stop and start labor (a bit long)

[shannomad]

Well today is my due date (my 3rd baby), and this has been a hard few days for me, with contractions keeping me up at night several nights in a row, then stopping with daybreak. They feel like real early labor contractions, crampy, etc. Thursday, I had bloody show in the morning only, then yesterday (and today), I had lots of bloody show all day long (lots of mucus, red streaks). Yesterday evening, in particular, it really seemed like labor was starting again. I was in that prelabor mood, then had lower abdomen/lower back cramping, contractions that were 5-7 minutes apart, albeit not terribly strong, but stronger than BH. Then, by 9PM, again, it fizzled. I woke up last night several times to contractions, but nothing ever really took off either.

I'm just so frustrated. I have had to arrange on-call childcare for my other 2 kids since we have no local family, and I just have no idea when the labor is actually real. I had no problems like this with my first two. It was obvious when labor started. I started having contractions, and they kept going.

Plus, with my 2nd birth, after a fairly lengthy and mild early labor, labor suddenly took off like a freight train, and I had the baby within 2 hours. This time, I'm afraid I'm going to miss all of the early labor signs due to all of this confusion, and have the baby in the car on the way to the hospital...

Anyway, thanks for letting me whine. Just wondering whether anyone has any thoughts or experiences with this kind of thing?

[burm_keep]

I feel your frustration. I've felt so many episodes of cramp/back ache along with some spotting that I keep getting excited and nothing comes of it. I'm working on changing my mindset to patience but it isn't easy, lol.

[octanebeetle27]

I had a similar experience (also with my 3rd). I had strong contrax--enough that I had to stand up and sway thru them--every 5-10 mins for about 4-5 hours every night starting Sat night. Wednesday, 3 am, I woke up with the the same old deal but this time they didn't stop at daybreak like they had been. The contrax felt the exact same as the ones I had been having every previous night. They also were not totally regular but were a bit closer (3-7 mins apart)My midwife's assistant came at 10 am to check me and I was 7 cm open! Yay! I wept with relief b/c I knew this time was the real deal! My daughter was born just before 5 pm that day

I am so sorry you are going thru this! It is soooo incredibly frustrating!!! Especially when you are up all night and then have to take care of or arrange care for little ones the next day. I was extremely fortunate that my husband could take that week off so I got to sleep when my contrax stopped as the sun came up. I tried to rest rest rest as much I could during the day and kept on eating/drinking to keep myself in good condition. My midwife said that this kind of prodromal, start/stop labor could go on for a week!! I sure hope it doesn't last that long for you. But know that it will EVENTUALLY result in the birth of your baby

[scrappingmom]

I"m having a similar experiance. this is my 6th but i've been induced every time so never started on my own. Even being induced with pitocin I could hardly tell wher things were at until it was time to push. I live 40 minutes from the hospital and would ahve to get my other kids to where they are going so even if everything goes perfect from the time i KNOW 'm in labor to getting to the hospital would ake no less than an hour.. thats if its midday and i can get everyone to work together to get in the van and go. If it is a school day i'll have to get my oldest DS out of school, so minimum 1hr and a half.
Being induced when i know for sure things are happening i have a max of 30 minute warning.. usually less than 15 min.
So yeah.. i know how you feel.. every night i'm barely sleeping cause i'm afraid i wont wake up in time to get to the hospital.

no helpfull info for you just to say i know how you feel!

what about natural induction methods? maybe they'd help push you over the edge?

[ColoradoMama]

I had contractions for twelve hours last night and this morning and they just stopped! Gah! It's frustrating. My body's never done this before, so it's all new to me. No advice, but I'm right there with ya!

[mrsfatty]

So does mild nipple stimulation keep the prodromal labor going? Cause with my second--I had DAYS like this (every day for a week before I gave birth to him)--finally on the last day (I couldn't take it anymore) I did nipple stimulation and it made the contractions stronger, longer, and closer together--I also did a LOT of walking and a LOT of pelvic tilts and stuff...