I think im finally in Labour!! yay!

Well im 5 days over due and woke up this morning with regular contractions (in my back!). They're coming every 8 minutes without fail. I had a midwife appt. who measured me and told me i was 2 cm dilated & that my cervix was only half a cm thick. (i think thats like 75% effaced??).

I really want this to be the real thing! Im not sure when to be ready to go. My bags are packed but there are just a few things i want to do before rushing to the hospital.. have a shower, wash my hair, call the babysitter for the dog.. that kind of stuff.  

Midwife told me to call hospital when contractions where coming every 3-5 mins & lasting 40-60 seconds.

How long did everyone labour at home before going to the hospital?? So hard to predict if ill need to go tonight or tomorrow.. hmmm..   I cant believe this could be the real thing.. so excited & nervous!

[marra]

i went from 3cm to birth in 20 mins ! so be carefull , if you have a long drive too make sure you are able to get there ! good luck ! x x x

[tam2girls]

Hi good luck. I simply labored at home until I was in too much pain and thought it was time to go. If the hospital is not too far away then I would say go until you are uncomfortable and need the reassurence of being at the hospital.

[gembo26]

i laboured at home from 8 in mornin when i started labour till midwife took me in at 3 in the afternoon,was only at home 4 7 hrs. didnt have him till 3 am nxt day was in hospital more than at home.

[Jamie12269]

It really is unpredictable! ..

Gembo, while you were labouring at home, how far apart were your contractions?

[gembo26]

every 10- 15 mins apart lasting bout 30 sconds

[Jamie12269]

Wow thats a quick birth! if only i could be that lucky!? .. was that your first baby?

[2songbirds]

hmm, with my 1st DC, I had a twinge in the bottom uterus at 5am. At 10am I had sprung a leak in my bag. At 11am I felt crampy and started having bloody show. My OB told me to go the hospital to get checked out since I was leaking. I got there at noon, which is when the cx got painful and went from 0cm earlier that week to 3cm. I didn't have her till almost 4am!!

With my 2nd DC, I 1st had bloody show at 4:15am on a Saturday. then the cx started. The cx varied for hours, 1st they'd be 7 mins apart, then 4-5, then back to 6 or 7. Sunday night the hospital finally admitted me at 11pm and I had him at almost 4am. So, that's 47 1/2 straight hours of laboring w/o any relief. During that time, I went to the hospital 2 other times. THey gave me shots of brethine to stop/slow the cx, but nothing worked, but meanwhile I was in latent labor for a VERY long time, and it was living hell. Before I went to the hospital for the 3rd and final time, I thought I was hemmoraging, they were a bit concerned as well, but weren't concerned about the fever I had (????).

BTW, I lost my mucous plug 6 weeks from tomorrow. All this week since sunday I've been having intermediate back pain with cramping. Yesterday I thought it was it as I had bloody show with really bad cramps from 9am to 5-6pm. Then it all stopped.

really hate this waiting game. I hope things progress quickly for you!!

[sarubers]

Good Luck! And make sure you get to the hospital in time! My friend had her baby delivered by a fire fighter on her front lawn because they told her to go home and wait. So dont wait too long. Not to mention, if you are in a lot of pain and want an epidural, you should just go. You only have one cm to go to get one right?

[2songbirds]

just checking to see how you're doing and if there's any update. Hopefully you're getting ready to have the baby now!

[ally76]

I went into labour in the eve. and slept through everything.  I woke up following morn. and at 630am my water broke.  I showered got our oldest daughter to my parents and by the time we got to the hospital I was 8cm dialated!  2 hrs later I had her.  Good luck!

[myazia]

I was honestly in labor from thursday until sunday night, i finally went to the hospital around 11 pm on sunday.  but i was also early too.  

[myazia]

i forgot to mention that i was having steady contractions too, but i just thought that i was cramping a little or that they were braxton hicks.

[Crritter]

I had to be induced with mine, but I was contracting strongly and they would get to about 5 to 6 minutes apart, I had bloody show with the last one and everything, then they would stop.  I was like that for weeks with both of them, but the last baby it was really bad.  Seemed like I was about to go into active labor every day.  I would be up most of the night and even had to stop walking at work and pause during some of the contractions.  I was told if it got unbearable to go in to labor and delivery, but was only at a 2 for weeks and stayed 75% effaced the last week till I went in to be induced (sorry).  I was even told I was in labor when I went in with each baby to be induced, but without pitocin the contractions would stall.  Everyone is different, but it sounds promising for you.  I would go in as soon as you are uncomfortable.  I also went from barely a 4 to complete very quickly, after it took hours to even get to the 4, my son was out in about 20 minutes once they checked me.  Good luck!  I think that being so far over due they would probably keep you anyway and help you along if needed.

[mami2karina]

My water broke first so I went to the hospital right then.  I wasn't contracting regularly so they gave me pitocin, max dosage.  Then I was in hard labor and not dilating for 6 hours, no meds because I was only 2cm, finally after 6 hours of hard labor I was 3.5cm so they let me get the epidural.  After another 5.5 hours I was still only at like 5cm so they wanted to do a c-section, gave me an hour to dilate and 15 minutes before they were going to take me to the OR I called the nurse and her head was coming down and she was ready to be born!  After 12.5hours of labor I had my beautiful baby girl at 1:30AM.

[2songbirds]

oh god, did you scare me! that's exactly what's been going on with me....loss of mucous plug at almost 32 weeks, started dilating w/bloody discharge. Yesterday had bloody show with painful cramping  that just went on and on for 8-9 hours, then it all stopped.

[marra]

was my 2nd , first was 20 hrs ! my water broke at 2am and got no pain till 8am then came on really fast 3 mins apart at most so wnt in and the nurse examined me at 9 40 and said i was 2-3 cm so will send me home a while and i pushed as she said it , baby was born at 10 02 !  hope you are feeling ok and all goes well ! x x x

[Crritter]

I was wondering about the baby too.  Hopefully it's a good sign and mom is at the hospital.

Sorry for my story, didn't mean to scare anyone, I know that I just seem to stall in labor, did the same thing with my first baby.  Dr. thinks it's just due to the size of my babies.  I hope everyone else is normal and doesn't go through that.  Sorry 2songbirds.