Endless prodromal labour - experiences welcome!

[Lemoonada]

How / when did prodromal labour progress for you? Did you do anything that you feel helped it along?

Second pregnancy, first delivery was very easy, fast and no complications. First time around I had prodromal labour once over a 12 hour period the week before I delivered. This time I'm having painful contractions every. Single. Day. Sometimes all night. I'm completely knackered. Has anyone else had this experience?

On this occasion it's been basically non stop since 2am - no change in intensity or frequency though...

Never heard of it.

I had very mild cramping type pain many evenings for a couple of weeks before proper labour with DC2. However it wasn't really painful just felt like mild period cramps so it didn't interfere with life in any way. Feel for you OP, how many weeks are you now?

With my second baby, I had prodromal labour every afternoon until I went to try and sleep from my due date for 9 days until I gave birth at 41+2. I bounced on my ball like there was no tomorrow, forced myself to have sex (no pressure from DH at all but I wanted baby out) and tried every old wives tale going. I had 2 sweeps in that time too.
If it's any consolation, when i actually went into proper labour, it only lasted 2 and a half hours! Compared to my first which was 36 hours.

How many weeks are you?

You could google it

I'm 38 weeks and a bit, my first came at 39 so was hoping for a slightly earlier start this time? Yes I'd describe them as very mild, it's just the constant nature of them that I'm struggling with

I'm 38 and a bit! This sounds so intense and uncomfortable for you. How did you know it was the real deal/ did you have enough time to get to hospital?

What a timely thread! I've just been whining about this to a friend. 😂
I'm 39+4, had a whole 24 hours of random but painful contractions last weekend that just bloody stopped.
Been having them everyday ever since, but they're so irregular it means nothing at this point.

My midwife was just 🤷🏻‍♀️ she'll come when she's ready.
I'm so so tired.
Tried everything, spice, sex, ball, yoga, walking for as far as I can, which in my area of Scotland means actual mountain paths.

I just want to sleep without contractions 😭

Over heard of it either. You could explain.

My first I had 36 hours of ever building contractions then labour.
This one I have no idea what the hell she's doing.

The mind boggles at why this bothers you, feel free to google it or simply don't engage with a thread that means nothing to you 🤗

Are you having a similar experience??

Yes I feel this so strongly! I'm doing all the tricks and struggling to know when to even head into hospital without letting it get too late!

Wow are you me? Except I was 41+3 and my early labour went on for about 7 days. It wasn’t really intense for me physically but psychologically it was hard as I went to sleep with contractions every night thinking was it the start or not. Then as I was planning a home birth and they had me booked for induction, they agreed to get a midwife to give me one last exam and her checking me got things going and she was born 2.5hrs later, really easy labour, such fond memories of it all. And she was 10lb 5! First labour was looong. Second time I felt that my body had been spending that week making various adjustments to get her in the right place, so she just wheeched out.

Yes I had this, contractions all night that disappeared in the day, for four nights. I went into the unit at 41+5 to decline my induction and burst into tears as soon as I saw a midwife because I was so bloody exhausted! I asked for a sweep to find out what was going on and was 4cm and 'in labour' for the purposes of NHS paperwork. Baby was born at 4am the next day at 41+6

Try and rest, I've since learnt it's your bodies way of getting baby ready to be born. Perhaps they are not quite in the right position. Google the Miles Circuit that might help and I hope you get to meet your baby soon! X

Bless you, I hope it's soon for you. It was super intense as I was also getting very anxious about knowing when to go into hospital as it was potentially an hour's drive away in rush hour.

I had a feeling I was in labour as I woke up with contractions which I'd not had, mine were always later in the day. They were also a bit more intense than they had been. It was 7am and I just thought I'd get my then 4 year old DD to school but by 7.30 I was shouting at my DH to call my mum to come over. We got to the hospital at 9am and she was born at 9.29 so I made it. No pain relief but it was actually an amazing experience after a very long difficult first birth.

Wishing you all the best, hoping baby comes soon as these last few weeks can be soul destroying!

Yes, I seem to be prone to it. With my second it was particularly bad though - "breathe through it" level pain every four minutes for hours. It started around 36 weeks for me but I only had it a couple of nights a week. On the plus side my uterus was very keen to eject DD when she finally came, and labour was fast and a total breeze.

One possible cause I thought of (for me), was that DD was back to back, and I thought maybe the contractions were trying to turn her. I only worked this out about seven prodromal labours in! But on that seventh one I tried to move a lot, and got onto my hands and knees every time a contraction came and sort of circled my hips and core, and she did turn! That was my last prodromal labour before birth but of course this may have been a coincidence. Worth a try though?

@Lemoonada the description you gave in your OP sounds more painful than what I had though as it never interfered with my sleep, it was that mild. I used a hot water bottle for comfort sometimes and sometimes took paracetamol if I felt it was needed. It was obvious when it was finally labour proper because then they had progressed to being more painful and felt more like clear waves of contractions as opposed to just permanent mild cramping pains.

You could possibly request a sweep if you wanted to? There's not much evidence to support them really though and hospitals all seem to have different rules on when they will start offering them.

My DC2 wasn't born until 41+4 which was about 1.5 weeks later than my DC1 btw. And as I say, I had the cramps for a few weeks before the actual labour. So you may have a little while yet I'm afraid.

I think baby is in a good position but I've been doing all sorts of movements to get him in the right position (just some stuff I found online) basically every night for the last couple of weeks! I will try hands and knees and see if that helps, thank you 🙏

I don't know if they wake me up because they're intense, I think it's more because I'm anxious about getting to the hospital on time + generally not sleeping very well at this stage!

I will have a think about a sweep, my first birth was so smooth I'm reticent to interfere but at the same time I'm so so tired 😴

@Nursemumma92 I'm so glad you got to hospital on time and I have the same worries about getting there which is why I think I'm stressing out a bit... although with 30mins to spare isn't my ideal situation but it does sound like it was a great experience nonetheless!

Have you got a home birth "pack" just in case making it to the hospital isn't on the cards?

@Lemoonada you may be able to tell which way baby is facing yourself by poking your belly? When DD was back to back I could feel a bunch of limbs near my belly button, loads of knobbly bits! Once she turned I could easily feel a bit hard smooth thing - her back. I don't have much abdominal fat though so it was quite easy to feel her.
If you can't tell you could always ask your midwife at your next routine appointment.

This happened with my first. She was back to back. In the end when I did go into actual labour it was also slow, and movement helped - squatting, hands and knees, bending forward, etc. Eventually she appeared!! It is super frustrating! And I’d never heard of it, I didn’t know anyone who’d been through the same so I was just a bit confused. I think if I could do anything differently I would prioritise trying to keep my mind off it. Watching favourite films, listening to favourite music, podcasts, whatever works for you to make you feel happy and safe. Practice breathing through it, finding techniques which help (TENS machine, squeezing a comb etc), and rest. Keep eating little and often while you can. You’re not far off now.

Well this thread has appeared at the right time for me - 2nd night running, kept being woken up through the night with painful cramps, from 3am just could not sleep as they were so strong and was having to breathe through them. Continued on all night and then in the past hour they've started getting weaker and further apart 🙃

I'm 40+1 today. Never had this with my 1st born!

My friend has this as the moment. She’s 41+3 today. I was hoping for advice to pass on 😆 Baby is in a good position and she’s had a sweep and acupuncture, neither of which have helped. I guess it’ll come when it comes, but that feels unhelpful; bless her!

I hope all of your babies are here soon. Her midwife has shared a load of stats about second babies on average only coming three days earlier - so she’s got a few more days to go if that’s that case. Might help some of you!