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

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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

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

I had 4 weeks of this with DD2. I was an absolute wreck. In the end, I started having accupuncture sessions, and I would just lay down and rest as much as possible. I know you're supposed to keep moving to get things going, but if you're tired now, you won't have any energy for labour.
Fingers crossed things start happening for you soon.

Hi there just wanted to show support :loveshower: :dance: :confetti:

You can do it!! I hope it happens soon for you :goodluck:

Yeah, I think it will be ok to try & rest up now, but if you feel anything niggling get up & walk don't jump in the pool

my prelabour with DD was 2 weeks long. Strong BH and continuous bloody show.
When it got to the point when the real contractions started and the pain was intense.. i was already 4 cm and DD was born 2 hrs later! so i guess better to have this long prelabour with pain that is eased with panadol and a quick progression than the other way around i feel

Good luck huN!

Isla was like that 2 PP

I second the long walk. It's hard but that's what I did. I'd had AF type pains & a show from 6.30 on the Sun morning. Had a big walk around a shopping centre about lunch time. It was very slow indeed and I had to support myself on a wall for a couple of contractions (didn't know that's what they were at the time) and things got going around 5pm and was fully in labour by 9pm that night - had bubs 2pm the next day.

Whilst in what the midwives thought was prelabour (from my description over the phone) but turned out to be 1st stage labour I was told to take 2 panadeine forte. It only took the edge off but it did help a little. Maybe check with your midwife if it's OK to take some.

Best of luck with it all. Sounds like things are getting close now.

I have no real advice just sympathy. Pre-labour SUCKS!

Could you get your midwife over to have another look? Sometimes it's just nice to have someone else there (rather than over the phone) to share concerns/thoughts with. And I'd be looking into that acupuncture quicksmart not "if" it continues.

I also had very long pre labour, and labour. I too went on a couple of long walks, not sure if it helped move things along but it helped the pain. Don't over do it though, you have a lot of work ahead of you and will need your strength. And theres not rest once bubs is born! My midwife said I could take panedine at home, maybe you could try taking that and get some rest, even if you don't sleep just lay down.

Soon you'll have your beautiful baby in your arms! :D

I had pre labour for a week with DS. Only at night and regular contractions. It was pretty bad. I had no real sleep for that long and DH had to take time off work by the Friday (DS was born Sunday) because I was such and emotional wreak. I rested on the lounge and tried to do little things around the house that I could like putting washing out and folding....just to try to keep my mind off things. Things got really bad on the Saturday and I was in and out of the shower/bath all day, and ended up going to get panadein forte from hospital. I think now that I was in real labour on the Saturday arvo/night. When I went to hossy on the Sunday evening I was 8cm dialated and bubs was born with in an hour of my waters being broken!!
Good luck hun.

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.

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!