Painful contractions for hours, only 1cm dilated

[faelavie]

Hi MN. I'm 41 weeks pregnant, FTM.

I woke up at 5.30am today with horrible continuous crampy pain like I needed to poo (sorry tmi). This went on for ages but I assumed it was bad constipation. Around 7am, the pains then stopped being continuous and became spaced apart but more intense. I started timing them and realised it probably wasn't constipation after all. I had a warm bath, then used a tens machine and breathed through the cramps with hypnobirthing techniques. They were 3 in 10 for 4 hours before I thought I better ring the midwives.

I was asked to go to the hospital for assessment at 12, where I was examined and found to be only 1cm dilated. I had some oramorph and was told to go home.
Oramorph gave me a nice opiate high but didn't really do much pain wise.

It's disappointing but actually more scary, because these contractions are really quite painful.... I usually have a high pain tolerance but these pains are stopping me in my tracks. But I'm only 1cm, when most women say they have no pain at all or barely notice they're in labour.

What on earth is this gonna feel like when I'm much more dilated?? This is worrying me a lot which isn't doing much for my state of mind right now.

I'm still having 3 contractions now every 3-5 minutes and this has been going on all day. The contractions last between 50 to 90 seconds at a time. I was told to call if I can't deal with them anymore or if my waters break or I get a bloody show (not happened yet). And informed the latent phase can be a long slog.

I'm so tired but I can't nap because the pains are just too close together, by the time I start to drift, another contraction comes along.

Really scared I'm not going to be able to deal with active labour later if this is what the latent phase is like.

It may be worth mentioning that 3 days ago they couldn't attempt a sweep because my cervix was out of reach and closed for business. So I know its good that I'm actually dilating now and that things are happening - was booked in for an induction in a few days time!
However I can't help feeling disheartened.

Any wise words would be appreciated right now! Trying very hard to conserve my energy and stay positive.

Can you have a nice hot bath?

Do you have anyone with you?

No experience of your situation as I was induced at 38 weeks. However, my advice would be to cope as best you can at home, but please don't be scared to phone the midwives and tell them that the pain is too much and you need help. They have pain relief they can give you (I had pethidine in early labour and it really helped me to sleep for a few hours). They can also give other things like gas and air etc. You don't have to suffer!!

Also just because you are only 1cm now, doesn't mean you won't begin to dilate much more quickly. I went from 1 - 5cm within a couple of hours so it doesn't always take a long time.

I had all the drugs in the end and I'm not ashamed of it. The epidural was quite honestly fantastic and took the pain away when it became too much for me.

Best of luck op and hopefully someone else comes along who can be a bit more helpful

I was the same as you. 1cm dilated after about ten hours of increasing contractions every six minutes. Nothing was changing. I needed to be induced in the end and had an epidural. It really helped. Good luck!

Don't forget your cervix has to thin before it starts opening as well, so you're not 'only' 1cm, you've done all your thinning as well. Also epidurals are amazing.

I went from 1cm to 9 or 10 in the blink of an eye each time, and it wasn’t any more painful at that point.
Maybe try waking up and down stairs sideways to get it going a bit more.

Good luck. You’ll be ok.

I had the same. Hours of not dilating further despite proper labour pains. I did have an epidural as I eventually started to progress as I was so exhausted and needed to sleep before pushing. Fortunately after this I progressed quickly. Everyone's body responds differently to labour and you will get through it with pain relief. Push for this and you will get through it.

Don’t be discouraged, OP. Dilatation is only part of the story - your cervix will be softening and effacing as well, and it may be doing more of that and less of the dilating at present! Once it’s ready, the dilation can be surprisingly rapid.
Only you can judge whether you need more pain relief. Every labour, and every patient, is different. If you’re finding it too painful, contact the midwife and arrange whatever is necessary, which may be anything from nitrous oxide to more opiate, to an epidural. There are no medals for endurance!

I was the one that never actually dilated and spent a a week getting from 1cm to 7cm with the help of drip, in the last 24 hours.
I wouldn’t have the pethedine again as it was very weird, the epidural was bloody marvellous. Labour end in a c section because DH demanded one. Ds would never have been born naturally as his head was too big to fully engage before he even got to the exit stage.
If I were to be in that situation again I would have asked for the drip on day 3 ( I wouldn’t have got it the ward to too full they needed me to stay at home) or made a maternal request for a c section which you can do at any point.
Hopefully it’ll all speed up really quickly for you, but just think about what you want to happen if it doesn’t.
Good luck

It sounds very much like my back-to-back labour.

Your body is working hard to get babe into the right position as well as dilate. Hang in there

Try and relax as the fight and flight and stress hormones counteract oxytocin which triggers contractions. So try some relaxing techniques such as:

Dimming the lights or turn them off and light some candles.

Playing some relaxing music.

Continue using the hypnobirth techniques.

To help with contractions and get baby to descend into the pelvis and get into position for birth.

Keep up right and mobile as much as you can.

Continue using breathing exercises to help you get through the contractions.

Try different positions during contractions such as standing up and leaning over a chair/bed/your partner or kneeling and leaning over a birthing ball, or getting onto all fours.

When resting lay on your side.

Use a wheat bag or hot water bottle do help with the pain.

Try massage.

Try a warm bath.

The pain that you are experiencing now is probably as bad as it will get, however it can feel more intense as the contractions get closer together and probably feels worse the longer labour goes on and the more tired you get. So it’s important to keep hydrated and eat light meals/snacks to keep you energy up.

When I was in early labour, I wish I’d known that it would be the hardest part for me. Once I was finally admitted and had access to painkillers, I coped a lot better.

I was 41+6 when I finally gave birth to my first, go get a nice hot bath that calms things an sometimes makes it flyyyyy along as it does ease the pain (my second labour I was 4mins appart contracting and I got a bath an rang hospital to say I'd be on my way soon enough but they said wait until their 2mins appart if you can. I got in the bath an 2mins in once came an didn't go an I had a midwife stood at the doors of the hospital ready to catch baby, strangely enough I pulled her out myself and i find it so strange I did that to this day! )
put some relaxing music on an some candles. Then when your out go get on a bouncy ball an move your hips an bounce. Helps make you comfier and watch some tele with a hot water bottle and some spicey food. Get yourself a takeaway though cos it'll be the last one you have in peace for a while haha !!

But remember their is no going back now, theirs only one way out 😂🙋🏼‍♀️

I found with both labours staying at home as long as I could helped loads as it's your comfort zone, in hospital your sometimes restricted to the bed of your on a ward or maybe get lucky to go an active birthing suite but these are only towards the end. Not whilst your dialating .
I hope it goes quick for you!!! Good luck x

I was in early labour and dilated to 1cm for 3 days. Contractions every few minutes, ramping up, then tailing off to nothing, night and day for near enough 72 hours. I didn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time in those 3 days, and the pain wasnt going away between contractions either. I went in to the midwife unit on the 3rd day begging for help because i was exhausted and couldn't stand, as I was in so much pain, and they gave me pethadine and let me sleep a bit. After that they agreed to break my waters, and sent me up to the consultant unit to do so. They had to give me a second shot of pethadine before they could move me, and I still couldn't walk without being bent over double.

The consultants unit midwife discovered my bladder was full and blocked, and was delaying my labour because the babys head wasnt making enough contact with the cervix for labour to develop during contractions. She helpfully told me that during each contraction babys head was bouncing off the full, unable to empty, bladder, not the cervix like it's supposed to, and this would likely be a very very painful experience. 'No shit' says I. She put in a catheter, broke my waters and had me on an oxytocin drip and epidural within an hour, after finding meconium in my waters. Baby was born perfectly well 11 hours later after I slept through most of my active labour stage. God the epidural is wonderful.

The point of all this is not to scare you, but to ask you how much you've drunk in the last 24 hours and whether you're able to pee normally? If not get back to the hospital asap and tell them you cant wee and you're in agony. You might be experiencing the same issue I had.

If you're peeing fine, then as others have said, warm bath, tens, paracetamol, back massage etc. But if you cant cope, go back and insist on help and dont let yourself be dismissed. That is what the midwives are there for. Some seem to dismiss the early labour stage as not that hard, but those 3 days are the single toughest thing I have ever lived through, the contractions were agony, and I was exhausted. Dont let them fob you off if you need help and support, and try and focus on the fact that this means you're about to meet your gorgeous baby very soon! Good luck!

How are you doing @faelavie?

I had similar and while it was awful, the pain didn't get worse as I dilated more and I was then allowed pain relief so things got much nicer. Also once I was allowed in the pool I managed to doze between contractions.

Hi all. Thanks for all your replies and reassurances. Just thought I'd update you. My beautiful son was born on 21st October at 2.23am by emergency c-section under GA, after 2 solid days of excruciatingly painful contractions and not being able to dilate further than barely 4cm.
There's a lot I need to come to terms with and I'll admit I found the experience traumatic despite the positive outcome. I'll probably post a thread around here soon.

Well congratulations!!! AtLeast your both okay. Just get lots and lots of rest and let people takeover and help you in your recovery. Not everything goes the way you want. It'll be a daily thing now you've got your baby boy in toe 😂 you'll be dressed all nice to go out an no doubt he will shit up his back as you leave the door !!!
But good luck and all the best you did well you brave lady!!! He's so totally worth the pain and trauma ❤️❤️❤️

Congratulations on the birth of your son
I’m really sorry you had such a difficult time, try and get plenty of rest and do whatever you need to come to terms with the labour. Time was the greatest healer for me x

Congratulations on the birth of your son, faelavie.

I had an emergency c-section too. I’d eventually progressed to 8cm, but couldn’t get any further. DD was quite big compared with me and back-to-back. I felt a bit shocked by how everything turned out, and I wish I’d asked the hospital for a birth-debrief. Maybe that would help you?