Weekly chit chat February 7th-13th - Page 2

[nighten]

Originally Posted by Queen of my Castle

I've found the info on this to be confusing and not very clear- some texts consider Braxton Hicks to be pre-labour, but I don't agree. I think the difference is that prodromel labour feels like the beginning of labour, but doesn't go anywhere, at least not immediately. I suppose pre-labour and prodromel labour could be the same thing, but I guess in my head I think of prodromel labour as happening weeks before the real thing, and prelabour is the warm up before labour. However, that's not necessarily true. I'd be interested in hearing what others think.

In my experience, I have lots of braxton Hicks contrax, and some can be seriously strong and into my back and pelvis. But when I started prodromel labour I'd get bouts of contrax that were different than BH, but not regular and not progressive. When I finally did go into labour I knew almost immediately that these contrax were different than both the BH and the prodromel. So that's why I don't agree when pre/prodromel labour is stated just as BH.

Thank you! My BH are nothing like the contractions I've been having the last week. For me, BH are in front pretty much, and my whole abdomen. My prelabor contractions are inside -- I can feel them in my cervix, and there's a rising pressure/tightening internally. It's not like BH to me at all. It actually makes me feel a little lightheaded when it's happening (very wave-like), which is weird but my midwife said is normal for some women.

But the notion that BH are prodromal labor, for me, is absurd. Especially since I have an irritable uterus and get BH from first trimester on. But I think that's why this has been so confusing and frustrating for me too, because it's so totally different from last time. While my BH are consistent and in the front/abdomen, last time my ctx were all in my lower back. So this time, feeling these inside is just weird. I'm wondering what the "real" labor ctx will feel like. Hopefully not back labor again.

Anyway. I'm glad you posted that.

[BathrobeGoddess]

First night of insomnia...ever! I'm eating some yogurt, hopefully that will help me chill out a bit and get to sleep...

[PaigeC]

Originally Posted by Queen of my Castle

This time I'm not taking any stock in it- last time with a couple weeks of it I got very frusterated, emotional and cranky.

I'm so glad to hear this. This is my first and I didn't expect this frustration. I'll have ctrx for several hours as close as 8 min apart and think "this is it" but it has been 3 days now. I lost my mucus plug, loose stool, etc. I didn't expect this and I'm letting it frustrate me. Good to know it is normal.

And I"m continually hungry! Like every 2 hours! Is this normal?

[LionTigerBear]

I am getting very frustrated with the prelabor too. :

[lookingforaname]

to try to insert some optimism . . . . I was just reviewing Natural Childbirth the Bradley way, and it reminds us that all the prelabor stuff is NOT meaningless, it's just our bodies way of laboring slow and easy - and definitely worth the trade-off as it cuts down on hard labor time! So don't view it as "false labor," view it as, "I'm lucky my body is easing me through the process!

I know, easier said than done!

Hang in there everyone!!!

[linds]

Originally Posted by PaigeC

I'm so glad to hear this. This is my first and I didn't expect this frustration. I'll have ctrx for several hours as close as 8 min apart and think "this is it" but it has been 3 days now. I lost my mucus plug, loose stool, etc. I didn't expect this and I'm letting it frustrate me. Good to know it is normal.

And I"m continually hungry! Like every 2 hours! Is this normal?

I've been like this for the past two days and wondered if it's normal... the body just preparing and wanting to stay fueled??? My first too so I have no idea what is normal or not. I'm due on the 18th and so far no real signs. I have had continual back pain on the sides since last night but that's it. It is so hard to just sit back and wait and question every little pain/feeling! GOOD LUCK!

[nighten]

My toddler has been out of control lately. She's going through a growth spurt or something -- or maybe she senses how things are about to change or something. She's normally a joy to be around but lately she's been so touchy and tantrumy, it's just driving me crazy. Maybe she's just picking up on my sensitivity/touchiness?And I have such little patience with her.

Last night she didn't fall asleep until after 10pm, which is two hours past her bedtime. It was awful. And at one point I realized that I was so stressed about it maybe that was keeping me from going into labor.

In which case what the heck can you do???



My mom lives an hour away else she'd come up more often to give me a break (though she was up three days last week), and my husband has been watching G to give me a break some days too, but then he gets frustrated and I have to come in and try to help and I'm just really stressed about it all.

[Mainstream Hippie]

With my first, the first contractions I felt were labor. I didn't notice BH with her at all.

With my second, the week or so before he arrived, I had loooooots of prodromal labor contractions. I kept thinking each time might be it, and would eat gallons of salsa and that kind of fun, silly stuff, thinking I wasn't going to get wrapped up in it, but every night when I went to bed, and the contractions disappeared until the next evening, I would get a little disappointed. I didn't realize how much I was investing emotionally, and it kind of robbed some of the joy from his last week on the inside. And it made me irritable, and tired. That may have also been the running around after the 2 year old, though.

Anyway, that has changed my whole mindset for this baby. I am trying to not get caught up in anything. It has gotten harder over the last day or two, which is a bit discouraging. I was hoping to be zen the whole time until labor time. But I am sick (congestion, runny nose, coughing), and starting to get physically uncomfortable more often, and some contractions (not painful), loose stools (probably be related to the antibiotics despite alternating with probiotics), frequent needs to pee. I guess that is our body's way of making it so we are ready to give birth and move on to the next stage?

I also regret not viewing my son's prelabor as anything beyond warm up contractions. I have started leaning towards thinking prelabor contractions that die off are often an indication of a presentation issue attempting to be worked out. If I had that mindset, I probably would have done more pelvic rocking, kegeling and that kind of thing. I don't think he was malpositioned particularly, but my labor with him did start with his water breaking, and then a ton of pressure and pain on my pelvic bone. I thought it was going to break a bone down there, literally.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by lookingforaname

to try to insert some optimism . . . . I was just reviewing Natural Childbirth the Bradley way, and it reminds us that all the prelabor stuff is NOT meaningless, it's just our bodies way of laboring slow and easy - and definitely worth the trade-off as it cuts down on hard labor time! So don't view it as "false labor," view it as, "I'm lucky my body is easing me through the process!!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by nighten

My toddler has been out of control lately. ......

Last night she didn't fall asleep until after 10pm, which is two hours past her bedtime. It was awful. And at one point I realized that I was so stressed about it maybe that was keeping me from going into labor.

OMG, I went throught the SAME THING last night! Only with a two and a four-year-old!!! In this case, they were so excited to get the new furniture including their NEW BED, that they JUST WOULD NOT SLEEP. And I was so thinking I might go into labor yesterday-- because I had just been adjussted by the chiropractor, and everything felt all "set" because finally our new furniture was here, and I prefer to go into labor on a weekend when DH is already home-- everything would have been perfect (I thought) but it wasn't. I was so disappointed that after we FINALY got the boys to fall asleep around 10:30 (they are usually asleep by 8 or 8:30 at the latest) I was just so sore from putting furniture together (IKEA ) and wrestling with recalcatrant tots and I felt bad because I had yelled at them () that I just sobbed. DH wanted us to relax and watch TV but I was too grumpy and out-of-sorts. So we went to bed.

Then about an hour after we wet to bed the boys woke up, disoriented in their new bed and upset, and DH brought them into our bed which made me uncharacteristically grumpy (I don't usually mind them with us at night) but I was having some uncomfortable back-pain-mentrual-cramp-like contractions-- I think the baby's position may have shifted some due to my stress earlier-- so it was harder to sleep, and now there was no room for me. I eventually got up and did my hypnosis with aromatherapy and fell asleep on the couch, and then later in the boys' new bed (which is very comfy ) and the hypnosis helped a lot and that felt better.

This morning I still felt sore and sleepy so DH took the boys to church by himself GOD BLESS HIM I that man) and I was able to take a nice hot shower and then do TWO sessions of hypnosis and a nap. Now I feel SO GOOD. I even woke up feeling more beautiful (WTH is that? I don't know but I'll take it!) I've been feeling "round" (water retention) and plain for days but when I woke up, I don't know, my eyes seemed more bright and intense and my face-- less fat I guess? Maybe less water retention. Hmmm. Anyway . . . I feel much better now . . . and more at peace.

Sorry that was so long.

[nighten]

LTB, I'm sorry you had such a crappy night too, but am so glad your morning went so well. My husband has been great all day, focusing on Guinevere so I could just have a break. And my mom has also been really nice and not guilt-inducing at all lately, which is a very welcome break too.

I just had a really bad night and a not so great early morning. But the day has improved for sure.

[Enudely]

Originally Posted by JesiLynne

I'm here and PRAYING I DON'T go into labor, 3 outta 5 kiddos are throwing up and have fevers, last night it was 4, but I think Leiah is done now. Thank GOD for Crystal. I don't know what I would have done without her. My poor Luke is the sickest I think.

EDD is tmw though.

my daughter is running a fever too....

[Past_VNE]

Add me to the sick kid list. DS was up with a fever last night. And, he's running one today, too. I was up all night, regardless, so he didn't keep me up. I was having SERIOUS BH or prodromals...whichever they were, they were hard at work.

DH is just finishing the flooring in DS's room. Now, we don't like the paint color. LOL So, next stop is get a darker/browner/redder color and repaint. What we just put up turned out way too orange. Ugh.

We LOVE the bamboo. We've had it in our room for a few weeks now and are very happy with it. It's incredibly hard and should be able to stand up to the types of abuse we dish out. We are terribly hard on our floors.

TMI, but...I'm pretty darn sure my water's leaking intermittently. I keep ending up with about a tablespoon or so of fluid in my undies and it's definitely not pee. Also, I find myself dripping a little as I stand up from the toilet after wiping. And, again, definitely not pee. So, either I'm really wet (not impossible, I'm crazy horny, but it's too watery for that, I think) or I'm leaking.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by Past_VNE

TMI, but...I'm pretty darn sure my water's leaking intermittently. I keep ending up with about a tablespoon or so of fluid in my undies and it's definitely not pee. Also, I find myself dripping a little as I stand up from the toilet after wiping. And, again, definitely not pee. So, either I'm really wet (not impossible, I'm crazy horny, but it's too watery for that, I think) or I'm leaking.

That can be another way of losing your mucous plug.

[Past_VNE]

Really? Thanks, I had no idea.

[JesiLynne]

Well I am sick too. I starting throwing up a couple hours after dh started. It's mostly diarrhea though, which my kids didn't have, Thank God.
I've been contraxing though. Figures, this baby comes today and I am sooooooo not prepared now.

[cagnew]

Wow. I am sorry about all the sickness everyone is having to deal with! I'm sending you all "Get Well Now" thoughts

Past_VNE: My dh would love to hear me (or see me type) "I'm crazy horny." Poor guy.

[PaigeC]

Originally Posted by Mainstream Hippie

With my second, the week or so before he arrived, I had loooooots of prodromal labor contractions. I kept thinking each time might be it, and would eat gallons of salsa and that kind of fun, silly stuff, thinking I wasn't going to get wrapped up in it, but every night when I went to bed, and the contractions disappeared until the next evening, I would get a little disappointed. I didn't realize how much I was investing emotionally, and it kind of robbed some of the joy from his last week on the inside. And it made me irritable, and tired.

Thanks for sharing this experience. This is exactly what I'm doing to myself. I don't want to wish away any minute of the experience and I certainly don't want to be so moody! I have to tell DH and my mom to stop asking me if I'm in labor because it just makes me angrier!

inhale...relax...be patient.

[chaoticzenmom]

I'm sorry about all the sick kids and mommy's we've got right now. I was afraid that we were going to have that issue, but apparently, our bug was very small. My daughter had a tummy ache and was all grey colored, but she recovered by the end of the morning two days ago and today, my youngest son had that same thing. I was talking with my husband and all of a sudden thought I would throw up, so I went to lay down and take a nap. When I woke up, I was fine.

I've been having pressure and mucous, but when I feel inside, the baby is really high. My contractions are very sporatic, no relabor here. I really hoped I'd wake up today in labor. Not going to happen with my wild kids fighting with each other all day today I think I may send them away next weekend. I really don't want to have the baby during the week.

[mama-aya]

I haven't had a mucus plug for weeks, it just keeps falling out, and I've had some slightly bloody show every once in awhile. Then this afternoon I lost a good glob of gooey blood. I feel excited, but I'm trying to keep calm. It could still be weeks, right?
I know all this early stuff is good, and maybe an easier way to labor- it's taken 17 and 7 hours to get from 2 cm to 3 cm before, and I'm already there. But really, it's so exhausting.
I keep being surprised by my attitude in the last couple of weeks. This is the only pregnancy I've ever had (7) that I've been calm and felt so sure of things just working out and being okay. And I hate ending it feeling so uptight and tired and cranky and emotionally unpredictable.

[AKislandgirl]

I haven't checked in since Fiona was born. We are settling in nicely. My mom just flew home today. She was such a great help but it's nice to just be us. Breastfeeding is going well and she is gaining weight quickly. My boobs are a little sore but not too bad. I hope that goes away soon.

I'm so sorry to hear about all the sick mama's and families. I hope you heal quickly. I can't wait to hear about more babies! I'm still amazed that Fiona is here! Soon all the Feb babies will be here!