Pre-Labor

[mitintraining]

I am having a huge issue with pre-laboring. This is my fourth baby and I am due at the end of the month. My problem is I pre-labored for weeks on end with each of my other pregnancies. These aren't Braxton Hicks, they are fairly uncomfortable, pretty regular and downright annoying. They keep me up at night and it is getting hard to continue to keep my composure and mommy my other babies. My little ones are are 7, 2 and 1 so they need there mommy to be in working order and have at least some sleep. Not much but more than the 20 minutes of sleep I have gotten the past two nights. I have tried taking calcium as I have heard uterine hyperstimulation can be a calcium deficiency. I have tried chiropractic, cranial sacral therapy and massage. I have also tried lobelia tincture as well. I am usually dilated to at least a 6 before I go into labor and I don't know if I can handle this for another 4-6 weeks, if I go overdue!

I really want a change of attitude more than anything. I know that I can handle another labor, they are usually fairly short because of all the pre-labor, but I would rather have a longer labor and sleep a little more during pregnancy.

If anyone has anything that has worked for them to help them alleviate pre-labor pains please let me know.

[Spark]

If you do a search for Prodromal Labor you'll find more help, I'd bet.

I do a whole lot of pre-labor or prodromal labor, too. With my first I was just confused about when I was starting labor, with my second I tried to walk up a labor (that was really really tiring & I don't recommend it at ALL), with my third I was able to really trust my baby knew the best time to be born. The difference between me being frustrated and trying to work up a labor and then with relaxing and trusting was amazing. It was soooo well worth it.

With my 3rd baby, I worked hard at accepting the ctx as just how my body labors. I think there are many many of us in the world. It's like we keep working up to the hormonal threshold that will put us in true labor. At the same time, we're doing great work brining our babies closer to birth.

Going in and out of labor for weeks and weeks is just exhausting. I've been where you are. It's tiring. I think getting some help from your partner or friends/family now is the thing to do. You sound like you could use a nice long nap. You know, that lack of sleep can bring on ctx, too, right?

When you do have ctx at night are you walking around or in a rest state? With my first 2 births, I'd try to bring labor on walking around and swaying. I even had two false alarms with those births where I'd be up walking around & someone would suggest laying down. I would and poof. No labor. I learned from those experiences that if I lay down & they go away, it's not labor.

Here's a link you may find interesting.
Herbs for Prodromal labor
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/...mal.html#About

About Prodromal Labor
(read past the disrespectful "mother is like a 3 year old" posts. Sure, some prodromal labor is from mother's holding back, but the rest of us just labor this way)
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/...mal.html#About

Wishing you just a few more weeks and the inner peace to trust and believe in your body. Just please, please, please make your sleep a top priority.