Scared of ignoring labor?

holly321 · July 2012

With DD, I was in prodromal labor for a very very long time. When my OB sent me to the hospital, for leaking something? (water was still completely intact) I was almost 6cm already.

I have a fear that I am going to ignore labor, and not make it to the hospital on time! There were several nights, I would be having contractions very regular, but just ignored it, because it happened all the time. Even when I had my water broke, and was "in labor" I didn't quite realize it for a while. My mom was laughing at me, because I could not figure out why I was so "crampy" (in my defense, at this point I knew baby was breech, so I was getting a csection, I completely forgot about the labor part...)

I guess my point is, the contractions I had just felt like really bad cramps, and I am afraid I am not going to know when it is real, and when it isn't. For those who have been there, did you know for sure when it was time?

lylahlove · July 2012

You can't ignore active labor. Trust me.

I was in pre-labor for days and had the same concern...that I was going to have the baby on the toilet or something.

Rynleigh · July 2012

lylahlove:
You can't ignore active labor. Trust me.
I was in pre-labor for days and had the same concern...that I was going to have the baby on the toilet or something.

Oh, I 100% beg to differ.

With my first, my water broke but I didn't have any contractions. Had to be induced and all that jazz....

but with my SECOND pregnancy....

My labor was just like you describe, OP - obnoxious menstrual-like cramps. They didn't "hurt" so much as they were "annoying". I called my doctor about five times on the day I went into labor, just because I thought it was weird to have those kinds of cramps so often. She kept telling me "If it's labor, you'll know it. Call me when it hurts".

I finally said f-you to the doctor about 13hrs after my first phone call to her, and went in to the hospital to be checked - I was in active labor and admitted immediately. It was another two hours before I finally went from a 2 to a 10 on pain - they did my epidural, my water broke, and three hrs later I gave birth.

So, no. If you have a high pain threshold, you don't necessarily know until very late in the game. So I sympathize with the OP completely.

What I would suggest is that you keep a good timing system down. If you are getting braxton hicks earlier in the pregnancy, tell your doc about it and see if they want you to rest more, increase your water, etc. The little stuff like that can reduce your number of false alarms, and make it easier to notice when those little cramps come on more frequently. If you have several hours of increasingly close together discomfort cramps, go in and get checked. You'll be just fine

marshmallows · July 2012

Just try to pay attention to how you feel as it gets closer. When I went into labor it started small and then intensified to what I thought were intense cramps. But that was nothing!

Mine took forever but some people dont have very long labors. I was told not to go to the hospital until it got hard to "breathe" through them. But I went anyway and came back home since I wasn't progressing much. I guess I'm trying to say that you'll probably "know" when it's really time. I went med free though so I needed to labor as much as I could at home.

holly321 · July 2012

lylahlove:
You can't ignore active labor. Trust me.
I was in pre-labor for days and had the same concern...that I was going to have the baby on the toilet or something.

I hope you are right, but I was in active labor, for over an hour, and ignored it!

lylahlove · July 2012

Rynleigh:
lylahlove:
You can't ignore active labor. Trust me.
I was in pre-labor for days and had the same concern...that I was going to have the baby on the toilet or something.

Oh, I 100% beg to differ.
With my first, my water broke but I didn't have any contractions. Had to be induced and all that jazz....
but with my SECOND pregnancy....
My labor was just like you describe, OP - obnoxious menstrual-like cramps. They didn't "hurt" so much as they were "annoying". I called my doctor about five times on the day I went into labor, just because I thought it was weird to have those kinds of cramps so often. She kept telling me "If it's labor, you'll know it. Call me when it hurts".

I finally said f-you to the doctor about 13hrs after my first phone call to her, and went in to the hospital to be checked - I was in active labor and admitted immediately. It was another two hours before I finally went from a 2 to a 10 on pain - they did my epidural, my water broke, and three hrs later I gave birth.
So, no. If you have a high pain threshold, you don't necessarily know until very late in the game. So I sympathize with the OP completely.
What I would suggest is that you keep a good timing system down. If you are getting braxton hicks earlier in the pregnancy, tell your doc about it and see if they want you to rest more, increase your water, etc. The little stuff like that can reduce your number of false alarms, and make it easier to notice when those little cramps come on more frequently. If you have several hours of increasingly close together discomfort cramps, go in and get checked. You'll be just fine

I'm confused - you did get to a 10 on the pain scale and still had 3 hours before you gave birth. So you couldn't have ignored that pain, right? I wasn't saying that everyone is at a 10 for their entire labor, but that eventually, you will reach a point you can't ignore.

Rynleigh · July 2012

lylahlove:
I'm confused - you did get to a 10 on the pain scale and still had 3 hours before you gave birth. So you couldn't have ignored that pain, right? I wasn't saying that everyone is at a 10 for their entire labor, but that eventually, you will reach a point you can't ignore.

Yes, but I'd been in active labor for several hours prior to feeling any noticeable pain - the only reason I'd even called or gone in was because the discomfort I'd had all day was something I could time and it was the same day as my due date - after being admitted, laid onto a bed, checked, etc, I eventually went from a discomfort that I could have easily ignored were it not for anxiety all the way to debilitating pain. Three hours is not a lot of time to get your stuff together, go to the hospital, get admitted, and get your OB/midwife on site for delivery.. while I might not have ended up having my child on the living room floor, I still see generous room for calling 3hrs insufficient warning if you don't know what to look for in the hours prior... the OP's concern lays in not knowing whether or not it's "real" and when to take it seriously. Not knowing if it's real or not until those last few hours is a seriously stressful thing.

wifeofadam · July 2012

I was prodromal with #2 for nearly a month. Every night the contractions got timeable and intense, but would ease as soon as I went to bed. Same thing with #3, except it only lasted a few weeks.

When the real thing happened, there was no questioning it. Despite the fact that the false labor was painful, it paled in comparison to the real thing. You'll know when it's real.

sararn2004 · July 2012

Rynleigh:

lylahlove:

I'm confused - you did get to a 10 on the pain scale and still had 3 hours before you gave birth. So you couldn't have ignored that pain, right? I wasn't saying that everyone is at a 10 for their entire labor, but that eventually, you will reach a point you can't ignore.

Yes, but I'd been in active labor for several hours prior to feeling any noticeable pain - the only reason I'd even called or gone in was because the discomfort I'd had all day was something I could time and it was the same day as my due date - after being admitted, laid onto a bed, checked, etc, I eventually went from a discomfort that I could have easily ignored were it not for anxiety all the way to debilitating pain. Three hours is not a lot of time to get your stuff together, go to the hospital, get admitted, and get your OB/midwife on site for delivery.. while I might not have ended up having my child on the living room floor, I still see generous room for calling 3hrs insufficient warning if you don't know what to look for in the hours prior... the OP's concern lays in not knowing whether or not it's "real" and when to take it seriously. Not knowing if it's real or not until those last few hours is a seriously stressful thing.

I have to agree with not knowing if you're in labor. With my first I was expecting pain/cramps in my abd, but all I felt was back pain. The back pain was getting worse and the only thing that made me think labor is that my mom insisted that it was. Even when we called hospital the OB nurses were acting like it probably wasn't saying "well, if she gets here and isn't at least dialated to 4 she gets sent back home." Finally we went in and I was dialated to 7 cm, too late for an epidural they said...too bad cuz it was WONDERFUL for my 2nd. If it wasn't for my mom I'd have been birthing in the living room I"m sure.

My second, my water broke with no contractions and i had to have pitocin.

krissywave · July 2012

My suggestion would be to pay attention to what yoru body is telling you. if you keep getting this :annoying" cramps every x mins. They always coming about the same about of time and are lasting. I would calll your Dr or go to L&D. Just pay attention to how ofton they come and how long they last

nettie27 · July 2012

Rynleigh:
lylahlove:
I'm confused - you did get to a 10 on the pain scale and still had 3 hours before you gave birth. So you couldn't have ignored that pain, right? I wasn't saying that everyone is at a 10 for their entire labor, but that eventually, you will reach a point you can't ignore.
Yes, but I'd been in active labor for several hours prior to feeling any noticeable pain - the only reason I'd even called or gone in was because the discomfort I'd had all day was something I could time and it was the same day as my due date - after being admitted, laid onto a bed, checked, etc, I eventually went from a discomfort that I could have easily ignored were it not for anxiety all the way to debilitating pain. Three hours is not a lot of time to get your stuff together, go to the hospital, get admitted, and get your OB/midwife on site for delivery.. while I might not have ended up having my child on the living room floor, I still see generous room for calling 3hrs insufficient warning if you don't know what to look for in the hours prior... the OP's concern lays in not knowing whether or not it's "real" and when to take it seriously. Not knowing if it's real or not until those last few hours is a seriously stressful thing.

You're right 3 hours is stressful. But really, all you REALLY need is your vagina at the hospital to deliver the baby. All the "stuff" isn't necessary. Someone can get that for you after the baby comes.

May i ask how far you were dialated when you got to the hospital? I consider myself having a high threshold for pain, but i could certainly tell when one thing hurt and when it really started hurting. Like Lylalove said, you're not at a 10 the entire time you are in labor. For me, it didn't really start hurting like a "10" until i was 8 centimeters dialated.

So OP, I think if you just pay close attention to the differences your body is taking, you should know when you need to get to the hospital! Good luck ladies.

southrnbellmeg7 · July 2012

I can see why you're nervous about that situation. With my DD I was in active labor and had no idea, I went in for my induction that morning & was just ignoring the cramps not even realizing they were 3-5 mins apart. I had DD 3 hours later.

With my DS I knew though, I had such bad back labor pains and I couldn't walk anymore.

I'm terrified I'm going to go into labor and not have enough time to make it the hospital which is a 15 min drive (given no traffic), since my last labor was so quick.

Hopefully with this PG your labor contractions will be much more noticeable & you'll definitely be able to distinguish them from annoying cramps. If anything when the time gets closer, time your cramps to make sure that what you're feeling is or isn't active labor contractions.

emizer · July 2012

I was 7 cm when I got to the hospital because I kept telling myself it was false labor and it would stop. 2 days before I had contractions every 8-10 min for about 4 hours and then I took a nap and it stopped. I tried to time them the second time but they were completely irregular anywhere from 1 to 8 min. The reason I went to the hospital was because the pain got worse throughout the day.

I definitely fear ignoring labor again because I had DS roughly 12 hrs after my ontractions started, they say the second comes faster. (I realize this isn't guaranteed). I also fear it because of my loss since we don't know what caused it. If I had ptl at 17 wks then I'm just really scared.

ckalm5 · July 2012

For me the only time my labor pains were horrible was when my water broke and everytime I have had my kids within the hour of that happening.

Since the labor and delivery unit closed down at the hospital I usully go to I will have to drive an hour for this one and that makes me a little nervous because my last labor I didn't feel like I was even in labor until I was at 8 or 9 cm.

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