Dilating with long contractions?

[withallmylove]

Hi ladies, so I've been having regular contractions every 10-20 minutes since Saturday night. Today every 3-5 minutes and now this evening back to every 8-10 minutes or so. Was checked on Sunday and wasn't dilated at all.

I have stayed at home because of there being no point being in a hospital without my partner if I'm not 4cms. Lost my bloody show early hours of this morning. Couldn't believe the amount of it!! And some waters, but triage said to come in when the contractions are closer and continue to take painkillers. I'm just so fed up 😓 I can't stop crying because the pain has been ongoing since Saturday night and I don't know how much more I can take with no progress.

Did anyone have contractions 1-2 every 10 minutes and was still dilating when you got checked out? I'm dreading going in and they tell me I haven't even started. I'm just exhausted! Has anyone gone into actual labour without such close contractions?

Any positive stories 😢
Thank you x

Me - I did

Really sorry to hear you are going through this.

Putting dds to bed but back in a bit with my full story

@Onceuponatimethen

Yes!! Thank you for responding!
I look forward to hearing your story!

Have you taken paracetamol ? That was the advice for me and I know it isn’t much help.

The best advice is to snatch sleep when you can - even ten minutes here and there

Make sure they do something to speed up your labour within 24hrs of your waters breaking! I hadn’t known my waters were leaking for about 2 days & ended up with sepsis & a complicated labour due to this so please make sure they know your waters have went!

Have they checked it was your waters? You should be offered an induction 24 hours after your waters go.

Before your cervix can dilate if has to thin down, so even if you haven't started dilating (which you may well have by now!) that doesn't mean your cervix isn't doing anything. Paracetamol, hot water bottle, try and get as much rest as you can, I know that's easier said than done.

@Onceuponatimethen Yes been taking that, they did give me cocodamol but it makes me feel so drowsy and sick that I'm only taking it at night to try and rest at the moment. Starting to struggle 😣

@Newmama29 thank you, I will let them know ASAP. I mean I'm assuming that's what has happened as I was in the car and I felt a small gush of liquid and it came through my trousers! I'm just amazed it's okay for baby to be in there with those contractions for so long poor thing!

I had this for 5 days with DD. Although waters didn't go until last 24 hrs. It's absolutely exhausting and I really feel for you. I spent a lot of time in the bath dozing between them. Is baby back to back?

Yes do let them know about waters. Sometimes only part of the waters go but the main waters are stool intact, but once the main ones go they want to induce you usually within a certain time frame - due to infection risk

Oh bless you.
I was in labour Weds-Sat but was in hospital for it,
Is baby moving about okay? I would just go in to get checked. They gave my sister oramorph (not sure how to spell it) then she went home and got some much needed rest.
My friend was recently in labour and because she wasn't proofreading in 24hrs they got her in for induction.
Worth going in to have a little check.

I meant progressing haha

This was my story - contractions started on a Thursday and then got closer together. By Friday early hours they were 3-4 minutes apart. We decided to give it one more but and then go in, but then they slowed down again to every ten minutes. The same happened all the next day and the next until finally labour became established and the baby was born. I had a textbook labour in hospital until the very last stage when I had to have a little bit of the drip to restart contractions. Dd was born v healthy - excellent APGAR scores.

I had another similar labour with dd2. Ive learned to take the max safe dose of paracetamol and literally just sleep in between contractions, whatever time of day it is. The best time seemed to be about twenty minutes after I’d taken two paracetamol.

If you’ve lost some of your waters you need to go to triage and get checked out. You’ll be offered an induction if you don’t go into labour within 24 hours. Also the bloody show is blood stained mucous, if you’re bleeding that’s another sign to go to hospital.

So basically if you try to snatch a few minutes sleep here and there then you get a few hours here and there in day and night combined. Keep eating too - small and often but good level of calories. You need fuel to take your body through. In my first labour they gave me codeine which really helped though it is strong

But definitely check out whether your waters have properly gone. I would call them now

You poor thing. Go back and get checked, they mayb give you induction at this stage?

Thank you everyone, I'm still getting really wet down below, sorry tmi. Enough to make me think it could still be more waters. It's completely clear like water but doesn't smell of anything which I was told it would, unmistakeable apparently 🤷🏻‍♀️. If anything it reminds me of what hospitals smell like 😂Going to get give them a call now.

It also seems to come out after I have a contraction 🤔

Feet have swelled up like balloons today as well to the point I can't get any shoes on them! So hoping labour is near.

Will keep you updated, thanks again everyone x

Please ring triage now especially now you’ve got some swelling. Amniotic fluid is a clear/straw like colour and can trickle or gush especially after a contraction.

Amniotic fluid isn’t textbook. I had a clear mucous leaking for 2 days which I just thought was discharge but had been my waters

Deffo go in if you haven't already. I had my son a couple of months ago and they said if I hadn't given birth within 24 hours of my waters going then they would have to force birth or do emergency c section. ... about 13 hours after waters went they made me go on the hormone drip to speed things up end my boy came within 2 mins of the 24 hour time frame they gave me !!