Two false labors and counting. . . what does this mean?

[Paxetbonum]

Okay so I am not due until March 11th but Saturday I had a series of very real contractions that petered out when I took a bath (lasted maybe an hour) Then Monday night evening to last night I had intermident contractions every ten to twenty minutes.

At eight last night they started comming every five minutes and stronger and I called the midwife to come. Dh and I made the birth bed, put the toddler down etc. Then I lay down and half an hour later they totally dissapear and stop. I had to call the midwife who turned around and went back home and I felt like a total idiot.

RRRR. so this morning I am back to the very very VERY occasional contraction. I wish this would either go away permenently so I could just mentally put the baby's birth in the future of sometime in the next month and a half or else KNOW the baby is comming in the next day or two.

Has anybody had false labors like this and then not had the baby come for like another three or four weeks?

While the contractions are mild, they still are painful and I don't think I can continue this contstant watchfullness for real labor to set in indefinitley. With my first my labor came and then picked up and was very obvious. While it supprised us (also early baby) we didn't have to play this back and forth game which made the mental adjustment to an early baby easier.

[CityGirl]

the term "false labor" is an ob-coined myth. There is no false labor: there is pre-labor or practice labor, and it has a purpose. It is softening and effacing your cervix and flexing your uterine muscles in preparation for birth. Try not to be too frustrated by it or think of it as useless. I wouldn't call the midwife until you have a really well established pattern of contractions--or call her, but don't necessarily tell her to come that soon.

Your body is doing advance work. Thank it!

[TRIBE]

Exactly what CityGirl said! Its not false labor I go thru this pre-labor or latent labor or prodromal labor or practice labor (whatever you wish to call it) usually 2-3 weeks before I birth.

After going thru that for a few weeks its hard for me to say ok this is it, but then when true labor does hit you will know it. Follow your intincts on this one. If taking a bath, drinking a bit of wine, laying down and napping, changing your activity in anyway changes the pattern of the ctrx its most likely early or pre-labor stuff.

With my last one I knew it was "real" when nothing I did changed the pattern or lessened their intensity. Of course this was after several hours of the 1st stage labor where I wasnt truly convinced I was actually in labor yet LOL Im not helping at all am I?

[Paxetbonum]

Yes I know that these contractions are doing something and helping. I am curious if this kind of thing also happens with first time moms but that they maybe don't feel it as much. I remember with Angelica I was really effaced a week or two before she came and had lots of BH contractions but didn't feel a thing.
These on the other hand are more painful. I wonder if it is because this is my second. . . .

At least I have gotten tons of stuff done today as I now have no procrastination excuses if this baby is comming in the next few weeks vs. a month from now.

Thanks moms

[Quindin]

I have pre-labor with all my pregnancies 3-4 weeks before the labor (which meant around 38 weeks). This time they started already at 36.

Just relax and try not too worry so much about it. Also, try not to think so much about them while you're having them, otherwise you get disappointed for no reason making the last few weeks harder than they need to be. Your body is doing what it is supposed to and each contraction you have gets you closer and closer to meeting your baby

[2boys2girls]

Yes, this prelabor is very frustrating for expectant families. I had it from 32 weeks with my 2nd, and for the last 6 weeks (nearly every day) with my fourth. You would think that by the fourth child, you would KNOW when it's real labor. It really feels exactly like real labor. I used to get annoyed when I just read the word "Braxton-Hicks". This is real, and it's the same feeling as true labor. With my 2nd pregnancy, the baby was so big, I thought for sure he would come early, as I was contracting painfully daily, but he didn't. They all came right on their due dates. I feel for you. I did not enjoy pregnancy, but I was on cloud nine for months after the baby was born. It's hard, but before you know it, you will have your reward!

[srmina]

I had contractions 5-10 minutes apart pretty much all the time for the last 7 weeks of my first pregnancy (weeks 34-41). Well, they settled when I slept, but I would have several hours of them straight per day. This was especially true weeks 37-41 and since they did not care if I delivered at that point, they just let it go. This was just "Me." I never dilated, just practiced a lot.

With this pregnancy, they have not been quite as active, but I still usually get an hour or two a day when I have steady contractions 5-10 minutes apart.

What cracks me up is that the docs say I am not allowed to go into "labor" because of my history with dd (umbilical cord rupture)...but I have been "in labor" since 18 weeks!!!!!

[Paxetbonum]

Thanks. Its good to hear everybody's experiences. I have definitley found these few days that the contractions are much less distracting if I ignore them.

Looks like I will keep doing that until I get some kind of definite clue. As my dh says. "well, he can't stay in there till he's twenty!"

[Finnsma]

Prodromal labor drove me nuts with my son. It was awful! This time I've been so focused on the fact that my body knows what it's doing and is doing exactly what it needs to be doing this prodromal 'fun' hasn't been a big deal at all. I just keep repeating to myself that my body is doing it's work and even if this isn't IT, all the work it's doing now is getting us closer to the big day. Plus it also helps that my son took off with my watch and hid it. :LOL No watch = no timing contrax = no obsessing! lol Like tonight, I've been having a ton of good hard contrax, I have to breath through, lots of lower back pain, and I can literally feel the work being done on my cervix. And while I can't help but wonder if this will end up being IT, I'm more excited that my body is obviously getting ready for the big day, even if it doesn't end up being today. I figure every contrax is getting us closer to welcoming our new little miracle! It's SO EXCITING and so amazing how our bodies know just what to do! It's such a huge leap for me to have such faith in my body with all the mess I've been through with docs telling me the exact opposite.

ANyway, your body really does know what it's doing! Trust it! ANd YAY! Your baby is getting closer by the minute to being welcomed into your arms!

[mama23k]

With my first, I lost my plug at 31 weeks and LITERALLY tried to have him that night(got dilated to 3+ before they stopped it). I spent the next 5 weeks on bed rest. With the next two, I had contractions daily from about 36 weeks on--and then (at 38 weeks each time) had my babies FAST!!! (6 cm to holding the baby in 45 minutes or less--did the first 6 cm in about an hour to an hour and a half). Those daily contractions truly do get things ready to go, whether you're obviously dilating or not. Boy, do they suck in the meantime, though!

My midwife told me during my last pregnancy that if you get in the tub, it will usually either stop things or start them up. It seemed to hold true for me ( everybody's different, though) and it made them much more tolerable whether they were the real thing or not. I'm having them daily at 35 weeks now, and have been in the tub several times a day--everything usually slows way down or stops completely when I do that. It does help make things more comfortable in the meantime. I KNEW when I was actually about to have my daughter when I crawled in the tub and started PUSHING when things were pretty slow before that!

Hang in there, mamas! You'll have your angels before you know it.

[Paxetbonum]

That's so funny! I've been in and out of the tub the past few days usually with my two year old accomanying me. She'd spend all day in the tub if I let her so she thinks this is great. The contractions have sort of established a sort of pattern now that I am really getting into the groove with. They sort of go away when I am walking around and then when I sit down for an extended period or drive the car on our bumpy road they come back. This morning I laid in bed for a while feeling them. Its sort of nice actually.

I am now enjoying that my body is finding a rythm to all of this. Suffice to say I can't do MDC forums for very long because the contractions get to strong. hehe. I guess the baby is telling me to keep a move on.

[ladyelmo1]

The nurse at my MW's office refers to this as "the labor installment plan" :LOL Each time it happens, she says "you just made a deposit into your labor bank".


-Melissa