how many cm dilated were you when you got to hospital?

[lennon80]

Hi there,

I am just wondering when women first presented at hospital (ie couldnt cope dealing with the pain at home) when you were examined how many cm dilated were you.

It seems that labour is so varied that some women present at all different stages but just curious to know so when I go in I know if it is usual to present at two cm or six cm etc

Also for anyone who had an epidural how many cm were you when you had it?

Thanks

no internal is obligatory and you are allowed to refuse.

i didn't have a problem with this but somoe people will and do

Internals could break your waters which you do not want to happen early in labour as the waters act as a cushion and make the contractions less painful.
Nothing is obligatory if you don't want someone's hand up your fanny you say so

Oh yes, driving to hospital was horrible and I was convinced I was going to have DD in the car but didn't mention it to DH because I thought he might panic.

lisa, I specifically asked not to have any internals unless necessary because I just didn't want to be messed about with. I wanted to do it at my own pace and not have a benchmark to aim for when there was nothing |I could do about it, IYSWIM. The only examination I had was when I started mooing and bellowing and the midwife asked if I wanted to push. At that point she asked if she could examine me and found I was fully dilated. She'd just told DH we might be in for the long haul and he'd gone off to the car park to text people....

That's interesting thank you. See I had heard somewhere that internals could start it all off and having had 5 sections already and a threatened prem labour now ( at 31 weeks) I was worried about an internal starting it off ( which would be life threatingin for me as I can't labour due to scar). They reassured me that it wouldnt' start off labour and that they must know in case I was in lavour which makes sense too as they 'd then need to section straight away.

They kept trying to do thte speculum exam to see my cervix - the pain of this nearly sent me through the roof anmd they made me sign something saying I was refusing this test as I eventuyally had to refuse.

After many hours of utterly excruciating labour I made it to hospital to find I was only 2cm each time. I seem to suck at contracting.

I think in your case, lisa, you should just make sure that anyone asking to do an internal is aware of your history so they don't rummage about too enthusiastically. God, I would have hated a speculum in pregnancy. Poor you. Hope you feel better now.

Internals, sweeps, generally poking around in that area won't start anything off I wouldn't think, isn't it a hormone released from the brain that the baby is cooked that starts actual labour ? I'm sure that's the case.

8cm. had been in active labour for few hours. transition spent in a hallway waiting for a room. baby out 5 hours later (2 long hours of pushing...).

they turned me away twice before (at 1cm and 3cm)

mamatomany..I am not sure you know. When I went to my consultant he offered me an internal to check my cervix was still closed (I was having really bad contractions and they thought I was in Labour. When he offered it he said, 'you have to understand that we dont like to do this as often it can start things moving if we poke around too much'. It was blooming agony and I had a lot of blood afterwards (then terrified it was a show) and I really wished I hadnt agreed to it. I wouldnt have one again unless I was really sure the benefits outweighed the risks.

Ps it is hormonal though that starts the labour but they do membrane sweeps sometimes on the cervix and that seems to trigger the hormones.

Sounds like all the more reason to keep your legs shut until you can nearly see the head

Thanks Horton and glad I'm not alone in hating internals

I was 3-4cm and luckily they didn't send me home. I'd been having regular contractions for about 9 hours by then, and they were very frequent and strong. I felt like i couldn't cope with the pain any more, but in fact once i was in a room and had had some co-codamol I managed to hold off on the gas and air for another couple of hours.

took about 21 hours from 3-4cm until they eventually yanked him out with forceps though!

good luck, op. try to stay at home until you really can't stand it at home any more, but at least if you go in and get examined you'll know where you stand.

I got to hosp at 7cm. Was pretty grim at home with contractions but was pleased to find I'd done a lot of it on my own with no pain relief, wasn't too awful. Got to 10cm in next hour. Then all stopped....had syntocin drip to get it going again, DD born 12 hrs later with just gas and air.

Thanks woodlands..I think for me the pain will be worse when in the hospital so I plan to stick it out at home for as long as I can.

stressheaeric That must have been a nightmare..what happens when it stops at 10cm..are you just sat in agony?

ds1 was in hospital already as induced. had epidural as soon as i was 3cm which had took ages and already been in a lot of pain

ds2 got to hosp @ 8.5cm just had gas and air

Don't know how far dilated I was - but when they finally got round to checking (about 45 mins after I went in) I was 9cm - had her 45 mins later. MW didn't think I was in established labour, and just wanted to check me before she went off shift. Just managed to get into delivery room before I started pushing.

Very similar here. Got to hospital with contractions coming thick and fast. MW got me started on g&a, went out to do paperwork before examining me and came running back in 2 mins later when I started screaming. DD was born 20 minutes later. I guess I must have been just about fully dilated, but then those last couple of contractions were massive so maybe I did 3 or 4 cms in 2 contractions. Who knows?

First time around was so so different. I couldn't cope with the pain at home, got to hospital and I was 2 cms. It took another few hours to get to 6 cms and the rest of my labour from 6 cms to pushing felt pretty much like those last two contractions with DD.

As for when to go in, it really depends how far you are from the hospital. It took us 45 mins to get there. It scares me that if we'd left it any later - and I didn't feel I had to go when we left - DD might have been born in the car!

10cm

But had been pushing at home for 6hrs before I transferred in. Was in hospital for another couple of hours where they tried to get dd out but no coconut. Had a spinal and an emergency cs.

Went to hospital because they told me to come in as contractions were about 5 mins apart. Waited for 45 mins in the waiting room, vomited copiously. Was inspected by a very annoying obstracian. Was sent home having been told I was only 2cm and 'could I make less noise'. Went home. Had hot bath and a paracetamol. Pushing contractions started. Called Ambulance. Back at hospital less than an hour after I'd left at 8cm dilated. Obstracian didn't apologies for sending me home. Grrrr. DS born 4 hours after second admission to hospital.

No epidural - just gas and air in Ambulance/Hospital.

ds1, 9cm, born 20 mins later.

ds2, 5cm (went to hospital at the first twinge, was so scared of giving birth in the car), born 5 hours later.

My MW told me that dilation can occur very quickly, especially after a long pre-labour. I don't know why they still insist on dismissing 2 or 3 cms. They must have seen many cases like yours Knitter, but they don't learn!

With DS, 3cm (I think) went home. Came back later that day and was 9cm.

With DD, said on here I was going in and I'd cry if I was 2cm. I was 2cm, I had a sweep and then a cry in the lift. Got back home, DH went to bed and I woke him 40mins later to ask him to take me back to hospital. By the time I got there I was 10cm.