Cx close but not painful?

[4imprints]

Ok - so what happens if you have contractions that are 5 min. or less for several hours but they aren't extremely painful. Is that still labor? I remember with #1 that it was painful and close right from the begining. With #2 they were close (3 min) but not painful. Right now....they are semi close - 5 - 8 min. - not painful but not comfy either. Going on several hours and have increased throughout the day ---- but the thing that is confusing me --- the ones earlier today that were 15 to 20 min apart were a lot more painful!!!!! So what the heck???

[Arwyn]

What happens when you take a walk, or lie down? Do they change in intensity, duration, frequency?

[jee'smom]

I personally didn't find early labor painful at all. It felt like period cramps. (active labor I had to concentrate more on, but definately doable; transition is when I wanted them to kill me, but that went quick.) My ob's said to not come in until labor is painful, I was like, "YOu don't understand... it's not painful for me until the end. If I wait until it's painful, I'll end up birthing at home." I didn't listen to them, started with cnx at 4pm, left for hospital at 5pm, got there by 6pm. ds was born at 7:36pm. Thank God I listened to my MIL who made me go, knowing I give birth fast (first was 5 1/2 hrs. and 2nd was 3 1/2 hrs.) As long as you keep progressing, I"d say it's really labor. Good luck!

[Isaac'sMa]

Not in your DDC, but saw your post and wanted to say that labor is not painful for all women. I think that as long as the ctx are getting closer together, your labor is progressing and your babe will be in your arms soon! It sounds like you've had another labor in which you had some non-painful (not painless, though!) ctx, so maybe that's just how your body works. Then again, every labor is different, even for the same woman! Just go with it and know that many women would consider this a lucky turn of events

[SheSpeeds]

I don't mean to be a rain cloud, it's my first and I know how exciting anything time-able is at this point. Last Thursday I had really light but consistent contractions going from 8 to 5 to 3 minutes apart for several hours, and eventually 1 1/2 minutes apart for about a 1/2 hour. I could talk and walk through all of them. Regardless, I went to triage to see if I was going to be one of those women who start labor lightly, I also felt nausious, lose poop, and felt really flush. I sat in triage hooked up to monitors for 3 hours (contractions didn't stop from all the fussing) and I was given the option to go home or get induced since the contractions weren't dilating me any further.

I continued to contract until about mid-day friday like that and then they went away. The doctors were sure they'd see me back thursday night. Now it's tuesday, and I'm glad that we went home. My next doc appt is tomorrow. I've had some timeable contractions since then, some more eye-opening than others, but nothing that lasted very long. I probably haven't "progressed" any since last week. And I've had those irrational thoughts of being pregnant forever.

More than likely, you're body is just practicing. Keep timing them, watch for a bloody show, plug, or things to get more intense.

Oh...one thing about my contractions was that they had an obvious start, but not necessarily an obvious end, and sometimes they would take several minutes to completely taper off. This was shown on the hospital monitor. It's kind of indicative of "practice" contractions.

[Mizelenius]

If they get more intense when walking, great sign!

I don't find early labor hard. I have gone to 6-7 cm with no real work. (For me, it's fast transitions that are the true work!) I even ate and talked through many "real" cx this last time.

Intensity is as important as how close they are!

[4imprints]

Well - I figured it out.....it means nothing! At least right now!! I'm so annoyed. I've never had to go through these "practice" sessions before. Had PTL with the other two also and as soon as I was taken off the meds I had the babies. Now - after weeks and weeks of PTL my body is back to just "practicing!"!!!! UGH

They do get more intense when walking. Seriously --- I thought last night was it - all the typical signals were there. Even my body as a whole was acting differently. I had a major headache all day long and was absolutely exhausted -- even though I wasn't mentally tired. I literally couldn't keep my head up.

Then I went to bed....and nothing.

-----------------the whole reason why I ask is because I did have the PTL issues with this pregnancy as well. I had cx last week for an hour an they dialated me to 2 cm. So I'm worried that I'm going to wait too long and barely make it to the hospital. As much as I know its ok to do it alone - it scares the pants off of me because I'm not prepared for anything like that!!!!!

[Mizelenius]

[QUOTE=4imprints;7488575]Well - I figured it out.....it means nothing! [QUOTE]

I doubt it means nothing! I have a feeling when you DO give birth it will be very fast since your body is working now. It just means it wasn't last night . . .could still be very, very soon!

[SheSpeeds]

[QUOTE=Mizelenius;7490989][QUOTE=4imprints;7488575]Well - I figured it out.....it means nothing!

I doubt it means nothing! I have a feeling when you DO give birth it will be very fast since your body is working now. It just means it wasn't last night . . .could still be very, very soon!

See...that stuff scares me. I'm in a similar situation as the original poster. I just put a post on the main pregnancy bored asking for reassurance that all the women who posted about short labors, 3 hours or less, that they some how had a clue. I'm liable to be sitting at home thinking "gosh these really suck" when really it's time that I should be in route. I'm a persistent SOB in most everything else I do, and with a discouraging false run to the hosp last week, I'm liable to be even more stubborn once real labor starts.

I guess I'm grateful that I have nothing else to worry about but this.

[tuffykenwell]

I had about 3 hours of cxn's 3.5 minutes apart on Sunday and I am still pregnant (and not in labour). I did call my mw's to give them an update but also let them know that I just didn't think they were intense enough to do the work required...and guess what at my appt on Monday I was <1 cm dialated, not effaced at all and babe is not engaged in the pelvis....so I guess I was right <sigh>.

Hopefully our babies get with the program soon!

Steph

[4imprints]

UGH!!!! Last night I was certain it was IT. Contractions every 5 min. and they were painful - had to breathe through them etc. I put my DH on noticed, spent a few hours doing last minute chores around the house etc. Decided to go take a shower and wait until morning (better not to wake the babysitter in the middle of the night!).....and they slowly slowed down until stopping sometime around 9 this morning!!!!!

But I was still excited - had an appt. this morning thought surely I was at least 3 cm. Nope. NO CHANGES!! Still 2 cm and my cervix has "a lot of work to do" apparently.

I'm putting too much pressure on this kiddo. But seriously - no point in giving your momma gray hairs before you are even born!!!!

----and to make it even worse - I keep telling everyone that this is normal. That your body has to do some work beforehand etc. And they all say "well that never happened with me". UGH!!!

----induction is scheduled for 2 weeks from now (no groans please) and has been scheduled so I just hope she can get going before then.

[Mizelenius]

Originally Posted by SheSpeeds

[d asking for reassurance that all the women who posted about short labors, 3 hours or less, that they some how had a clue.

I dunno . . .I think somehow you know. I've never gone when it was "false" labor-- the last 2 times I got checked in at the hospital 1 hour before my DC were born.

This last time, I was SO SURE I was getting to the hospital too early in my "thinking" state. I felt silly. But, there was an underlying feeling I had, a sense of urgency-- which is why I went to the hospital just in case. Granted, once I got there I took my sweet time actually getting checked in.

Labor is different for everyone and can be different each time, so it is hard to say exactly when you should go (which is why sometimes babes are born in cars). I would say, though, that for 1st time mamas 5 minutes apart cx if the hospital is close, is to soon to go in general. I think 2-3 minutes apart is better. Also, for me, there is a big difference between just having to do some work (breathing thru cx) and a LOT of work (transition). For me (again, just my experience) breathing thru cx fairly easily and getting rests in between meant I had to wait a bit. Transition for me gets much more serious, no real breaks (sort of boom, boom, BOOM), and I have to do a lot more than just breathe.

4imprints, I am surprised they told you your cervix had work to do . . .since this is not your first, it is possible for your cervix not to efface fully.