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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Please cheer me up - is this the longest pre-labour ever?!!

40 replies

basilbrush · 02/06/2008 16:38

Ladies, hello

Am 39 weeks with DC2 and going round the twist. Have been having pretty much constant sorerish Braxton Hicks for two whole weeks now. At night (usually about 3am) they get longer and more intense like a proper contraction (was in established labour for 17 hours with DS so do know what to look out for )for a couple of hours and then tail off again.

The head is so well engaged that it's pressing painfully on some nerves in my inner thighs and I can barely waddle, let alone walk.

Midwife examined me a couple of days ago and said she could feel head, cervix was really soft and 2cm dilated.

I have had two membrane sweeps (3rd tomorrow) two reflexology sessions, have rubbed clary sage into bump and been taking raspberry leaf tablets. Oh and had nookie

The reason I'm so frustrated is that I am very keen to VBAC but consultant doesn't want me to go more than 40+ 3 or 4 days due to medical bistory. Obviously they can't just induce me cos of scar rupture etc. So I feel like time is running out already....

If my cervix was solid as a rock still or I hadn't had a twinge yet, that would be one thing but this baby does seem to be thinking about arriving don't you think??

Advice, encouragement, cyber bowl of Ready Brek (had uncontrollable urge for some this morning at 4am)all very welcome

Thank you! BB xx

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chocolatespiders · 02/06/2008 16:41

lovely week for a birth.....

this was my mum 32 years ago

very best wishes

hands you a beach ball size bowl of ready brek

MarsLady · 02/06/2008 16:43

Your baby will come. It just requires a little patience. I'm sure it will all kick off long before your consultant gets twitchy.

merryberry · 02/06/2008 16:44

19 days. 19 days with ds2. really madly felt like labour. one set of contractions went on for 10 hours, 5 every hour. that was nearly 3 weeks before labour. i finally popped hours before induction due. had wept goodbye to dreams of water birth at home and resigned myself to inpatient care. totally resigned myself, floppy with tension and worry and hoping all gone out of me. went into labour...bingo.

also, when ds2 was born, head was parallelogram shaped - so likely i was trying to go into labour all that time, but his head was wedged oddly against my cervix. not a real suprise there, as he was 60cm long at birth, so would have been truly squished in. if i'd known his size i'd have done even more optimal foetal positioning stuff - google and try that to get you going?

CatharsisItIs · 02/06/2008 16:45

Wow, 2cm already! It's not all for nothing.... look at it this way, you are merely a cm away from 'established' labour

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 02/06/2008 16:46

All your signs are good and during a week things can change a lot. At 40 weeks I went from having a cervix like a 38 weeker (cue lots of tears and sobbing) to going into spontaneous labour all in 8 days.

After 40+4 would you consider having daily monitoring rather than going straight for a cs? And I mean would you consider it, not your consultant.

SmoothandWilkie · 02/06/2008 16:49

Get twiddling your nipples - releases syntocin into your body to help labour along. I swear by it - I was 9 days early with DS

Original poster
basilbrush · 02/06/2008 16:53

Mmmm, fab Ready Brek girls [BB adds spoon of virtual golden syrup)

Merry woh, you had a tough time time girl, will keep bouncing on birth ball, sitting astride chairs etc. This baby definitely isn't overly big (they've done numerous growth scans as DS 5lb at full term) they reckon about 6lb ish. Mind you maybe that can be a problem too, and s/he isn't pushing forcefully enoough on cervix???

Catharsis I hadn't thought of it like that! Will fantasize about super speedy dilation in which I pop out DC in a couple of hours

OP posts:
Original poster
basilbrush · 02/06/2008 16:55

Smooth have twiddled me nipples to buggery Sets off two or three big contractions and then nothing. Except colostrum all over nightie. Tra la la...

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LenniEd · 02/06/2008 17:02

About a week of pre-labour for me too - but I was 4cm after the first couple of contractions with all the pre-labour so it is all doing a lot of good. You'll be glad of the pre-labour later, I promise. And as soon as you relax and stop worrying about when the baby will arrive, it will come - they're awkward like that (think it is also something to do with hormones working when you relax but I'll leave that bit to the pros)

SmoothandWilkie · 02/06/2008 19:00

Dairy milk - I ate a full family sized bar and went into labour 2 hours later. In fact, twiddle your nipples, whilst eating dairy milk...

merryberry · 02/06/2008 19:04

well that just sounds like a good night in, full stop

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 03/06/2008 07:39

How are you feeling today Basil? Did you try the Dairy Milk and nipple twiddling methos of induction last night?!

Denny185 · 03/06/2008 08:12

Dont give up hope, I was booked for an elective at 9 am and went into labour at 2am after some nights of pre-labour v similar to yours. Fingers crossed for you.

Original poster
basilbrush · 03/06/2008 09:14

Had a a really relaxing evening - DS has gone to Granny's for a couple of days so DH and I went and saw Iron Man at the flicks and ate Ben and Jerry's - radical stuff!!

He gave me a lovely bump and leg massage before bed and then....I slept better than I have in a fortnight!!! No strong contractions in middle of night!!! I hope this is just my body taking a deep breath before kicking off again and not everything fizzling out.... This morning I just feel like I've got really bad period pains in bump and back

Am off now to see midwife for my 3rd membrane sweep, fingers crossed

Will then scoff dairy milk. Or maybe galaxy, will that work too?

Will keep y'all posted xx

OP posts:
LenniEd · 03/06/2008 10:03

DH sounds like a star! And period pains sound positive.

littlelamb · 03/06/2008 11:36

Basil, me too! I am 40+2 and have been having strong BHs since last Friday. Am booked for my first sweep on Thursday. I am worried because dd was induced because of being 12 days late. She was posterior, just like this one is, so I am worried that the position may be what is stopping me going into labour naturally? The midwife said it could just be the shape of my pelvis encouraging the OP position. I got dd out after 2 hours of pushing and don't fancy a repeat experience. I think I was very lucky to avoid intervention. Having said that, with dd I had no BHs at all, so maybe things will be different this time. Fingers crossed

Original poster
basilbrush · 03/06/2008 18:07

hi girls

i really thought the sweep had done it this time, midwife said it was even softer than last week, still only 2cm but now "50% effaced rather than partially" (whatever that means)

an hour and a half later i was grabbing onto a shampoo display in Boots, barely able to breathe with strong contractions, thinking "Oh goody, my waters are going to break in Boots, maybe I'll get a lifetime's suppy of bubble bath or something..."

I staggered to my husband's office (took me 25 mins to do a 10 min walk) and he took me home, both of us very hopeful. But now it's 6pm and though I still feel I've been rogered with a marrow and very crampy, the contractions have disappeared

(it's a crazy world isn't it when you're really hoping to be plunged into searing agony isn't it?!!!)

Since then I've been violently sick and had a good frustrated cry but that's about it

OP posts:
Aniyan · 03/06/2008 18:09

being sick is supposed to be a good sign - I threw my guts up at the start of labour with ds - hang in there!

ChasingSquirrels · 03/06/2008 18:10

I had BH's from about 20 wks with ds2, at 29wks I was hospitalised because on doing a trace for an hour they were aparently v strong (I had had a nice hour with my feet up). Anyway, nothing stopped them, they continues at about every 10 mins throughout the rest of my pg.
BUT - I had a 15 min labour!!
So you might have a quick one with all this preparation.

hotmama · 03/06/2008 18:18

Basilbrush - this sounds very promising! I'm going to be lurking today and tomorrow - defo birth story by the weekend methinks.

(Hotmama passes a huge bowl of Ready Brek to give some stamina!)

Original poster
basilbrush · 03/06/2008 18:22

BTW I went to Tesco and they didn't have any Ready Brek - how pants is that?!!!!

What if there is some trace mineral compound in there which is what I need to start my labour?!!!

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ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 03/06/2008 18:53

It all sounds really promising. Although it's a shame your waters didn't go in Boots. How fab would a lifetimes supply of lovely smelly stuff be?!

I would say another lovely massage from your dh is needed tonight

whomovedmychocolate · 03/06/2008 21:26

Basilbrush - hang in there, you are getting there - albeit slowly. Hold onto that fact. Each practice contraction is one less of the real thing - apparently

Readybrek is just oatmeal though - any old oatmeal is the same.

Original poster
basilbrush · 04/06/2008 17:52

Not much to report. An hour or so of Biggies this afternoon and now just small erratic ones and cramps, cramps, cramps....

OP posts:
3kids1cat · 04/06/2008 18:42

Basil, I had a pretty similar start to my labour with dc3.
Had given up on my Hb plan, was ready to be induced the next day after weeks of niggling pains, calling the midwife out, 2 sweeps and lots of sitting on a birthing ball, when sat on the sofa eating lunch my waters just broke. 45 mins later she was born, MW only just made it. Will probably be over quick once it really gets going.
Good luck, hope all goes well.