Can anyone talk me down?

[Pinkjenny]

I am 37 weeks pg, have a section booked for 29th December. Had a show this morning, and have been having pains around every ten minutes. Went to be monitored, they said the cx weren't showing up on the monitor, but that I was 1cm dilated and my cervix was softened.

They agreed to let me come home, as I said I would be willing to try a VBAC if I go into labour before the 29th.

Dh has been out and is on his way back, dd is asleep.

Well, I'm just starting to panic a bit. Is labour imminent? Will I cope with the pain if it is? Am shitting myself now. Not literally.

Yes you will be just fine. You will cope. The hospital are there to help you and being a VBACer they will keep a close eye on you. Do things at home that make you calm, try to relax, go in if you can't handle the pain.

Is dd asleep? Can you sit and watch her for a while? That's quite calming. Remind yourself why you are doing this, that you may not have done it this way before but you have had a baby, you have nurtured her through 2.5 years and you can do this again. This is just the beginning.

Your body is doing the thing it was designed for. There are drugs if you need them.

A bath? Have you taken some painkillers? Is dh one for massage? Otherwise, are you able to sleep?

I was 1cm dilated on the Wednesday morning at 7am and dd wasn't born until about 35 hours later! However a friend of mine went from 1 - 10cm dilated in about half an hour so there is no way of knowing how much longer it will take but I would have thought it will be sometime within the next 48 hours? You will be fine, keep breathing

Dh is back now with calming words. Probably best to try and get a bit of sleep! I think because I've never laboured before, I never imagined I would actually experience this, so it's all taking me a bit by surprise!

Yes get some sleep if you can - get as much rest as possible. My mum kept saying that to me - I didn't listen - wished I had later! Have you anyone on standby for dd?

PJ Go get some rest. You will be FINE. Just take one step at a time. Lots of breathing (say Reeeelaaaax - breathe in to Reeee and out to laaaax iyswim ?) and just know there's lots of pain relief available as soon as you feel like you can't cope.

Keep me informed

Yes - my mum is poised!

My BlackBerry doesn't show me the poster's name for some bloody reason, but I know who that is. Sorry Tils, I'm doing my best to wait my turn!!

Call me if you want... DH is out and Im just sitting here timing what I think are BH's

OMG!! Bob me a quick text, I lost your number after the bath incident.

So, who's had a baby then?

No waffling about Westlife now...

Er, not me. Still here, still contracting. I don't feel like things have changed at all since yesterday, though.

Gawd, isn't this frustrating?!

Nope, not frustrating at all. Tis very exciting. Have you done everything you need to do? All bags packed and walls painted?

I had contractions every 12 minutes for about 15hrs, just uncomfortable. It cranked up a notch very suddenly and then progressed fairly steadily.

It might be best to just pretend it isn't happening for now.