Having painful contractions 10 mins apart BUT......

[katierocket]

I've been having them since 8.30pm last night and it's driving me mad. I wish they'd either go away or turn into 'established' labour. Really painful so I can't sleep.

Second baby so really didn't expect a huge period of contractions but with nothing happening.

Anyone else have this with a 2nd labour? Don't know what to do with myself. (spoken to hospital but not all that much they can do until the contractions get closer together)

thanks preggers and UCM, will just have to see what happens I guess.

preggers - were the days of contractions beforehand painful? were you able to sleep? did they suddenly just get closer together? (the contractions I mean)

Sounds tough KatieR, have exp this with all mine, midwives said I have a very long 'latent' (1st stage). But once I reached active labour, ie 3cm+ things always progressed very quickly as these contractions in the 1st stage had made the cervix so nice and stretchy & spongey so I imagine the same for you. My longest at this stage you're on was 22 hours with my first, after that averaging at about 18 hours. Midwives told me sometimes this can happen too if baby is in slightly off perfect position so is attempting to 're-dock' if you like.... was certainly true for 2 of mine as one had hand by ear and one had hand on head..... naughtly babies... all delivered fine with no complications. Hth, good luck.
If you feel like you're worried or not coping on your own and need midwife support, go in go in. They can monitor baby and see how he/she is coping with things to put your mind at rest. Only thing I can think of which could be wrong, although unlikely I'm sure, is if cord was wrapped around baby and hindering gravity's progress on cervix. Monitoring of baby's heartbeat would help to tell if there were any problems such as this. Good luck and looking forward to your birth announcement soon!

thanks malady - I did have this with DS but it was slightly different in that it was more backache labour than front contractions. (it went on for days though and was really tiring) INteresting about your comments re: the baby's position as DS was never engaged right up until labour and was back to back - (also his head ended up getting stuck so maybe that was some of it).

They've become even more irregular now.

Hi all, i am new to this site today but wanted to share my experience. Although was my first child i was in labour from Sunday and finally had him by C section on Thursday, little bugger was warm and cosy and tied down by cord.

KR- Would go get checked for piece of mind.

Roast pork dinner made it all happen on the sunday, maybe you should try to eat!!!!

there is not neccesarily something wrong, if labour is taking a while to kick in, although if you are concerned, then do get checked out

OP babies can mean a slower irregular start to labour, and you can have plenty of niggles and BH before it kicks off properly

are you still getting movements KatieR?

I had long 'pre-labours' with both ds1 (40h from first contraction to 3cm, then 8h till baby) and dd (24h from first contraction to everything suddenly getting really strong and fast, then 2-3h till baby). I walked, used TENS and had baths through all of this pre-labour. And, like you, these were proper strong contractions. Within a few hours of the contractions starting I couldn't possibly have slept, and needed to breathe and groan through them. With dd they petered out after about 10h. I went for a walk and they started up again after about 45mins (about 3-4h after they had stopped).

With both I went to hospital when I felt I coulnd't cope at home any more and would need something stronger. With ds1 I was only 2cm (ie "You're not yet in labour" Don't %$!*!$%!ing tell me that after 24h of strong, painful contractions 7mins apart! ), but with dd I somehow knew I was much further along, and was ready to push before they'd even got around to examine me. I was much more in tune with my body and aware of what was going on inside than I had been the first time, and when things really started happening I recognised it.

Hope things go well for you! Relax, eat, drink, go to the loo, and keep mobile. Soon you'll be meeting him or her!

Yes - still feeling lots of movements. |wonder if my body is just not that efficient at this stage! thanks for sharing your story prettycandles.

actually come to think of it, my baby was op, so that would make sence.
katie, yes I had contractions for abut 36 hours which I was sure were the real thing, then my waters went and I had another 12 hours before the real ones kicked in.
I managed to not think about it for the first 24 hours ish but when my waters went I wanted that baby now!

It's a lovely stage to be at; desperately wanting the labour to start, I haven't reached that stage yet (Im on my third and only 6 months but am still scared stiff!)

will be looking out for you on the birth announcements threads!

We....elll, KR are you still having them?

i found a shower in my labour more helpful than a bath. although i was told to go in a bath as hot as i could stand to speed things up so who knows .. i think if you have one too early in it slows things down but after a certain point it speeds this up.