Before I start this post for real you may be wondering how I can question labor pains, seeing as this is my fourth pregnancy and I’ve gone thru the process already 3 times. Well, I’ll tell you in case you missed it before.. My first two kids were induced because they were each 10 days over due. I went into the hospital scheduled for each of them and was given pitocin and the doctors broke my water. It was actually very easy as there was no guesswork on my part and because I was hooked up to monitors and what not (and because medically induced labor is rather fierce) there was no question as to what contractions actually were. With the third baby my water broke suddenly and I went straight to the hospital where again I was given pitocin because my contractions were not progressing at all. Again, not much guesswork or confusion on my part.
Last night however I was getting some consistent contractions for over 2 hours and they were rather close together. They weren’t nearly as painful as one that I’d experienced in my previous deliveries, but they kept up for hours and were not erratic at all. Regina was up with me and we were both pretty sure that the baby was going to be coming. I wasn’t fully convinced though because even though they were painful they weren’t mind numbing or even enough to stop my ability from talking. So we waited, and waited and waited. At 2 I told her I was going to lay down and that she should try to sleep. I let her know if Aidan and I were going to the hospital I’d wake her and headed for my room. Within 10 minutes of laying on my side the contractions stopped and that was that.
I’m so glad I didn’t head to the hospital only to be sent home. On the other hand I’m so glad I didn’t wait to long and deliver a baby in the living room. I really don’t know how powerful natural and real labor contractions are! I’ve never experienced them and only have the rapid and fierce ones that pitocin brings on to compare them to. Believe me I know what they feel like but I’m unsure how less intense real labor will feel. Last nights weren’t alarming pain wise, so I used the thinking “do I need pain medication to get through this?” the answer was no every time and I guess that helped me a lot in my decision.
In any case, I definitely think the contractions were real and getting me closer to that 4 cm mark before active labor begins. As I was laying in bed I read plenty of stories from women whose labors had paused for quite a while before getting hardcore ready to deliver. My stomach feels pretty tight this morning and I am pretty sure that we are on our way towards the real deal. I have an OB appointment on Friday, if I make it til then at least I will feel better knowing if this is normal and get some solid ideas of when I would want to head to the hospital if this is actually my first normal delivery.
Well, have a great day and I’ll check in tomorrow with an update :) Maybe there will be a baby picture to post :)
ps I realize that I am probably jinxing myself and there will be no baby picture to post for another 3 weeks.. but I hope that’s not true :)
urbanest 
If I learned anything in the prenatal class that we did last week, it was that you did things the right way. You could still walk and hold a conversation which is a big indicator that it’s not time to go to the hospital yet. That’s about all I can remember though :) I wanted to point out how awesome it is that Regina stayed up with you to support you, despite how much trouble she’s been causing lately!
Wishing you luck getting through today and seeing how things go. I won’t complain if there is a post with a squishy little baby in it within the next 24 hours!!
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Still no baby but thanks for the tip! I’m going to use it when the time comes!!
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Exciting !!! I’m going to tell you what I tell everyone who is close to their due date. It is a wise saying from my Italian grandmama :) Everyone thinks it is just another day that they had their baby, their, “Birthday.” Really what it is was, “The world was changed forever <3 " So it's not just another day, it's the day the world was changed forever. Love ya, Miss Ginger Getting excited too !!!
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I hope that you are getting close to the magical number of 4 cm, too.
I had natural labour for both of my children–no drugs or inducing, and I can tell you that the pain was very intense as the labours progressed. But I had a lot of back labour with both of mine–kept wanting my husband to push his fists as hard as he could into my back to try to counteract the pain, and he was afraid he was going to hurt me. “Going to hurt me?” I said,…”are you freaking kidding me?” It’s funny to me now but I remember threatening him to not let up or he would be sorry! (I may not have been at my best at the time so he didn’t hold a grudge, thank goodness.) My water broke at home with my first child and the doctor broke it in the hospital for my second one as it didn’t happen on its own, but that was about all the help they gave me. It would be different now, I’m sure, as there are lots of pain meds available and I don’t blame women for taking advantage of them if they can.
I’ll be thinking of you, Ginger, and will be so happy to see a picture of you and your little bundle (hopefully within the next week or so).
Good luck–maybe you can post for us right through your labour and delivery so it will seem as if we’re all there with you! Wouldn’t that be fun? LOL
Hugs.
Sylvia
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Haha Sylvia, that would keep my mind off of things! I think I curse enough here already though, pretty sure you wouldn’t want to hear my thoughts during labor lol
I am going to try doing this one without an epidural, last time I made it for 18 hours without one but I couldn’t take it much longer. I’m glad I got one because it still took another 8 hours til he came! This time I’ll try again though :)
Thanks for sharing your experiences! It’s always fun hearing about what other people have experienced, all the stories are so different and similar at the same time :)
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Exciting! It really is a tough line to walk. I waited too long with my second to go to the hospital and nearly missed my epidural. I didn’t want to get sent home from the hospital or get stuck at the hospital for a long time. I waited so long that I was in too much pain to even decide what to do and my husband was no help because he was too busy watching the Flyers play in the Stanley Cup. Lol. Good luck!!
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They do epidurals in PA up until almost the last minute.. I was so shocked to find that out, I mean that seems so dangerous to me! How did it go without the epidural, I really want to pass this time because I think I can handle it. If I’m induced I probably won’t but you never know.. I really don’t want to be sent home either because I am going to a different hospital network than my doctors. I really like my doctors but the hospital they are affiliated with was just awful when I had Henry.. Filthy (shared?!) room and mean, lazy nurses. I really don’t want to go back there, or hope if I do they will have changed for the better! So funny about the Stanley cup. Men.
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That does seem dangerous, since you have to hold so still for the needle. I didn’t actually miss it. They bumped someone else back in line so I could get it, and thank God, because I do not have much of a pain tolerance. I was at 6 cm when I finally got it and it was pretty bad. You seem tough enough to skip it :)
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Oh that’s good that you got it. 6 cm is pretty far along, you toughed it out for a long time if you ask me! I hope I can skip it but after last nights false labor contractions I doubt it. They were awful. I won’t go entirely unmedicated regardless, you can believe that! Lol
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