What constitutes 'as long as possible'? - Page 2

[rparker]

Originally Posted by WifeofAnt

Okay, I'm 40 minutes away from our hospital (the local hospital is as far as baby-friendly as you can get). Would the same things apply?

I would consider driving to somewhere nearer the hospital (i.e. restaurant, park, shopping center) earlier in labor just because (for me) a 10 minute car ride at even 4 cm really sucked. My labor was fast and I would have had time for a 40 minute car ride though; it just would have been really uncomfortable.

[phathui5]

On the doula thing, you could contact DONA and ask if there are any doulas in your area that are "in training" and then call them and ask if they have free or reduced rates.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by WifeofAnt

Okay, I'm 40 minutes away from our hospital (the local hospital is as far as baby-friendly as you can get). Would the same things apply?

I'm 45 minutes from the hospital and we left when my contractions were around 2-3 minutes apart. I was 7cm and it was about 4 or 5 hours later when she was born (though I pushed for 2 of those hours, so!) Generally speaking, I think it applies, unless you know you have fast labors. If it's your first and you don't know how fast you're going to go, you might want to consider leaving just a little earlier.

[bobandjess99]

I agree about looking back at your own labors for signpoints. For example, for ME personally, in both my births, my very FIRST contraction was "OMFG i can NOT do this, worst pain EVER" and there is ZERO talking, laughing, smiling, walking...doing ANYthing except wanting to die from the very onset of labor. I also never have contractiones less than 5 minutes apart...they START at 5 minutes apart and get closer from there. SO..using standard recommendations, I should head to the hospital ...at my very FIRST contraction, lol. I also, despite the severity, never had a super short labor either...a fairly standard 10-16 hours of labor each time, despite starting out at OMG awful pain and frequent active labor contractions.

[mckittre]

I never successfully timed my contractions with my first. So I waited until I was throwing up, walked 40 minutes to the hospital, and got there at 8cm. Worked great except for the 3 hours of pushing. I'll do the same if this next labor is similar, but I'm not sure whether I'll get the useful vomiting signal again.

[RedOakMomma]

From Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way:

"he encourages his first-time mothers who live within a reasonable distance from the hospital to leave when contractions are two or three minutes apart, lasting [from start to peak] at least sixty seconds, with a very serious emotional signpost. Second-timers come in when contractions are four minutes apart and sixty seconds long, with a very serious emotional signpost."

For me, my serious signpost is when I start being unable to concentrate on what others are doing or telling me, when I get snappish when people interrupt my contraction "rituals" (doing whatever it is I need to do to get through the peak of a contraction), and when my husband sees that I'm "in the zone." And yeah...exactly what Galatea said...no smiling going on. Just serious work.

What's a ritual? In my first labor, the ritual that developed was when I NEEDED (really. NEEDED!) a cool washcloth pressed to my face during each contraction. In my second labor, it was when I needed to focus on a speck on the floor and do figure-eights on my birth ball. God help the person who tried to stop me, change the ritual, or interrupt me during that time. I was 100%, more than 100%! attached to that need, that method of coping, that focus.

Once I had a ritual/that serious signpost, dh waited for my contractions to hit about 4 or 5 minutes apart before leaving for the hospital (about a 25 minute drive). One complication was that my contractions very rapidly went from 5 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart (I blame it on the RRL tea), but all was well...I got to the hospital at 8cm, and ds3 was born about 40 minutes later.

[Galatea]

My ritual last time was kneeling on the floor, upper body on the couch, low, rhythmic moans, with the MW doing a figure 8 rub on my lower back. Dh tried and was so bad at it that I snapped at him to go away!

[RedOakMomma]

A ritual thread would be fun...it's so interesting to see what different people need/do in different labors.

Another quote that assured dh of when to be AT the hospital (also from the Bradley Way book):

What you almost always can tell is this: If she has been working at labor for hours, and her contractions are two and three minutes apart and lasting sixty to ninety seconds, and she has the self-doubt signpost, you can tell her with complete honest and assurance that she is down to the end of her work.