All night I seemed to be in labour, now it is slowing rather than progressing, help!!

[artichokes]

I know you must all be sick of my childbirth threads - but humour me - I have had no sleep.

To summarise: 8 days overdue, last night at 8pm I get my frist period pain style contractions, by 10pm they are coming every 7 mins and lasting 45 seconds, at 11pm I go to bed and this kills contractions for 30 mins, then throughout the night they come, sometimes very intense and causing me to cry out, sometimes milder, sometimes every 6 mins, sometimes every 12, not a wink of sleep, when I get up they slow down, when I lie down they speed up. If you had asked me at 3am I would have sworn baby would be here by now.

Since 5.30am things have started to fade. I am still crampy but they have lost any regular pattern and they are much less painful.

HELP!!!! I cannot have been up all night for nothing. What can I do to progress things???

sugar - lucozade and haribo (worked for me as i had 2 days of sloooooooooow labour)

get on your hands and knees if you can and keep mobile

good luck

i'd go for the sods law option.

settle in to watch a good film

sods law you wont see the end.

Woohoo at labour starting! I have been lurking on your induction avoidance thread.

No idea what you can do except keep active, do you have stairs in the house?

Good luck, will be watching out for the birth announcement

Things are starting Artichokes don't worry, it's a slow irregular lead in, it sounds.

Am I right in thinking you had acupuncture yesterday?
It could be that setting things off. Is it possible to go back for further sessions? Often these things can take 2 or 3 appts to kick things off properly.

Try to rest, have a bath and settle in just in case it's a couple of days of pre-labour for you.

Good news though, you could well go off like a rocket when you get to actual active labour

Good luck! It won't be long.

i had 3 nights no sleep prior to ds2's birth, 10 days overdue. if all is quiet now, i'd get a wee kip in tbh.

Artichokes - get some sleep; it will kick off again but you're obviously exhausted so everything is slowing down. Take your mind off things and rest (if you cant sleep, lie in dark room listening to soft music) and will kick off again. And when it does get going in earnest, lucozade (or other sugary drinks to give you energy) and walking around (to encourage baby to move down) will all help. Best of luck.

hi Artichokes..

I'm with you on this one: seem to be having EXACTLY the same thing lol & ohmigod it's demoralising....just want him here now!!

Big hugs & good luck...I'm forcing myself to waddle into town despite cramps for a whole pineapple, & poss some vindaloo

xx

Thanks all. Have been trying to nap but to no avail. When I lie in bed the contractions start up (every 12 minutes, lasting 90 seconds). Then when I come downstairs they become very irregular and short. I can't sleep for more than 6 mins at a stretch and I am so tired.

I always imagined natural labour would be energising and exciting, this is draining.

Hi artichokes - also very keenly watching your thread! Am now 42+3 and being induced Monday at 43 weeks if things don't happen. Had my fourth session of acupuncture yesterday, and had tightenings/cramps all night. Also had a show this morning (but that could be due to VE on Tuesday at the hospital...).

But have been having these feelings on and off for 2 weeks but they are definitely getting longer and sticking around for longer. If you can bear to go longer - I would. I requested expectant management rather than induction (policy is 40+10) so had a biophysical profile scan on Tuesday (42 +1) and the baby was fine - lots of water, loads of movement, and the consultant was more than happy to wait and see. He also recommended acupuncture. I have a sweep booked for tomorrow as well.

Sorry for blethering, but I am sooooo in the same boat as you (avoid induction if I possibly can) and as I'm a few days further down the line, I thought it may help!

Keep us posted! xx

i;ve been doing it in RL !!

if it is real labour, it won;t stop.

might just be the latent phase, in which case, the best thing you can do is REST

eat, sleep, wee & Poo and if you have any pains, a bit of nipple stim , esp. with a breast pump can help

sound like you are on the way, but your body will let you know when it is it.

advising, rather than actually doing it !!

Sorry to hear you are in the same boat Fufalina. Good luck avoiding the induction.

Contractions every 10/11 mins lasting 50 seconds and v painful. Why can't they come closer together???

I cannot rest but I also feel like I am making no progress as they have been at similar intervals for 13 hours (except the two hours where they basically stopped).

When am I leant to stimulate my nipples? During the contractions?

stimulate your nipples when you want to, but first you must get some rest so that you can deal with the contractions when they come on regularly.

As Lulu said... eat, drink, wee and rest. Try leaning over your birthing ball or pop cushions on the floor for your knees, kneel down and rest your head of a chair or bed.

Lots happening within you at the moment. Your cervix is thinning. So don't lose hope. But do rest!

I was like that about 8 weeks ago. Had been getting regular contractions all Sunday afternoon/evening then very irregular on Monday morning. Was really fed up as irregular. Went for a walk and to visit friend at lunchtime - walking seemed to slow things down. Then things progressed rather quickly - MW told me i wasn't far enough along at 2.45pm and to wait a while and had ds3 at 3.45pm. Good luck - it will happen soon

yes, that's it same as i was...don't expect to sleep as we know it...but do rest in between. don't get demoralised by tiredness, because when the real thing kicks in you will release energy from stores and be fine, your active labour is maybe less because of all this prelabour!

keep drinking keep nibbling keep calm in contractions and breeeeathe slow. and good luck fufalina too!

So by rest do we mean lie on the sofa and watch crappy music videos with the TENS on? If so I am managing that .

Last gap was 13 mins instead of 10.... ARRGGGHHHHH.

This is going to go on for another night isn't it?

Do you have anyone near you who does homeopathy? My doula gave me some homeopathic remedies - one was for use in just your circumstances - I did use it and it was just wham, bam, thank you ma'am, contractions speeded right up. Mind you, I think they were more frequent to begin with, iyswim.

Artichokes - this happened to me. My midwife gave me the best advise - go for a walk, which I did, and ate ice cream at a cafe. I went into labour properly that night.

i feel for you!!!

I hope it kicks off 'properly' soon

Was the remedy called Caulophyllum? If so I have some. I took one this morning when things stopped. Should I take another?

oooh artichokes how exciting!! my labour was EXACTLY like this, there is an acupunture spot on your inner foot/ankle you can massage to help bring on your labour, google it for pictures of exactly where. sorry i can't do a link, i'm not much cop with computers.
like you i could not sleep at ALL fr 36hrs, just had about 4 warm baths and watched tv/read/ate. i was told by the midwife that the hormones causing labour surge at night so you may find that tonight things speed up......i went to hospital when my contractions were eventually 4 mins apart, after ringing the hosp 4 times begging them them to see me, only to be told they had to break my waters as i had been in labour for so long so make sure your midwife is aware that you are contracting. good luck xxxxx

not necessarily artichokes. mine went from 10 mins to 6 mins then back to 13etc they were like that up to me being in final stage which lasted about an hour

good luck arti!

Should I go for a walk or rest????

I am torn as I am very tired but I also really want things to speed-up. Does it make any difference? Will my body just wait until its ready no matter what I do?

Contractions v painful and every 11/12 mins (a walk round the neighbourhood could be embarrassing if anyone sees a contraction hit).