been up since 3:45 with contractions

[IncaMama]

they kept waking me up...not *painful* like i remember with DS, but VERY uncomfortable. i'm downstairs now, gonna walk around and see what happens...if they get better or worse...haven't had a cx for about 10 minutes, though, so maybe it's petering out. :(

i'll keep you posted.

[stillill]

Ohhhh... keep em coming!
:dust :dust :dust :dust :dust
I've been up since 5 with NO contractions...

[IncaMama]

well the past 3 have been 3 minutes apart...from walking around i guess? they're still not getting more painful, but more frequent. what does this mean????

[Spark]

What does it mean? PLL, I'd say. In my experience it's just PLL. I get them close together and timely but they're not intense. Usually activity makes them come closer together for me. It's the intensity that I watch for not the timing.

If activity is making them come on more, then try laying down with something to eat or drink. If they still stay close together and get stronger even while you're laying down, then it might be something to shake a stick at.

:hug Listen, I know this is hard. Really, really, I do. I know I just keep referencing PLL like it's no big deal. But, really it is. It sucks to be in labor for weeks with no real labor or baby to hold.

[IncaMama]

yup that's what i did...sat down when i wrote the post, haven't gotten up since, and they're still coming 3-4mins apart and they're getting a helluva lot more uncomfortable. i don't wanna say painful yet because i remember what the AWFUL ones were like and they're not like that yet.

i called TBC to get their opinion...i'm waiting for a call back.

you may very well be right that it's PLL...i'm quite willing to eat my words if it is :lol but if it's not, i gotta get my ducks in a row...childcare has to arrive, gotta get to TBC, etc...i'll probably be back home in a little while with egg on my face, but eh...that's life, right?? :lol

wish me luck!

[DesireeH]

OOOHH! Even with rest they are coming? WOO HOO. Keep us posted. I'm so excited fellow due date buddy!

[IncaMama]

yup...i had to get up again to do some quick stuff around the house and they got INTENSE. so i sat down again and they're still coming but slightly less frequent than when i was walking for a bit there. still no more than 5 mins apart.

[DesireeH]

Cool!!!!!

[Spark]

Hmmm, Michele, but you haven't laid down right? You might want to try laying down just for 10-15 minutes. Still being upright can bring on B/H in a patterned way. But, if you're laying down and they maintain their regular intervals and gaining intensity, then it's probably labor.

I really HOPE this is labor for you! Either way! I've been the queen of false labor in the past, and the laying down thing is one trick that I've learned. Sitting up doesn't count for me. Maybe it does for you though!

[IncaMama]

yeah, i was reclining. i can't lie down flat bc of my pelvis (haven't for 6 mos)...but i was as laid down as i can be :lol ...we'll see. i'm going in anyway, we'll see. i'm fully prepared to come right back home. :)

[Spark]

Ooh, ooh, good! Good! If you were reclining laying, I'd say that's great!!! Oooh! :D

[kofduke]

I hope this is it for you!

[StarCat]

I hope this is it for you Michele!!! I hope they don't send you home until you have a babe in your arms!!!!!

[IncaMama]

well, i was 1cm when we first got there, and only sliiiightly more 2 hrs later but she said that other things are going on (she's lower, cervix softening, getting thinner, etc) so she sent us home saying that she was "fairly confident" that we'd have her today...but we wanted to labor at home for a bit since it's gonna be a long one probably...

so, she expects us to call her back in a few hours in active labor...we'll see...cx are STILL 4-6mins apart and getting what i'd actually call painful.

wish us luck!! :)

[aisraeltax]

im so happy this is happening for you michelle. hope you have a great birth and try to get on here and post about it asap so we all don't worry! just teasing!

good luck
rach

[mariposita]

Oh, good luck! Good luck!!! That's so exciting! I wish you glorious birth!

[darkpear]

Awesome! Bring on the babies!

(yes, I am living vicariously through you early December mamas, can you tell? :p )

[StarCat]

im so happy this is happening for you michelle. hope you have a great birth and try to get on here and post about it asap so we all don't worry! just teasing!


Not teasing!!! Post ASAP!! We worry around here!! :)

I can't believe this is actually it for you!! YIPPEEEEE I am so happy for you. Peaceful, easy labor vibes to you!

And afterwards send lots back to us. Some of us are past our due dates, ya know!

[IncaMama]

yeah, don't believe it. the fat lady hasn't sung yet. and by the fat lady i mean me. LOL

the contractions are spacing out now, though they are getting more painful. the pressure is also getting worse and worse, but these damn cx aren't anywhere near 4min apart now. more like 10.

i'm gonna stick it out at home and if it picks up again in a few hours i'll go back to get checked i guess. i don't know. trying to stay positive about things, but it's hard when my friggin uterus is KILLING me.

[Spark]

Ok, Michele, I know I was a doubter this morning, but really in terms of PLL, the spaced further apart and more intense the ctx the more likely that you've bought your ticket out of PLL. You WANT them to be further apart and hurting more to prove that you're not in PLL.

Really, I 100% believe you are on your way now. It won't be long. :grouphug You're doing so well to get through this!

[IncaMama]

what?? seriously?? wait. you're serious?? farther apart is NOT a death sentence?? explain this to me slowly...like i'm 5 years old. LOL

[DesireeH]

WOO HOO! I hope you have her today!!

[Jeanne_L]

:dust (happy labor vibes)


so exciting!!

[spiralmg]

Go Michelle! You've been awaiting this oh so patiently. Okay, maybe not so patiently. But oh do I hope that you have a baby in your arms tonight.

[IncaMama]

well, no go. contractions have all but stopped. oh well.

[judybean]

HEY! MICHELE'S UTERUS!! GET IN GEAR!!

(I figure if the nice talk isn't working, sure can't hurt to go all Boot Camp Style ;) )

But seriously... :hug to you. All this starting and stopping has got to be terrible on your emotions. Stay strong, chat with that little babe that keeps on teasing you (early hide-and-seek. ... just when you think you've found the hiding spot... that silly babe goes and hides again), and go do something nice for yourself today. You deserve it.

[DesireeH]

:hug

Ava, come out! Your mama, papa, and brother want to see you!!!!!!!!!!!

[IncaMama]

i got some veggie sushi :) lots of soy and wasabi! yum!! we're about to eat it right now....

[anniegirl]

Awww, enjoy your food. I bet they'll pick back up again real soon. I always hear people say that the best mystery about birth is finding out if it's a boy or girl. Not to me though. The biggest mystery is...when the heck is the baby gonna get here?

Smooth and easy labor vibes.

[IncaMama]

still not much goin' on. i feel like crap...tired, diarrhea, but no cx...:(

[aisraeltax]

hey Michelle, why don't you try doing what DID did? that really got her little guy going! scared him right out of there! lol!

hope things pick back up for you. at least my MW was OK w/ me going this week...well, other than Fri. evening.

rach

[IncaMama]

i'm way too much of a scaredy cat to actually *do* anything to make it happen. LOL castor oil frightens the crap out of me...not for any medical reason, just because it's NASTAY. i'm not even due yet, so i figure she's got a while before i actually sign the eviction notice. :lol

i'm just gonna be bitchy and bitter and grumpy in the meantime. :)

[Lucky Charm]

Diarrhea's good. Maybe you're emptying out pre-labor?

:candle

[IncaMama]

yeah i thought about that but...i swear it's just too hard to get excited about anything my body does anymore. i feel so defeated and frustrated. i'm REALLY trying to maintain a good attitude, but i'm SUCKING at it. :(

[allnaturalmama]

:hug: I think the Labor Fairy needed to run out for a snack, but I'm sure she'll be back real soon! If any of us happen to see her, we'll tell her you're still waiting . . .

[IncaMama]

this bag of cheetos is helping my mood. LOL

[MamaTaraX]

Mmmm...cheetos. Been 40 minutes since you posted ;)
Was there a category in that poll for "mostlikely to have an unplanned UC"? I'm still bettting on that :) Happy Birthing to you SOONmama! (though I gotta admit, I love reaidng your saga still, brings back memories from 2 years ago when I had my 2nd son)

Namaste, Tara

[IncaMama]

LOL
still nothing. pressure in my butt, the runs, but nothing else. *shrug*

[aisraeltax]

i'm just gonna be bitchy and bitter and grumpy in the meantime. :)

ME 2!!!!!!!!!!!! :wink

[Spark]

what?? seriously?? wait. you're serious?? farther apart is NOT a death sentence?? explain this to me slowly...like i'm 5 years old. LOL

Well, with PLL the trick is the intensity of the ctx, not necessarily how far apart they are. With PLL in most people's experience ctx can come really close together in a regular pattern. Sure, people talk about them feeling uncomfortable, but they're not INTENSE. You want the intensity. You want to FEEL then so that you can't do anything else except for be. When real labor hits it's soooo different from PLL ctx that it's obviously something different.

When you posted that your ctx were further apart but that they were "more painful" and getting "worse and worse" it sounded like real ctx to me. Just know that what you experienced at that point will get more intense than that when you're really in labor. It's difficult to remember the intensity of true labor after a year or more of NOT feeling it. (or ever feeling it for that matter)

I'd really try to let yourself be open to the idea that you might want to relabel the sensations that you're feeling with PLL. I find if I walk around thinking, "OH THIS HURTS!" then it does. But, if I can relabel the PLL ctx as "Useful" or "a good one" or whatever then it frees me somehow. It also helps prepare my mind for real labor. Real labor is intense and it's powerful and it's all consuming. It's waaaaaay beyond PLL ctx. If I tell myself I'm suffering from the PLL ctx, then how could I get through real labor??? The relabling is just what works for me. It might not work for you. But, I thought I'd share since you seem to be struggling so many with the stops and starts.

Hey, today you have an appt. with your care provider, right?

[Spark]

:hug: I think the Labor Fairy needed to run out for a snack, but I'm sure she'll be back real soon! If any of us happen to see her, we'll tell her you're still waiting . . .

:lol

[IncaMama]

thanks, spark...yeah i had been hesitating to use the word "painful" bc i really do remember the labor pains from last time and OMG they were awful. my PLL ones were just "uncomfortable" or "annoying", until yesterday for about 2 hours when they were friggin PAINFUL. i had to grit my teeth through them, i couldn't move, i couldn't breathe, i couldn't talk...then they stopped. :(

i've resigned myself now...i've had a break of about 12 hours, having almost no contraction at all...and that's sort of reset my clock so to speak. i've allowed myself to realize that it really WASN'T anything (despite everybody telling me it was, including my mw!), and that i'm just gonna wait for the big one. :lol

i feel much less bitter today...much less impatient...plus it snowed last night and it's pretty beautiful outside...so i'm sipping my raspberry leaf tea with my little man sitting beside me...it's a good day. :)

and yes, i do have an appt with my mw today at 2:30. DH is staying home again today, well, working from home...and i'm just convinced that it's gonna be a good day with no contractions but no stress either. :)

:hug thank you everybody...i've really needed your support...and continue to...it means the world to me that you're all here with me. :)

[DesireeH]

Aww Michelle, I am sorry that they stopped! Hopefully tomorrow is your day (how cool would it be for her to be born the same day as you?!)