Labour not progressing feeling really despondent

[biggest]

I am 40+2 and spent all night on the labour ward thinking I was properly in labour last night. I posted yesterday about contractions coming closer and to my mind pretty strong but 2 exams later I am home again! This is my second birth but first was induced so I am a newbie to spontaneous labour.
So now I am home, back to a big contraction every 6-8 minutes, no sleep and feel totally depressed. I just want to rest for a while but can't sleep longer than those 6 mins and dh is like a zombie. How on earth will we cope when real thing happens?

Run a nice deep bath and get in there and stay there for as long as you can....put some towels around the side of the bath so you can rest your head and dose.
Have another 6 baths or more if needed.
You WILL get there and you need to try and get rid of those negative thoughts in your head and start a mantra or something to say to yourself "I can and I will...."
Totally shake your body out after each contraction to as to keep your muscles nice and soft, keep your mouth nice and loose and open too.
You will get there!!!!
Send DH to bed after he has got you stocked up with drinks and snacks.

What about a hot water bottle too?

Not sure if this will make you feel better or worse, but I had Dc2 3 weeks ago - he finally turned up after a week of on/off contractions between 5 and 10 minutes. I was at my wits end with lack of sleep and discomfort.

Good news is that on my due date I woke up with contractions 3 minutes apart and he was here within 2 hours. All 11lb 3oz of him!

All the work you're doing now really is doing some good although it won't feel like it. Good luck!

Thanks for support! I am having such a downer as first birth was so horrible I have convinced myself I am just not made for childbirth daft I know.
Exam showed cervix was softening so I know somethig is happening but i think the strength of contractions especially when walking around has shocked me. Went straight for epidural first time!

Just wishing you well, and hope baby makes debut soon!

Still no news and contractions are so erratic now hardly worth timing them.
I didn't get any sleep last night either so feel exhausted and sick today just want to lie here and feel sorry for myself. Is there anything else I can do to keep things moving?
Worried becasue this is a big baby and I am not sure position is great either

hiya,

keep on the move as much as possible! I totally understand wanting to lie down and feel sorry for yourself. I have also been on the receiving end of people telling me to stay active and I refused, but that only made the labour last longer. Third labour I discovered how much being upright REALLY REALLY helps. Also, try and adopt a 'bring it on' attitude, embrace each contraction.

Every contraction helps, so you are slowly but surely getting there. reread any or all of the birthing books you have, go for a drive, just do things to pass the time if you can't sleep. I read a book sat on a birthing ball in my last labour with DH rubbing my back, for about 7 hours. When I couldn't remember the bit I had read before the last contraction I knew things were getting serious.

good luck

Biggest, if I were you ~I would go to bed. Get as much sleep as you can, while you can. When active labour kicks in (and it will!) you wont be able to sleep, and you sound knackered!
Then, after a few hours kip, have a meal of som e kind. Go for a walk, walk with one foot on and one foot off the pavement, then go back on the other side.Fast circles on the birth ball, one way for 10 mins, then the other way, dancing (especially belly dancing) is good.
Get a tens machine on too, that might help.
Try all the Spinning babies techniques-
www.spinningbabies.com/techniques/during-labor
More info here-
www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/birth/whatlabor/index.php
www.birthingnaturally.net/birth/plabor.html
Good luck!
Selina x

Massive sympathy to you. I also had this with my second birth in April - it went on for 2-3 days and was awful, could not sleep at all as contractions were too close together and too painful but not getting more frequent. What I did wrong was hide from the pain and not get active earlier. When I went to hospital the night before she was born the mw said, now what you need to do is get walking around to get these contractions going. I was so afraid of the pain I had been resting as much as possible and getting DH to massage me. I was knackered too! But after she said this (I was 3cm dilated at this point which is about 1 more cm then I think you expect in a multip) I got my hot water bottle and paced the tea room at delivery suite from 1am until 4am until I thought I was going to faint. But it DID get the labour moving and DD was born at 5.30. Maybe if you have been doing this then try and rest ... but I know that's hard! Best of luck - I really feel for you and remember it exactly!

PS My DH was like a zombie too and feeling very ill by the time we were at hospital (unrelated I think) - I honestly did feel for him and I know that sounds ridiculous!

Yay, DD is here!
After thinking for three days that my contractions were achieving bu**er all, I went from 6 mins apart to constant and needing to push in about half an hour and just about made it to hospital in time to deliver sans pain relief an 8lb 15 little girl just after midnight.
Home already, feel really euphoric, if more than a little freaked by how close I was to giving birth in Camden!

Well done Biggest - congrats to you all...... how fantastic! x

Congratulations!Well done! Bet that's a relief...!

I mean it this time - never again!

Congratulations biggest - how brilliant to have such a lovely speedy delivery after everything that you were worried about from last time.

I've been looking out for your announcement and so glad it all went to plan, even if the latent phase was a bit too long.