nine days overdue and THINK this is it!

[miniegg]

hmm, suspect i am posting to myself here as it's 2.39am and everyone will be asleep! still, it's something to do to keep my mind off the pain!
i'm really excited as finally at 41+1 i think things are starting to happen!! this is my first baby and I can't wait to meet the LO!
things started off with bad period type pains around 10pm this evening but I didn't get too excited about that as it happened a couple of days ago and came to nothing.
that went on for a bit and at one point, when my bladder was full (sorry, TMI alert!)I could barely walk to the toilet, but as soon as i'd been the pain eased off.
went to bed hoping it could really be the start of things and got about an hour and a half sleep before I started getting contractions.
Couldn't get back to sleep so am now on mumsnet and trying to time my contractions!
DH is gently snoring next door and I don't think i should wake him up as he will panic and there's not much he can do anyway! no point in us both being knackered and am coping okay on my own for now. the contractions are
irregular and not very long - very between about 28 seconds and 50 seconds; for the last half hour they've been between 6 mins and 3.5mins apart.
REALLY hope this isn't a false alarm!
anyone awake?

Hi - I couldn't lie down for any of my contractions either. Or sit. Walked the bloody corridor of hosp ALL day. Was absolutely shattered by the end. This after 2 nights of no sleep.

Good joke Leati!

Minniegg - bouncing up an down (gently!!) on the ball is supposed to help the cervix (seem to remember this advice from a labour thread the other day!).

Great joke Leati.

Fingers crossed for you miniegg. Contractionmaster.com sounds like a great idea. I wrote mine in a little notebook with increasingly spidery writing until they just tailed off altogether!

Birth balls are great, sitting on yours should help you and baby along nicely . Not that I sat on mine of course, I just lay on the sofa thinking "go away" (instead of positive thoughts and flowing waves like I was supposed to )

Hi Miniegg

I just gave my little one a bath. I ended up more wet than her. How are things going?

hi again
just went and lay down for a while. i was breathing through the contractions quite well but they're getting stronger now. just running a bath and about to call the doula and see what she says....

Sounds like the real thing. Yeaahhhh.

yeah, i'm pretty confident it is. the contractions are pretty ouch.sat in the bath for ages and am now like a withered prune with mega frizzy hair from the steam. oh joy! i dont want to look too gross throughout all this but it's not exactly worth getting worked up about in the grand scheme of things!

miniegg

You are not going to give a fig what you like in a little while. I suggest putting your hair up.

it's up. with a lurrvely sweatband pinning it back! you're right. i don't care!

miniegg

Are you nearly ready to leave?

i just rang the doula and she seems to think i should go on at home. she says I sound calm and in control and that it's "early" labour. perhaps i should ring hospital for a second opinion? i'm quite happy here, if happy's the right word! obviously not happy during contractions but coping with them fine!
i'm totally inexperienced as this is my first baby etc but i do trust the doula. what do others think?
i'm not looking forward to the journey to hospital and would hate to be told to go home again.

miniegg

The problem is I live in the US. I am pretty sure here they wouldn't send you home but I don't know what the policy is there. It has been five hrs since you first posted that it started. It seems like a while to me. I would get a second opinion.

thanks. i suspect your healthcare system is a lot better than ours (except ours is FREE!)
The hospitals in London in general are pretty overstretched and everyone advises avoiding going in as long as possible...
hopefully soon some UK based mumsnetters will wake up and tell me what they think I should do...
it's been great having someone to talk to through the night - thanks for keeping me going!

How often are the contractions coming?

around every 3.5 minutes but lasting only 20-40 seconds each. getting more painful but still manageable.

I'd say go in - I went in when contractions were 5 mins apart and lasting about 30 secs and was 5cm dilated. Could you ring the labour ward to check?

yes, will do. might as well see what they say.

What did they say miniegg?

(I went back to bed - was only up earlier as DS woke me by getting into our bed).

i am missing all the labour threads at the moment !!

i'm still here lulumama!
after 10 hours of contractions about 3.5mins apart they slowed down for about 10-15 mins but now they've started up again. they're not any more frequent than they were during the night (still 3-4 mins apart) but they are lasting longer now - 40-60 seconds.
no sign of waters breaking but i've been having small shows through the night.
i still haven't phoned the hospital. my doula seems to think I should leave it as long as possible. do you agree?
i'm coping okay, bouncing on my birthing ball and breathing through the contractions though I can't walk through a contraction.
would really appreciate a second opinion from you lulu.

ooh def not long to go now!.....maybe tonight!!!

I know you're not asking me, but I would leave it as long as possible before going to hospital as if you go to early it can really slow things down when you arrive because of unfamiliar environment, people asking you questions etc. If you trust your doula go with what she says as she can see how you're behaving - we can't!

PS Good luck, I'm sure it will all go really well.

miniegg

I think you should go in so that the hospital can monitor you and the baby. Don't they hook you up to a fetal monitor during labor? You have been in labor a long time now.

Good luck
DD born last year, I stayed at home for as long as I could too. Went into labour with period type pain and broken waters at 5:30am. Kept in touch with hospital all day, and went in at 7pm in the end. By that time I was 7cm dilated and gave birth in hospt at 11;47pm. It worked well for me, and like you I had a doula (well my BF but she is a nurse and had a baby so almost one!). I found that they changed at about 6pm, went from being painful and quite close together but manageable without pain releif, to really really painful and it was then that I decided to go in. It was the right time.

Dont follow any of that for you tho, you have to do what is right for you.

Oh how exciting! Good luck again, I hope it is smooth and wonderful. You got a little baby coming!

Hello, you're still here!! Well done. You seem to be coping really well and sound very positive.

I think you need to phone the hospital too just to be on the safe side. With both my DS's I didn't have textbook contractions although you sound like they are well established now.

If you can't stand for a contraction now I would definitely think about phoning the hospital. I wouldn't wait for your waters to break either as that can quite often be at the end like DS2. He was born 20 mins after they went.

You are doing so well. Not long now! Any one up for a sweepstake on the time of birth ?

(that was a joke by the way - wouldn't want to put you under any pressure)