Lots of contractions, when to go to L&D?

gateship · January 2014

So once again I am having a ton of contractions. They started off only a couple an hour yesterday then by 1:30 in the morning I began to time them, they were pretty consistently 5 minutes apart. Finally around 5:30 in the morning I was about to fall asleep for a few hours due to pure exhaustion. They have been pretty consistent all day (about 5 minutes apart lasting for about 1 minute) but don't seem to be getting more intense, my back is really hurting, I have to go to the bathroom constantly, I am feeling occasional sharp pains/pressure in my vaginal area, and am basically misrable. Now, the reason that I haven't called my midwife yet is because I have been to the hospital a bunch of times because of non-progressive contractions. I was given a shot at one point just to stop the contractions. Then they found that I had a nasty vaginal infection that had been irritating my uterus. Problem solved (or so we thought). Since being on the antibiotics the contractions nearly stopped (I still got a few a day but I just figured I was having BH). I had my 35 week appointment yesterday and was checked to see if the infection was still around and - thankfully it was gone. My midwife did say that my cervix had changed/softened and that I was "fingertip" yesterday but that was perfectly normal for 35 weeks. What would you do? Would you wait it out some more, which is what I have been doing, and see if there are any really clear labor signs? Or would you call/go in and get check out again? I really don't want to "cry wolf" one more time but living an hour away from the hospital makes me a bit nervous about waiting too long. Thanks in advance for your advice and support!

jessib10 · January 2014

I would go. Better safe than sorry.

ktpaladino · January 2014

I wouldn't ever feel bad about putting a call into my doctor or midwife, regardless of how many calls or visits I made in the past. If you're concerned, call. Period. I was always told to stick with the 5-1-1 rule. 5 minutes apart, a minute long, lasting for over an hour. I would still stick to this rule even given your history of non progressive contractions. Your cervix can change quickly so the fact that you were only about 1 cm yesterday really doesn't mean much. If I was feeling miserable I wouldn't care if anyone thought I was being annoying, and I certainly would want to be checked to be safe rather than sorry.

hbrooks88974 · January 2014

I agree, better safe than sorry!

cMichelle0423 · January 2014

Agree!! If there's any chance it could be the real deal, I'd hate to try and wait it out and end up delivering at home lol good luck!

Jspagnuolo · January 2014

I would have called a long time ago.

dunvilles · January 2014

I am sure your midwife/doctor has told you what to look for and when to go in.

When in doubt, call your doctor.

magentawarped · January 2014

I'm always amazed when people don't want to call their doctors. What the heck are you paying them for?

BuckeyeWife07 · January 2014

Just call. If they don't really hurt to where you can't walk/talk through them, I'd doubt that you are in full blown labor. They might just want you to go to the office to get a NST.

gateship · January 2014

So I did call, I got over feeling bad about calling so many times- as one person pointed out, this is what I am paying my doc and midwife for. I was told that I could either come in for a check, which she was very open to doing, OR try taking a Tylenol PM and trying to get some sleep for a bit, I am allergic to Tylenol so she said to just take some benadryl. If I wasn't able to get some sleep and was still too uncomfortable then I was to head straight to the hospital. Thankfully, the benadryl worked, I was able to sleep and while I still feel like crap today, the contractions have slowed down considerably. So I am going to hope and pray that the little one wants to stay in for at least another week and half (until she is 37 weeks), and say that this was just another practice run. Next time, I will get over myself and just call much earlier! Thanks all for the very sound kick in the butt!

KariB509 · January 2014

Agree, better said than sorry. If anything, call. I'd rather go to then hospital 10 times for false labor than have to deliver my baby myself at home.