Waiting for labour – what to expect?

[esgill]

I'm at 38 weeks + 5 days. My due date is next week but I know baby could come any time between now and mid-October. I'm starting to feel nervous/excited. Hospital bag packed, trying to finish some last min work before her arrival. 3/7 women from my antenatal class have already given birth (including one c-section).

I have googled what to expect to death and I know a first sign could be one of these: contractions, waters breaking, mucous plug, a nesting instinct.

But I'd love to hear what your experiences were like. Did you have any other unusual symptoms that preceded labour? What was the order of events for you and when did it happen? How long did it take for contractions to come on and then speed up? Any advice for waiting patiently, welcome!

Sound exactly like the start of my labour! Exactly as the midwife said. I know it’s annoying when people say this but you will know when you can’t cope at home any longer . Also the triage line is always open and they are happy to have you run things by them. Good luck!

@thenightfeed so reassuring to hear it all sounds normal! For how long were your contractions tolerable/when did you end up going to hospital? And how long into labour did your waters break? I had another nap and seem to have slowed things down again.

Things moved quite quickly for me so I was in hospital 5 hours after contractions started and was 10cm dilated. But I went from being able to get myself ready etc through the contractions to them being almost unbearable over the course of an hour. That’s when I went in. My waters didn’t break at all at home and only slightly in the hospital so the midwife did them. Very normal for things to speed up and slow down though, particularly with first labour, so get the rest whilst you can and enjoy little one when here. You’ll smash it!

I started contractions (just like cramps really) at 6 am on a Wednesday, but they were further apart than yours. They went on for about 8 hours, then stopped for a couple of hours, then started again. I went to hospital about 3 am Thursday and my son wasn’t born until 7.40pm Thursday.

My waters never broke, the doctor did it not long before I delivered.

If you’re still home, stay there and eat and rest as long as you can. Hope you’re doing ok.

Hope things are progressing nicely for you @esgill

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto thanks for checking in -- frustratingly I'm stuck in the latent phase of labour for now, it seems.

Wednesday night: Contractions started 2 am on Wednesday, they were consistently 3 minutes apart and lasting about a minute until 4 am, at which point I decided to go with triage advice and sleep through them. They said to call again when I could no longer speak through them.

Thursday: Woke up at around 8 and they picked up again but slower/less intense. They slowed down and became less intense and then picked up again when I went on a short walk to a local cafe for lunch. Continued in the afternoon. In the evening around 6 I sat down for half an hour and they all but stopped. Then I got on the exercise ball and they started coming again. All evening I had them spaced 5 minutes apart, sometimes quite intense. They got more intense as the night wore on but I got incredibly tired from only having slept 2-3 hours on Wednesday night, and had a sleep.

Today (Friday): Today is my actual due date. I slept through until 4 am, then had pretty strong but more spaced out contractions until I fell asleep again at 6.30 and woke up at 9 am without contractions. Today I've had them on and off, no real pattern, though I had a few when I went on a walk earlier and they were stronger than on any other day. I've been passing lots of dark brown blood/bloody show. Called triage and they said all of this is normal and to go in when I'm bombarded by contractions and they don't start and stop. I'm now lying down and husband is giving me a head massage and I've had three contractions while writing this.

Feeling quite in limbo and not well rested.

Oh you poor thing 😢. When I saw you had updated I was hoping for baby news.

Continue to try and rest as much as you can.

It is absolutely ok to go to the Hospital and ask them to check you and baby over, if you want to (I think I would).

How’s it going OP? Have you had much sleep?

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto @CostaDelPatio @Lizzieregina these are among the hardest days of my life, honestly. I'm so exhausted and uncomfortable.

Friday 29th: I went to hospital late on the 29th and wasn't dilated enough, they just said it's normal for first babies and that my cervix was thinning but not dilated. She pulled out a big handful of bloody show though, which I've been losing every day in huge amount since the morning of the 29th. I felt quite invalidated as my contractions slowed/became less intense in the white lit room as I was nervous about being sent home/fobbed off. They sent me home with dihydrocodeine and two paracetamol which chilled me out a bit but didn't cut through the contractions pain.

Saturday 30th: contractions continued in the morning, then I felt an intense desire to sleep. Slept 10 am to 12.30 pm. After which, pretty much no contractions all day until 23.30 when they started up again every 8 minutes. In the morning I hd contacted local midwife team and asked for sweep. She called and was much more validating and said that this is normal for first babies and it can take absolutely ages – that the cervix needs to become paper thin before it can dilate and mine is thinning. She said she'll do a home visit tomorrow (Sunday, so now today) and check where me and baby are plus do a sweep.

Last night/Saturday night: agonising. Up most of the night on the loo. Baby kicking me while her head was exerting so much pressure on my bladder. I had diarrhoea. Then every time I went to the loo I'd pass lots of bloody show, including a giant piece of what looked like brown cervical tissue. I took a photo to show the midwife, though it was gross... Every time I stood up or lay down I had to urgently get up as the pressure in my pelvis was insane. I only felt a bit comfortable squatting on the toilet. Crying, I moved to the sofa and spent a lot of the night back and forth between contracting and dreaming/hallucinating. I was doing a very weird shaking thing with my hips to roll my pelvic bowl while trying to breathe through contractions/relieve some pressure on my pelvis.

Morning and I'm still here, with the intense lower back pain (like sciatica) pared with the unbearable pelvic pressure of having baby's head crushing my bladder, vagina and cervix and bleeding from my cervix. I really hope that the midwife does come and finds some progress has been made/that I can be admitted to hospital.

I was open to the idea of birthing with just gas and air and a pool but honestly by this point I would be up for an induction and epidural. I know they say home is the best place for less intervention but I feel so unsafe at home atm and uncomfortable and deeply in need of adequate pain relief.

Have you got a DH/DO or Birth Partner at home? I would get them to insist that you are admitted to the Maternity Ward. It's hard to advocate for yourself when you're in pain and so tired.

I honestly think I'd be asking for a C-Section at this point too, especially if you're hallucinating

@esgill it sounds like you're really having a tough time of it. I echo @SiouxsieSiouxStiletto perhaps consider a c section.

Oh my goodness, I hope you’ve been admitted by now and getting some real help. I’m so sorry that your birth experience is so drawn out and unpleasant. Sending positive baby thoughts your way. Hang in!

@esgill still thinking of you 💐