Last night I had a repeat of the night before, except this time when I laid down, the contraction and back pain didn't go away. Instead, I had contractions that were coming and going...and when they were 6 minutes apart, Werty was timing them. Finally, contractions that come and go like they are supposed to! And it went on for hours, surely this wasn't just false labor. This whole thing started just before 10pm. Around 12:45am we started thinking this is it, we are going to the hospital tonight. So, around 2am the contractions were coming less than 4 minutes apart and off we went. We were thinking that we were going to have this baby on the actual due date, strange as it sounds.
We checked in and the nurse on duty was really nice. It took a while for her to find the baby's heartbeat, so she asked another nurse to come in and check to see if the baby's head was still down or if he had turned. The sonogram machine showed his head was still down. His heartbeat was so high because he hadn't dropped. (Either that or my baby has his heartbeat in his tush...) After an hour I had only progressed a half cm and the contractions weren't getting stronger. The monitor showed that I was having them, over and over, but they started getting less regular, sometimes every 1-2 minutes and then sometimes 6-7 minutes during the second hour - which was really hour 6 for me. With the baby not engaging (he was moving all over the place, kicking against the contractions) and me not progressing to harder contractions, the nurse called my doctor and then sent me home around 4:30am. Booger. Seven hours of painful back labor - but false labor.
I wish I could just get rid of the back pain, that way I could gauge better how intense the regular contractions are for next time. The back always hurts worse and makes it difficult.
Going back home, I walked enough to get the contractions going just in time to be in too much pain to lay down and breathe deeply enough to sleep when I got home. I started thinking about how both that night and the night before the first contraction had started when I was late getting something together to eat for dinner. I didn't eat until I was already feeling sick from lack of eating. Could that be causing the false labor? I thought maybe I needed something in my stomach to get things to calm down, so I forced myself to eat some celery. Werty finally gave me a blessing for the contractions to stop so I could get some sleep. I started being able to breathe deeply and quickly the pain lessened and I fell asleep. It was a little strange to wake up hours later as if it was any other normal day, the pain all gone. I got up and had breakfast at one point because I hadn't eaten in 11+ hours (celery doesn't count) and I'm not supposed to go over 10 hours on this diet. Then I went back to bed until about 2pm. (So I didn't end up going to work to teach the IB class today.) I guess the baby just isn't ready yet.
My mom arrived this evening. We joked about whether or not she is going to get to see the baby before she leaves at this point.
6 years ago
7 comments:
When Klari was in labor with her oldest, Ged and his mom and I pushed on some pressure points to help relieve her back labor. You might call her-- I think it would be easier for her to describe than for me.
OK, my daughter in law ignored my warm shower/bath suggestion until baby #6 when the MIDWIFE suggested it and then told me how she could have avoided so much false labor discomfort if she had only known to relax in a warm tub with her previous pregnancies. But I have always found you to be far more willing to learn from the experience of others than she is... so prove me right! Unless the doctor has said otherwise, try the warm tub to relax in and the contractions either subside OR become regular, either way you win!
If the tub has been "outlawed" a soft warm shower does the same thing - DON'T suffer needlessly Zanne ! ! ! I could hardly stand it when the Midwife's (word for word my own) advice was given such glowing accolades FOUR babies after I first gave it - Don't make me come down there young lady ! ! !
I love you, Karen
Yuck! Back labor is ALL I had with Fred and just the thought of it makes me cringe and shudder! I'm not sure if I had ElCid pushing on pressure points but it did seem to help when there was counter pressure on my back. Another thing they had me do was switch from my left side to my right side with each contraction in order to get her to turn around, back labor doesn't have to happen. Good Luck we'll keep you in our prayers!
Ok: back labour (in my experience) happens because some part of the baby is poking into your back - usually the head. Warm water is very helpful, but there is another help: picture the baby as an arrow. Wherever the pain in your back is, is where the arrow is pointing. The cure is to point that part farther down. The how is somewhat counter-intuitive, but after trying it out, I can tell you it works: grab the end of the 'arrow' that's poking out- usually the baby's backside - and push upwards. If you can picture it, this will cause the baby's body to rotate so the head is pushing further down -so the contractions move around to the much more bearable (and productive) labour you're looking for. Also, first labours are generally long enough that you don't need to stop eating until you get to the hospital - unless your doctor has said otherwise, eat as your body says. Being low on food can also cause unproductive contractions; what's more, it can make your baby's blood sugar drop - which is a real worry. Good luck!
-Nancy
Oh, I hope your baby comes soon and you start feeling better! I can imagine how annoying (and painful) that all is. :(
You're in my prayers!
The thing N is talking about sounds a lot like a technique mentioned in a book called back labor no more here is a website that describes it http://www.helium.com/items/99278-childbirth-techniques-to-improve-and-shorten-labor.
Also if his head isn't engaged yet it shouldn't be too hard to get him to turn.
One other thing I don't use the term false labor I like warm-up contrx, Cathy refers to it as a dry run. With a primip it is normal to have a few episodes of warm up contrx. Heck it even happens sometimes with 5th and 6th babies.
Hmmm ... nothing new posted since Tuesday - does that mean what we are all hoping it means?
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