Thought I was in labour last night............advice pls

[3rdbump]

Been having some crampy pains on and off for the past few days now, last night I woke at 3.30am with strong cramps across the bump and my lower back, couldnt sleep so just lay there trying to relax, an hour had passed and they where still there. I eventually drifted off to sleep and woke up to find all pain had gone. Woke at 9.15 had breakfast and now feel a bit crampy again. This is baby number 3 but being 7 years since last baby born it seems new again for me and different since last time.
I am 36 weeks tomorrow and due to see my midwife tomorrow too. Think i am having baby at the maternity led unit but have a consultants appointment on Thursday regarding iron levels so maybe having baby at main hospital 45 mins away.
Do you think its worth me ringing the midwife today at the led unit just with baby being still only 35+6 and my iron situation incase they want to examine me or i need to go to main hospital OR shall i just hang on till my appointment tomorrow afternoon and take a chance that am not in early labour??

I don't know. I would be surer if they were coming at regular intervals and then going away in between iyswim?

It could just be, you know, crampy stuff

Btw with the iron, what's the problem - mine's been very low and I'm just behind you at 34 weeks, but have been taking spatone and it's almost at the required level. Are they saying you can't go to the MLU if it's too low/

They said if my iron drops below 10 i have to go the main hospital as it can cause problems after delivery - mine is 9.4 despite the iron intake (spatone) they told me it wasn't as good as the iron they had prescribed hence the drop in levels. Have a consultant appointment Thursday and more bloods tomorrow. meanwhile i am back on the stuff they prescribed and trying to up my dosage with foodstuffs rich in iron and OJ :)

oh crikey. Well good luck

Mine was 8.7 a few weeks ago, couldn't stand feeling sick on the stuff they prescribed so I resorted to spatone and it's now 9.6 and rising.

I think they are generally a bit scared of letting you take something 'natural'.

My MW was very nice and said, look, we're not meant to allow you to give birth at home unless it's over 10, but if you sign a disclaimer saying you understand the risks, that's fine, we'll still come out to you.

There's a lot of research out there saying optimum iron is between 9.5 and 10.5 for healthiest outcomes. They are prob just covering themselves under policy.

You've time to get it over 10 with spatone or something else. (bit jealous that you get a consultant! They haven't offered me one!!)

Oh btw, the 'risks' they're referring to are that you'll have low iron if you have a bleed after giving birth...

I actually had the same iron issues last time, had a home birth, had a PPH (well borderline - 500ml ish) and I was fine after a few days. I didn't even have to transfer to hospital - they stopped it with an injection within about 30 seconds.

If you did bleed an awful lot it might make you feel quite poorly having low iron, but tbh 9.4 is very near the 'allowed' limit anyway, it's not super low - it's classed as mildly anaemic. Not even moderately! Certainly not severely. You should be fine even if you do have a smallish bleed.

Hopefully when i see the consultant on Thursday (thats if baby hasn't arrived by then) then will have gone up!! 9.4 doesnt seem very low atall though does it?