How long did you wait?

StephenW4

For those who have had LOs already, how long did you wait before heading to the hospital? 

I've been having mild to intense contractions consistently since yesterday morning. They've been anywhere between 4 and 15 minutes apart, but always lasting between 40 seconds and 1 minute.   I have a high pain tolerance, so I find it hard to believe the nurse who told me I'd be "screaming in pain" when it was time to go to the hospital.  My contractions today are definitely catching my attention and making me slow down considerably, but I don't know if it's enough for me to make the trip out to the hospital.

What is everyone else's experience? Did you "just know" when it was time, or was there a time threshold that you set for yourself? 

Discordia1030

When my contractions started, they were already 2-3 mins apart, lasting about a minute each. I waited an hour to see what would happen, even though I knew I was in active labor. About an hour and a half after they started, my water broke and the intensity kicked up even more. I wasn't screaming in pain at that point but it was definitely difficult to talk and walk through them. We left for the hospital about half an hour later. 

snicksnack

I ended up induced last time.  My doc. told me the rule is 3 to 5 minutes apart for an hour with first and call her office first before coming in.  This time she said if it is during the day call at 5 to 10 minutes because she can bring me and check before deciding to go to hospital and second babies sometimes come faster she said at night go back to the 5 minute rule and call her office first.

ASKSAK

A little bit of back story: I had already been in L&D twice before I went into labor. Once for bp scare and once for being extremely sick and dehydrated.  So by the time I went into labor I was  READY!

 I had that, I just know feeling.  I woke up that morning was fine then I got sick and started feeling crampy.  I can't say that what I was feeling were full blown contractions, but I just knew I felt "different".  I called my dr. told him what was going on and he said to come in to get monitored.  He didn't think I was in labor, but I was stubborn being 2 days overdue.  They were about to send me home after a couple of hours being monitored then all of a sudden full blown contractions started.  They weren't "screaming in pain" contractions, but definitely timeable ones.  

 I'd call and talk to your Dr. to see what they say.  

amber323

My MW says to head in when they are three minutes apart, and if it takes you less than ten minutes to get to the car then you are going in too early.

Good luck!

kdjudd

My contractions were 2 minutes apart for about 4-5 hours before I actually went in. Like you, I have a high pain tolerance and I was waiting for them to get really bad. Basically it came to the point where I was sick of wondering and I just went in to see if I was in labor! I was! Good luck. I hope this is the real thing for you!  

SummerMama12

With my DS, my water broke and we went in about an hour later, after we spoke with the L&D dept. they wanted us to come in then. And I never once screamed in pain during labor. I hate when people assume all laboring moms are going to be freaking the heck out.  I cried once, but it was out of frustration, not pain. It all depends on your tolerance and how you process pain mentally. 

cchill01

amber323:

My MW says to head in when they are three minutes apart, and if it takes you less than ten minutes to get to the car then you are going in too early.

LOL, I like this one. 

And to the OP, when you are in full blown labor, you will most likely be screaming, panting, breathing very hard or grunting in pain.  I think labor voids all claims of "high pain tolerance."

If you're still able to converse and do things around the house, you're probably not ready to head in.  But, I'm personally trying to spend as little time as possible in the hospital, so I plan to wait.