap shoot.  

Here's to hoping for quick progression (but not too quick so your mom can get to you first!)  

HarperK

It seems to vary all over the place.

For me, I had mild contractions starting around 9 in the morning on the day I delivered. They were still easy to ignore for about 2 - 3 hours after that. They started really ramping up around 1 in the afternoon, and by 2 - 2:30 PM they were 5 minutes apart. We headed to the hospital a little after 3.

 

kelly2983

Sporkmoostipe:

You're not going to like me..:( 

I started having contractions around 34 weeks. They became more consistent at the end of week 36. At the beginning of week 37 I lost my mucus plug (Again), that night I started having really consistent contractions, but they never went to 5 minutes. It was always like 8-20 minutes apart. Went to L & D that Wednesday with very little dilation (couldn't take the pain of contractions anymore), Thursday my water broke and then Friday in the very early AM, I had my little guy. While having basically a full week of consistent contractions (that had no pattern) was torture, once my water broke, it was literally 12 hours after that that he was born. 

But I also on the other hand know people who had contractions like that for a few hours and it started becoming more of a consistent pattern. It's really a crap shoot.  

Here's to hoping for quick progression (but not too quick so your mom can get to you first!)  

Ok - that definitely helps. I'm going to tell her that we need to wait until they're 5 mins apart for an hour before she leaves. I don't want her to just wait around for a few days....I really appreciate your feedback!!