Early Labour ?? - how do I cope

[Chelseaftm]

Went and had my hair done yesterday afterwards I began to feel really strange , soon as I come home I had a bath and a nap and told OH I felt unwell , at about 7/8pm began to have 'contractions' every 10-15 mins however due to braxton hicks I didn't bother timing then , anyway , stayed up until 11/12pm and then managed to get a couple of hours sleep , woke up with the worst pain ever crampy , backache , vagina daggers every 10 Minutes after 4 hours they then reduced to 6/7 minutes however that's where they have remained for the past 2/3 hours !!! I'm absolutely knackered , been pottering around , been on my ball , had a bath , just don't really know what to do with myself

How long can they last like this ? I'm a ftm so really clueless , but I'm thinking gawd if I'm knackered now how the hell am I going to push this baby out of me 😒

Not really sure op, seen some posts on here where early labour has lasted days, but hope not the case for you.

The only advice I would give is that try and get some rest as with my first I was the same as you, couldn’t get settled as think nerves and excitement kept me awake and then once baby came I had been up for about 24 hours, if you can try and get a sleep or some rest.

I think they say to go into hospital once contractions are 5 minutes apart but any concerns then contact your midwife lead unit.

Good luck

I feel I am in the same situation, ftm absolutely no idea what to expect, im 35+1 and having back cramps and stomach tightenings, increased discharge but can't differenciate between what are bh's and actual contractions as I feel they pass for abit then come back and I'm not sure if I've even had bh's before but I feel really nauseous and just not right 😩
I'm having and elcs so need to go to the hospital before full blown labour happens. I feel as though I have trapped wind but I am passing wind so I have no idea what's going on, hope we both figure it out soon, its quite frustrating when you have no idea! Good luck, when are you due?

Oh it really sucks 🙁, it really is a waiting game at the end.

I’ve already had baby, he’s 6 months now, can’t believe how quickly it’s gone. Also have a 5 year old, DS1.

Just keep a track of the contraction times, I went to hospital once mine were 4 minutes apart. Admitted at back of 11 a.m. to hospital and only 1 cm, but had DS2 at 4.28 pm.

I had DS1 at 36 weeks so if you don’t feel right then I would take advice, can’t do any harm. Hope it all goes well xxx

Have you had your show yet? My first pregnancy 2 years ago everyone told me I couldn't be in early labour But I'd never had BH and the pain was definitely nothing I'd felt before. First contraction was 3am. I gave birth at 1.30pm that day. Some people have fast Labour's. SiL had contractions for 3 days. Do you know how baby is laying? Back to Back can lengthen labour so you'd be expecting a while. Unfortunately my family have short labours so we don't have experience of long ones to compare.

Are you still timing them? And have you spoken to a MW?

I had three days of that after my bloody show... in the end I went into hospital and basically refused to leave. I needed pain relief!! She came about 12 hours later after they augmented my labour when my waters went.

It's tough. I wasn't coping well by the time I got hospital. Seriously - get sleep!!!!

I had three days of that, managed with warm baths and paracetamol. By the 4th day I went to the hospital and refused to leave until they did something (after being sent home twice). The midwives were convinced I wasn't progressing because the contractions themselves were not strong enough, and I could talk through them, but I was in pretty much continuous agony, and I couldn't take that any more. It turned out my bladder was blocked and was delaying the progress of my labour, so my waters couldn't break and nothing could get going. They had to fit a catheter and break my waters in the end.

My advice is get as much rest as you can, keep in touch with your midwives and let them know what's happening, and listen to their advice. But also keep an eye on your bladder, if you find you're not weeing or only passing very small amounts, get thee to the hospital and tell them.

Good luck!

This stage lasted a week for me. In the end I got so tired I would doze off between contractions. My advice would be to get some sleep at any opportunity, even if it's a light doze for a few mins

I was in early labour for 3 and a half days, from the Tuesday afternoon until the Friday night.
It was exhausting, especially as I wasn't sleeping much due to the contractions waking me up. But I just tried to carry on as normal. Best thing to do. Good luck

Thankyou for all your messages , managed to get some sleep thank goodness , I'm a little OCD so going to get out my detol spray and clean my house not that it needs to be cleaned to take my mind off , taken more paracetamol not that it helps but you never know , contractions have stopped for now, just got lower back pain ! Pregnancy is a minefield I swear !! 

@DeadDoorpost litterally read your message and went to the loo and boom 💥 mucas plug has departed ! So hopefully some progress will be made !!

Good to hear @Chelseaftm you may find some more some away. I had mine come out in 3 chunks on 3 days. 3rd day I was in labour and there was some blood. On the phone to the midwife at the time who said it was fine as long as it was pink. So fingers crossed it ramps up for you! I'd hate a long labour. I suck with pain