Have been in 'warm-up labour' for 5 days - help!

[brightsmile]

Hi there, everyone - this is my first post - I hope that someone can help.

I'm 41+1 today - hoping to have a home birth, and have been in warm-up labour (full contractions every 5-20 minutes) since Christmas Day! I'm not able to sleep much at all, had a sweep on Christmas Eve, and another one this morning - my waters haven't broken yet, and I was 1cm dilated this morning....My contractions seem to be fairly random, and haven't settled into a regular pattern, so I feel stuck. Help!

mine stopped and started a lot too, had 6 hours of contractions the day before he was due and then everything stopped for three days, don't worry they do find their way out. But rest up now and eat lots and try not to worry. Soon enough you'll be able to cut your toenails again...

I sympathize with you! I spent 3.5 days in labour 10 weeks ago. The hospital kept sending me home even though i was in agony. Eventually on 3rd day, my waters went at 6.30am and i delivered with forceps assistance at 4.11pm.
I was so tired - you can hardly sleep at all and my contractions were very irregular, so i know how you feel! Keep your chin up and hang in there! Good luck!

Poor you. I wonder if your baby is in a poor position? This can cause a long latent phase and stop/start contractions. You could try kneelingon all fours during contractions and keeping your back parallel to the floor so that if your baby is in an OP position then it would give it the best chances of turning into a more favourable position. Avoid bouncing on a birthing ball if this is the case. Good luck and fingers crossed that things will kick of for real very soon.