2 days of pre labour. can't sleep. help?

[mousy]

Hi All,

39 weeks and 3 days today. Due date given was 2nd of October.

Day before yesterday (friday):
Bub's head still not engaged. had some show over few days the last week. Started having what I thought was intense braxton hicks. but noticed a pattern.. they were every half hour or so and could feel tightening both upper belly and lower. Asked hubby to stay home. The frequency slowly increased until at night I was having them every 3-4 minutes. They lasted about 15-20 seconds. Lower back started hurting. Used a heat pack for relief. I also noticed a pattern in the intensity. first one was mild, second one stronger and the third one strongest.. and then all over again. After about 5 hours of this they slowed down somewhat and I slept a little.


Yesterday:
noticed in the morning that my belly looked different. bub had dropped lower, but still not engaged. the pre labour contractions? were still going about every 15-20 minutes. called the midwife and explained things to her. She said that its good bub's dropped lower and to rest as much as possible. Eat and drink. She said she'd pop around to see me a bit later. Had food and drink but found it hard to rest with the contractions. Midwife came around and started to feel bub. I immediately had a contraction. She waited until it subsided. She continued and could palpate the head which she said meant the head was definitely not engaged. She did say bubs was about 1 finger width above the pelvis. She said I would probably have gone into labour had the head been engaged. She said to continue with rest. Upright positions if possible. and that it looked like my contractions were coming on with touch and change in positions. Which is true. They get more intense and frequent when i recline or lay down. They've been milder since but did not stop. They continued into the evening. Called the midwife. She said to try some panadol. Had 2. Didn't seem to help.

Today:
I could not rest much at all through the night. Contractions continued and I kept going to pee. Its afternoon now and I'm nodding off sitting upright but am jolted back by a contraction. It like my body is on autopilot. I am starting to feel disillusioned about my homebirth. I have been having long showers. Filled up the birth pool and sat in it for hours. The contractions are milder in the pool, but no sign of stopping. Called midwife again. She suggested having two panadols every four hours. Am trying that. She said if this continued we could look into acupuncture or chiro.

Has anyone been through anything like this? Anyone have any ideas or suggestions. I'm willing to try anything...

I wish the contractions would either stop so I could get some sleep. Or bub would engage so I can go into real labour. although after 3 days of this I think I need some sleep for sure before the real thing.

[*Efjay*]

A big long walk.

I had on off prelabour for a about week with Isla. The day of the night she was born we all walked around the neighbour hood. It was bloody hard work for me but I had her later that night.

[mousy]

Thanks FionaJill & bjrose. Feel better seeing your quick responses and words of support. Am going to continue being in the pool. I think I can almost sleep in there

[*Efjay*]

I was told that in early/prelabour that the bath isn't a great place as it can slow things down.
I would possibly try & avoid getting in the pool just yet. Maybe for alittle while if you need a rest but you need to get moving to get your body into action.
Also nice deep squating positions to help get that head in to your pelvis.

[mousy]

Ok. Am gonna try to walk. Waddle would be more the word.

[~clover~]

True. It happened in my labour with DD1.
Hope your happens real soon.

[~clover~]

As far as I know panadein is safe to take. It might help you get a few hours sleep.
Walking around might bring labour on stronger/get things going.
I found bath & shower the best things in my labours.
Good luck hun. You can do it.

[Toomanytoomany]

You poor thing.

A bath with a few drops of clary sage will help relax you and tone your uterus. Ditto with red raspberry leaf tea.

Prodromal labour is such a drag. With #4 I felt like I was in prodromal labour for a month. I guess what helps psychologically is knowing that all these contractions are pushing your baby into a good position for when the real deal.

I know it's easier said than done, but do try to get some rest. I wouldn't be afraid to take a few panadeine to get a couple of good hours' sleep. In fact, I'd even have a temazepam if I had some lying around the house.

[Jas]

Hi,

I hope that you are in labour now or have already had your baby going by the fact you haven't posted in here for a little while.

Hopefully you will have or have had a quick labour because all that prelabour has done a lot of the work!

It will all be over before you know it!! Best wishes for a wonderful labour and birth!

[mousy]

Hello All. I don't have very good news I'm afraid. I'm at the hospital now. After irregular labour' my midwife today morning did an internal exam and found my pubic arch too narrow. She felt my cervix soft but cudnt get 2 fingers in to tell if I was dilated. Either way the head not engaging meant no good progress of labour and with nothing to press against the cervix it wont dilate much.

Anyway doctors here have confirmed the same. I'm waiting to discuss my options. Midwife reckons a c-section is very likely.

I'm so confused, hurt, angry, dissapointed. This has turned ugly way too fast.

Thanks all of u for ur support.

I will post again when I can.

[Kristin27]

Aww Mousy I'm sorry things aren't going as planned. Just remember at the end of the day a healthy baby in your arms is all that matters! You've done the hard work of pregnancy and you will be no less of a mother or woman because you don't give birth vaginally.

I had my DD via c-section and have bonded and are BFing beautifully.

Good luck, soon you will be holding your baby and nothing else will matter.

[HotI]

Hi Mousy

Hoping that you feel some sense of control and comfort with what is happening. You will have your little one with you really soon (if not already)! Check back in when you can.

take care,

k

[Toomanytoomany]

Hello All. I don't have very good news I'm afraid. I'm at the hospital now. After irregular labour' my midwife today morning did an internal exam and found my pubic arch too narrow. She felt my cervix soft but cudnt get 2 fingers in to tell if I was dilated. Either way the head not engaging meant no good progress of labour and with nothing to press against the cervix it wont dilate much.

Anyway doctors here have confirmed the same. I'm waiting to discuss my options. Midwife reckons a c-section is very likely.

I'm so confused, hurt, angry, dissapointed. This has turned ugly way too fast.

Thanks all of u for ur support.

I will post again when I can.

Mousy, that's too bad. Have they done an actual pelvic measurement to properly measure the pelvic outlet? I think I'd be wanting some proper evidence before consenting to a c-section, if you really don't want to have one unless absolutely necessary. Perhaps they could allow a trial of labour and see how things went? If the baby isn't going to go down the canal, then a c-section can be done at any time, but if the baby does go down, then they were incorrect.

[mousy]

Hi All,

Had a c-section after four days of labour. Felt I'd tried everything and then chose a cesarean.

Bubs came out fine. And I'm recovering well.

Docs and midwife did say that I chose well and timely, as there was meconium in the uterus and the placenta had some calcification. Bubs looked like he lost a bit of weight towards the end. Was a bit more wrinkly than normal. He looks fine now though.

I have come out of this with more questions than answers.

Will be following up specialists on getting pelvic measurements done for future pregnancies.