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Excuse my ignorance, I had no labour with my first!

I had my show late on Thursday and contractions all night. I had a check up on Friday and was 2cm dilated. I've had contractions sporadically since then, they come in fairly solid waves but aren't constant over large blocks of time.

My mum is very excited/anxious, I get that, but she wants me to call the hospital and check that this is normal, I thought I'd ask here instead, so?

[new~mum~reenie]

Get it checked if you want peace of mind...

But it could be Braxton hicks.
http://www.babycenter.com.au/pregnancy/ant...h/braxtonhicks/

ETA: I had strong but irregular Braxton hicks for quite some time before labour. But the day before birth they were quite intense, but still irregular.

This post has been edited by new~mum~reenie: 28/04/2012, 08:56 PM

[Phoenix Blue]

Sounds like pretty standard pre labour to me. You'll know when it really starts to ramp up. Try to rest as much as possible, sleep if you can.

But nothing wrong with giving the hospital a call and having a chat to one of the midwives. It will reassure you.

Good luck. It won't be long

[ubermum]

You'll know when it is "it". When they come at regular intervals and don't go away when you lie down etc. you are usually in early labour. When you can't talk through a contraction, you are starting to get closer to the business end. When you can't focus on anything else, you shut your eyes and block out the world and don't really want to make eye contact with anyone, you are getting close to the end.

Good luck, you'll know.

[tintin78]

You'll know when it is "it". When they come at regular intervals and don't go away when you lie down etc. you are usually in early labour. When you can't talk through a contraction, you are starting to get closer to the business end. When you can't focus on anything else, you shut your eyes and block out the world and don't really want to make eye contact with anyone, you are getting close to the end.

I agree.

It can't hurt to call though-even if just to keep your mum happy

[Wigglemama]

It sounds like pre labour to me. Established labour is recognized as an active stage of labour, where your contractions increase in intensity, duration and regularity. You are normally 4cms dilated and over. Sometimes you feel like you cannot speak, focus or feel out of control. Of course, there are women who deviate completely from the normal signs (like the smiley woman I assessed with only "annoying" rectal pressure and no contractions, who happened to be fully dilated!), however, most women experience labour as I have described. My advice would be to just relax and let your body take care of the rest. True labour does not go on for days, it would be extremely concerning if it did, though I know a lot of women feel (quite rightly) that pre labour can be painful and uncomfortable. You can use Panadol and heat packs for this stage.

ETA: Just realized that you've had your baby, congratulations! Looks like you weren't far off after all!

This post has been edited by Wigglemama: 02/05/2012, 06:05 PM

[lizb87]

i had an 18 hr labour with my first, heaps of BH and prelabour before that.

second time round i didnt take 1.5hrs of niggly contractions every 6-10 min seriously, saw my ob the next week, 4cm dilated. got a good lecture about taking all contractions seriously & going to the hosp at the first sign of anything.

went home, had minimal to no contractions then had four mild contractions (could talk and eat thru them) but decided to go to hospital and be checked. i was 6-7cm dilated and bub was delivered 1hr later.

never once did i get a decently painful contraction before arriving at hospital, nor did they ever get closer together than 6 mins.

so you just dont know what might happen and its worth being checked out to be safe...