What is going on with my labour? Any pros out there??

[oysterpots]

Well my contractions started at 3am Monday morning and steadily progressed until about midday. Then they stopped until around 9pm and went on throughout the night until about midday today (meaning I had no sleep ) and now I'm getting sporadic irregular contractions and feeling like I haven't progressed at all.

Don't really know what to do, as when I called the midwife at 11 this morning they were lasting around a minute and coming every 4-5 minutes and I really thought it was the real thing. She told me to call again when I felt I couldn't cope without her help. I took a bath at midday, then went to bed for an hour during which I was contracting every 3 minutes or so, therefore not getting any sleep to speak of.

Then I got up and they stopped. Now I just feel absolutely knackered and really can't cope with the idea of another sleepless night of contractions if they're just going to stop again during the day.

What's going on??

Try to have a nap while your contractions have stopped so that you will have energy when they start again. Good luck, I'm sure it won't be long now

Oysterpots. How are you doing now? Have you had a rest?, Have things started again?

Your body is preparing, sometimes it needs time to practice what it is supposed to be doing? Established Labour very rarely just stops. It will continue when it is ready. Try to rest if you can, eat well and drink lots, you are preparing for what will happen you will both meet very soon. If you are at all concerned about you or your baby's movements then call you MW again.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

BTW I'm not a pro but I hope it helps.

Oh I forgot;

I had a few contractions about 10mins apart on the Monday evening. They stopped when I went to bed. I had the same on the Tuesday evening and a few strongish ones throughout Tuesday night. I didn't actually admit I was in Labour until they were 6mins apart lasting a minute and hurting alot. That was at about 5.30pm on the Wednesday. Dd2 was born at 9.50pm that night.

haven't got much to add apart from with DS3's labour (which was the 1st time I've ever started contracting on my own lol) I never had any contractions that were much longer than 30-40 seconds - some were as short as 25 seconds (but boy did they hurt!).

Thanks for your advice everyone.

My parents and brother came round this afternoon and we sat in the sunshine in the garden, and then went for a walk. Contractions picked up a bit but nothing like they had been so I am taking your advice - that my body isn't ready - and just biding my time and pottering.

Distractions really seem to help, my dh is making me lots of pasta to fuel me for what might be coming tomorrow, and then I intend to doze in front of the telly. Baby will come when ready.

I feel a lot calmer than I did earlier - spent most of the day sobbing, partly through the tiredness but also partly because I am scared that a. I will die in childbirth, b. the baby will die, c. there will be something wrong with the baby, or d. I won't be able to tolerate the pain. Working through my demons seems to have helped with the anxiety and now I have stopped shaking and can eat without feeling sick.

Oh dear, no wonder my body won't let me go into established labour!

hey matey, i'm so there with what your going through, I was the same, although I won't tell you how long they lasted. My hubby had to walk the streets with me all hours of morning as so couldn't sleep. Just make sure you rest when you can and eat to keep your energy levels up. Try to relax and go with it, I had my breathing down to a fine art with all the practice. You'll soon be cuddling your little angel and these days will be forgotten.

God bless you both!