Worried I'm in labour 34 weeks

[elm26]

Hello

I've had tummy ache for the past 24 hours, it's a dull ache under my right rib that sometimes radiates into my back but goes all the way down to my pubic bone. My bump feels quite tight too.

It's making me feel nauseous and I was sick in the night although it was just bile (bright yellow and bitter).

I am constipated, I haven't been to toilet for a few days now which can be normal for me but this doesn't feel like constipation pain.

I also keep feeling damp down there, not enough to soak a pad of any sort. It's not gushing or dripping. Just damp in my knickers.

Do you think I should call the midwife advice line? Or do you think this just stretching/baby's moved position etc?

Definitely get checked

If in doubt, go and ask the midwife.

Go to maternity triage now.

This could be many things - or nothing much. But you need to know what’s going on, and you need to know if your waters have gone.

Ring them now.

If you feel like your waters may have gone slightly you need to get checked as it can put the baby at risk.
I don't think it sounds like early lbour as the only way to describe it was intense period pains... but everyone is different!
Hope you're ok and your mind put at ease soon xx

It’s always worth phoning triage if you’re worried. Personally it doesn’t sound like my experience of going into labour but better to be safe than sorry.

Have you had braxton hicks in your pregnancy? That feels like a tightening of your bump.

Also I was very damp in pregnancy.

I was sick when I went into labour but it was very intense and accompanied by diarrhoea. That was after I had definite labour pains for a few hours though. No mistaking it by that time.

Sounds like gallstones rather than labour, classic symptoms.

When my waters broke it felt just like what you're describing - damp knickers. Get checked asap.

I think it’s unlikely to be labour but you really should still get checked.

Braxton hicks or not drinking enough cold make my bump go hard.

I agree with PP that for labour pain it was much more like period pain than what you describe.

And I definitely go through various changes of vaginal discharge during pregnancy too, some of which are quite damp 🙈

But you should still get checked just to be sure, there’s a really easy test they can do to see if liquid is your waters or not

Thanks everyone so much.

The damp feeling threw me as I've been really dry throughout pregnancy, to the point that I was getting sore and bleeding and my midwife told me to use a special gel to hydrate down there.

I've had braxton hicks but they haven't really been painful however they could be now I'm further along I guess.

I'm not dehydrated, I go through about 3-4 litres of water a day. I had hyperemesis so needed to drink as much as possible and the habit has continued. I haven't been properly sick now for a couple of weeks except for last night.

I'm wondering if you're right about gallstones, it didn't cross my mind until you mentioned it @Roselilly36 I have a long family history of them too so not sure if this could be hereditary?

I have called the advice line and somebody from the the hospital pregnancy ward is going to call me back so will update.

Please get checked now. May be nothing but this sounds very similar to pains I was having before I lost my baby. I was much earlier in the pregnancy than you, so I'm sure whatever it is they can help you if you get checked.

I had these exact symptoms about 2 weeks before my 13 week 5 day scan was due and at that scan, the baby had died a couple of weeks prior... Which correlated to the timing of the pains etc you are describing. For yourself, baby is much bigger and more viable for life outside of the womb. So please don't panic, but incase it is signs of preterm labour or something going wrong inside, let them check so they can help!

I've also heard pains under the ribs at top of the belly can be gestational diabetes, again something they can help you with if managed. I know mine wasn't as I was so early on and bloods had only just been checked but you're much further along so could be that!

Get yourself checked out but my initial thoughts are gallstones .

Definitely get checked out and ask them for a cervical scan too. Midwifery triage was trying to send me home with a suspected UTI at 34+4 until I said "no something is definitely happening" they did an internal and I was 6cm dilated.

Baby came so quickly after if I hadn't fought and just went home she would have been born on the hard shoulder of the motorway.

For extra reassurance if you are in labour DD was perfectly healthy just very small.