Prodromal Labour Support

[daisyhrl]

So. I'm on day 10 of prodromal labour (prelabour / "false" labour - whatever you want to call it). Contractions all afternoon and evening, but gone by morning, then repeat. I'm going a little insane. I had 6 days of it with DD1, but this little one is hanging in there even longer. All is well medically, but I'm struggling to stay upbeat. Anyone else playing a similarly exhausting waiting game? I'm doing all the walk-bath-raspberry-leaf-tea-squats-chillout kind of recommendations, but trying not to focus too much on attempting to control things. My body must feel it needs to be doing this for a reason... Really, I'm just seeing if there's anyone out there who wants to help distract me or who is going through something similar and wants to commiserate! 😅

Hey, I'm only 37+ now and have had this for weeks already. 😭 I've too much water and a giant ogre of a baby so my midwife thinks these are what causes my contractions. Initially they were just tightenings, now they're painful and radiate from the bottom of my bump to my back. Lightening crotch all the way as well. 😑 They also come at random times, how often do yours come?

I can have hours of them being 2-7 min long but know they're not active labour. Some keep me up till the small hours, some wake me up, but they fizzle out all the same. Not lost any plug or anything yet so unsure if I'm even progressing. It's exhausting xx

2-7 min apart **

@GoT1904 Oof I'm sorry that's so hard. And for weeks already! Eeek. Hope you are actually managing to get some rest... Is it your first? My contractions start some time in the afternoon every afternoon, and continue fairly regularly until some time in the night, when I eventually fall asleep and they tail off. Don't have them in the mornings. I lost my plug about a week ago, so they must be doing something, but not enough yet! Last time was similar (except I had bad back pain so was harder to sleep), and finally my waters broke, and that kick started real labour (which was still 50 hours 😅🙄). How are you doing mentally? Do you find yourself getting your hopes up it's really starting over and over? I'm 39+6 now so really ready to get this little one out of there!

Hi both- coming to this super late but hoping maybe you can update me on how it went for you both? I am so similar. I’ve had these prodromal labour contractions almost every night for two weeks now (from wk39). Lost my mucous plug between week 40/41 and now I’m 41+3. Usually when I get in bed they kick in for a bit but fizzle out when I go to sleep. Last night the pattern changed and they woke me up and kept me up. theyre on and off a bit this morning

I was supposed to be induced today but thought against it as want to give myself w few more days. Scheduled in for Friday where I will be 42 weeks. I guess I’m just looking for some encouragement that this progressed for you both into spontaneous labour @daisyhrl @GoT1904 and I hope it all went well for you and you’re enjoying your little ones!

@Ciaraheff really happy to have the opportunity to share my experience! I went into spontaneous natural labour after 2 weeks, when my waters suddenly broke. Had very easy first 2 hours, then 2 hours of very intense rapid labour, then she was born! So all pretty quick once it actually got going. For reference, on the day I went into active labour, I went out for a long walk and just tried to switch off from thinking about it all. Waters broke just as we got home. I know it’s so hard to let go of the stress and obsessing about what’s going on, but it seemed to do the trick for me… One piece of advice: get your LO checked out by a (craniosacral) Osteo as soon as they arrive. My two weeks of contractions did a number on my LO’s neck. She’s totally fine but does need regular Osteo sessions for now.

Also yes, there was a change in contraction pattern for me that day as well - more during the morning, when I usually only had them from the afternoon onwards. But I definitely felt like it was the letting go of control that helped things finally go full steam ahead.

@daisyhrl thank you so much for the reply! It’s exactly what I needed to hear today to be honest. I’ve been trying all the things and I feel exhausted from it. I’m just home from a pedicure and lunch lol. I had two or three cramps/contractions when I was out which as you said is a change in pattern for me so really hoping it means something. I think total chill with a light daily walk will be the plan for me this week. If I go to 42 weeks on Friday then I will go for the induction and know I did all I can.

Thanks for the top tip on the osteo! He is moving a lot when I have the contractions so it kind of makes sense it might take a toll. Hopefully he’ll still have plenty of energy for labour. Manifesting a quick ish one like you- I have seen people report that’s what happened after prodromal. Every cloud and that!!

@daisyhrl Oh and one quick question- was there any mention of your baby’s position? My midwife said my baby was in the right position, but for one of my sweeps I saw a diff midwife who said they were LOP. from some stuff I’ve seen online, a baby not being in the right position could be the cause of prodromal labour- your contracting but the baby isn’t pushing down. Did you have any experience of this? The midwife who rescheduled my induction this morning wasn’t phased even if he is LOP- she said he should turn himself in Labour and worst case it just makes it a bit of a longer delivery. But of course I’m overthinking everything!

@Ciaraheff i actually had a week of prodromal labour with my first and was convinced it was a positioning issue so did all the mad things possible to try and improve positioning. (So many hours walking up stairs sideways 😂.) But then it happened again this time and midwife said baby was perfectly positioned. I have a theory though - I’ve always had a posterior cervix, and to have effective contractions, it needs to move anterior, where baby’s head applies pressure to opening rather than wall. I think prodromal labour can be necessary for those like me whose cervix takes a long time to move forward… Just a theory! Either way it’s serving some purpose I’m sure. I prefer to think of it as necessary rather than the result of an issue. For me, as exhausting as it was, it gave me some time to get my head straight about a few things I needed to before active labour, and I’m really grateful for that. Really hope you’re holding up ok! Pedicure and chill sounds like the best way possible to handle it all… Rest up if you can!

@Ciaraheff is this your first? If so, best piece of advice I can give (and was given) is that if you feel like you’re trying to chase labour, it’ll run away from you. When active labour is ready to happen, it’ll chase you and there’s no escaping it! In fact, if you actively turn your back on the idea of it (and sleep at any chance you can as much as you can!), rather than inviting it, it’ll probably sneak up on you…

@daisyhrl yes my cervix is still posterior! Head is quite engaged and cervix is quite soft but she said the cervix is still quite far back. Maybe further evidence for your theory? Thank you again so much! It’s been helpful and reassuring. I’ll try my best to just relax for the next few days and here’s hoping it all kicks off. Will keep you updated.

@daisyhrl and yes it’s my first! So naturally a bit of worrying and generally not knowing what is what going on 😅