Anyone else give birth vaginally without regular contractions?

[PorcupinePie]

Currently 37/40 with DC2.
When I went into labour with DC1, contractions started irregularly on Saturday afternoon, stayed irregular but got stronger, so I went in Sunday lunchtime to get checked and was 3cm so sent home again with dihydrocodeine. They stayed irregular throughout Sunday evening (really, REALLY irregular - sometimes 2 or 3 mins apart, sometimes 15 or 20 minutes apart) but very painful. Around 4am waters went and I saw baby had passed meconium in the waters so went back in (assuming still in latent phase as contractions still so irregular) and they said I was fully dilated! Suddenly got that urge to push and DS born around 7am on Monday. The contractions never got to that magic 3 in 10 that people talk about, even during the pushing.
I'm worried about how to know when to go to hospital this time - if it's similar this time and I'm waiting for contractions to be 3 minutes apart, that might never happen. But equally if I go in as soon as I start contracting it'll probably be too early and they'll send me home!
Anyone else have a similarly weird first labour, and if so how were your subsequent labours? I've heard the pushing can be much quicker second time around and terrified of the baby inadvertently being born at home (I'm clinically fit for a homebirth but haven't planned one as we're in temporary, shared accommodation at the moment which isn't suitable. We do have proper housing set up after the birth.)
Any advice??

Aaaanyone??

I have no idea because I never tracked the contractions! I recently listened to a podcast where a midwife supporting home births was saying she's seen all sorts of patterns of contractions at undisturbed and still a baby pops out :)

I had that with dd1. In labour for 2 days, hospital said not to come in as contractions were so irregular. Eventually went in anyway and was 10cm dilated, they were as shocked as I was.

She didn’t want to come out though and gave birth 4 hours later with 3rd degree tear and episiotomy so for dc2 I requested a c section to avoid tearing again.

Ah thanks for your responses, both!
@nowaynotnownotever Do you remember what the podcast was? I'd love to listen!
@feathersandslats My labour was overall really long too, although my second stage was only (!) 2 hours compared to your 4. When I recently told the midwife what had happened last time she wrote "previous precipitate labour" in the notes, which doesn't seem right - I thought that meant a really quick labour 🤔

I'll see if I can find it. The midwife is Rachel Reed if you search for her

I had irregular contractions with both of mine. Really all over the place, I’d have nothing for a few minutes and then like a wave of five in a row, one after the other. I had two back to back babies though, not sure if that was the cause.

I was exactly the same with my first! Never had regular contractions but went in as my waters had broke and I was passing a fair bit of blood. When you go into labour again just mention to them that you had irregular contractions and quick labour and I’m sure they will atleast see you and examine you

I was told I wasn't having contractions with my first, but that I had an 'irritable uterus.' Turns out I was having contractions and was 10cm dilated. Two hours of pushing and she was out. I'm currently in with my second - I'll let you know how it goes! Contractions have started but not strong yet, or regular.

I never had regular "3 in 10" contractions with my first... or second!

With my first I was told not to come in until my contractions were regular, despite me saying it was ramping up, then I finally said I was starting to feel "pushy" at home. Got to the hospital and was almost 10 cm dilated. I'm convinced that it was a longer labour/pushing phase than it would have been otherwise due to being so stressed because I kept being told I wasn't ready to go to hospital even though I was (in hindsight I should have trusted my instincts).

Second time around, my midwife just said that they'd trust me to make my way in whenever I needed to after I explained what had happened with my first, but in the end, for various reasons (including not wanting to chance repeating the horrendous journey to hospital in the late stages of labour last time) I chose a home birth... and this time I caught myself out because I was overthinking the process and was waiting for things to seem more regular (I really should have known better)! I was just breathing through contractions and wondering when it was going to "ramp up" so that I could set up the pool and call the midwives, when I felt the urge to push. Yet again, my contractions were very irregular, so it seems my body just does its own thing.

Try to follow your instincts and trust yourself...

Me. Regular contractions at 6 mins apart. Told to stay home. Waters broke after vicious contractions at 12.30am so I got a shower and said I’d go in (I was 40 + 10) and had been in latent labour for days and exhausted. No contractions at all for over an hour or so, got to hospital and they said they’d send me home as I was far too comfortable. I had a massive contraction, said I was pushing and twenty mins later she was born. I was home three hours later.

Me! With my first labour (currently pregnant with my second) I never reached 3 in 10 at any stage and could talk through them most of the time. I timed all my contractions and they never became regular at all. So much so that even when the midwives checked me and I was 4cm dilated they refused to admit me to the labour ward! They only finally agreed to a short while later when my waters broke and I was 6cm.

The contractions never became regular and I never found them too painful. When I got to 10cm I suddenly couldn't feel contractions at all, despite only having had g&a. So the midwives had to tell me when I was having them and when to push by feeling my tummy. Had my daughter naturally, though the pushing stage took 4+ hours due to not being able to feel contractions and I ended up opting for an episiotomy to speed things along, no tearing though.