Labour? Has this happened to anyone else?

[Pregnantbam]

Hi all.

Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

I’m currently 38 weeks and I had ‘contractions’ for hours in the early hours of this morning and they have stopped now (not completely) because I just had to go to sleep!

I’ve attached how frequent they were and my app even said I was in established labour due to the frequency but the weird thing was is that even when having them, I was like ‘this doesn’t feel like a contraction’ even though I’m a FTM and have NO idea what a contraction feels like but people have said you’ll just know.

For me, it really felt like (TMI) a hot dagger going straight up my foof! The pain would build up, stab me hard, then drift off. I’ve had lightening crotch before and this was WAY more intense! I was actually pacing for the first hour before tracking them because I was in a lot of pain and had no idea what was happening.

I’ve had plenty of BH’s since week 27 so I know what they feel like but these were definitely not BH’s! But they didn’t seem like contractions either (which I’ve been told and read feel like period pains in the beginning and though some of them felt like that, the majority didn’t). I had back ache with them and I could breathe and talk through some but I did have to concentrate on some of them as well. I also had a pressure down below like I wanted to push and I kept going to the loo.

As I said, they’ve died off now but I’m having slight tightenings again, nothing regular but I’m just so confused about what happened?!! It all seemed like it was going ahead and now nothing.

Has anyone else had something similar? What does this mean? Was this just BH’s. I can’t text or call my midwife as she’s sick and self isolating so hence why I’m here haha

Any experiences similar to this would be appreciated!

[NoSquirrels]

It all seemed like it was going ahead and now nothing.

Don’t worry! Lots of people - especially in a first labour, anecdotally - have quite a long first phase of contractions stopping and starting. Try to relax, distract yourself, rest & sleep as much as possible. You’ll need your energy later so try not to stress. Good luck! Exciting.

[Iwalkinmyclothing]

I had to go in for a trace twice before I eventually went in to be induced with ds1 at 42 weeks; both times they picked up what seemed like decent contractions. Like you I'd have said they were neither BHs or labour! In any case, when I finally did go into labour it was very quick (2.5 hours from start to finish) and I always wondered if that was because my body had been practising and getting ready for days and days and daaaaaaaays beforehand.

Good luck!

[Mmsnet101]

The pain you describe is the same as I had with contractions. Not to scare you, but I spent 3 days and nights like this prior to being let into hosp. I'd call up and they'd say I needed to have x number lasting for x amount consistently... But mine never went into that pattern consistently.

Don't be scared of calling your hospital for advice and give them your info. Although if they try to dissuade you from coming in but you are really struggling, you will need to be persistent. Trust your body.

[Raaaa]

Very similar with my first it was on and off over the weekend, I felt like I was in the throws of Labour really painful, breathless then they stopped dead.
I was eventually induced as the contractions didn't come back and I was 2 weeks overdue.