Aa
Almost 2 days in labor
I would sure appreciate your opinions on here. My daughter has been in active labor since yesterday morning. We started timing the contractions around 3pm yesterday and they were around 5 minutes apart, give or take. We finally took her in around 3am this morning as they were not letting up and she was having a lot of pain. She was only between 1 and 2 centimeters dialeted. They could tell she was having hard, painful contractions on the monitor but there was no change in dialation, even after being there for 3 hours so they sent us home. They said she needs to be 4 centimeters before they can admit her.
Things have not let up today, they're still about the same, painful contractions every 5 minutes or so. She has been resting on the couch most of the day, trying to doze between contractions so I don't know if that slowed things down but the contractions have not stopped or let up.
At what point do I take her back to the hospital then? Is it ok to be in labor for a couple of days without much change? Isn't there something they can do to speed things up? I don't even know if they'd be willing.
Things have not let up today, they're still about the same, painful contractions every 5 minutes or so. She has been resting on the couch most of the day, trying to doze between contractions so I don't know if that slowed things down but the contractions have not stopped or let up.
At what point do I take her back to the hospital then? Is it ok to be in labor for a couple of days without much change? Isn't there something they can do to speed things up? I don't even know if they'd be willing.
Congrats April. Sounds like you and your daughter handled things perfectly!! Good job. I'd have probably done it the same way! Good work and congrats again!
So happy for all of you....great day to be born.....It's my birthday too April and AppleBr's as well.
She had the baby, thanks everyone! They are both doing well. The baby is not eating as well as they'd like so they are keeping him an extra day to watch him, otherwise everything is going well.
DoulaSummer, don't worry, I wasn't freaking her out, lol. I did stay calm and my best friend was with us when she started labor and my daughter thinks of her as a second mom. We both joked and tried to keep things light, even while watching her contractions. I just felt bad for her because I knew they hurt and there wasn't much I could do for her but be there for her.
Thank God it's all over with though! :)
And you are right, you shouldn't try to push before being fully dialated. The only thing that bothered me at the hospital, though, was she WAS ready to push after the doctor had checked her and said she was at a 9 and they kept telling her to wait, wait, and kept leaving the room. It seemed to take forever before they finally let her push and the baby's head was squished pretty badly, bruised a bit and elongated, which made me wonder if his head was in the birth canal too long. His head looks much better today though but poor little guy got his little head banged up during the delivery. Good thing their little heads are so pliable as newborns!
Thanks everyone for the help and advice! God bless!
DoulaSummer, don't worry, I wasn't freaking her out, lol. I did stay calm and my best friend was with us when she started labor and my daughter thinks of her as a second mom. We both joked and tried to keep things light, even while watching her contractions. I just felt bad for her because I knew they hurt and there wasn't much I could do for her but be there for her.
Thank God it's all over with though! :)
And you are right, you shouldn't try to push before being fully dialated. The only thing that bothered me at the hospital, though, was she WAS ready to push after the doctor had checked her and said she was at a 9 and they kept telling her to wait, wait, and kept leaving the room. It seemed to take forever before they finally let her push and the baby's head was squished pretty badly, bruised a bit and elongated, which made me wonder if his head was in the birth canal too long. His head looks much better today though but poor little guy got his little head banged up during the delivery. Good thing their little heads are so pliable as newborns!
Thanks everyone for the help and advice! God bless!
Congrats on the baby!!! I just wanted to add some comments for other who may come in and read this thread in the future.
It is NOT a good idea to push before the cervix is dilated and pushing will NOT break your bag of waters. That is really back advice, sorry. Pushing before the cervix is dilated will cause it to swell and more painful contractions and no dilation until the swelling subsides.
To the original poster, I read your journal and I think you need to relax because I do feel you are being overly paranoid (not an insult, just an observation) and that is only going to make your daughter unease and tense. Relax and let her know its ok for her to relax. If she does not relax, her contractions will be more intense but less effective. Her body will naturally delay labor because the body does not want to induce more stress on a stressed body. Constantly timing contractions can make a woman feel inadequate, "broken" or rushed. When I time contractions for my clients I only time for 30 minutes and never tell them that I am doing it. They shouldn't feel the need to perform on anyone's time clock, especially mine. I do not time every contraction either, I usually do it every 2-4 hours (depends on the situation) unless I feel some major changing. Its never led me wrong yet and all my hospital birthing mommas have made it to the hospital in time with no issues.
It is NOT a good idea to push before the cervix is dilated and pushing will NOT break your bag of waters. That is really back advice, sorry. Pushing before the cervix is dilated will cause it to swell and more painful contractions and no dilation until the swelling subsides.
To the original poster, I read your journal and I think you need to relax because I do feel you are being overly paranoid (not an insult, just an observation) and that is only going to make your daughter unease and tense. Relax and let her know its ok for her to relax. If she does not relax, her contractions will be more intense but less effective. Her body will naturally delay labor because the body does not want to induce more stress on a stressed body. Constantly timing contractions can make a woman feel inadequate, "broken" or rushed. When I time contractions for my clients I only time for 30 minutes and never tell them that I am doing it. They shouldn't feel the need to perform on anyone's time clock, especially mine. I do not time every contraction either, I usually do it every 2-4 hours (depends on the situation) unless I feel some major changing. Its never led me wrong yet and all my hospital birthing mommas have made it to the hospital in time with no issues.
Her water already broke?.. If so they should be inducing within 24 hrs...Otherwise there can be infection endangering the pregnancy and the baby
April, it sounds like she definitely needs to be in the hospital.. Has he water broken? If not, tell her to bear down and she should be on her way. She probably wouldn't even neet the pit. Good luck, by now she's probably already had him. Nothing in the world like a brand new baby and the feeling of being a brand new GRANDMA :) ♥
April, definitely true! If she feels she needs to bear down or feels like she has to go #2 with all that pressure she most likely is feeling the urge to push and that is why I said she might need to go in. If it is just pressure without the pushy feeling then it is probably still early in the game. Good luck!!! Yay for grandbaby!
The thing is, she's been feeling that pressure since she was at the hospital and told the nurse and the nurse said that was good, that it meant the baby is moving further down into her pelvis.
I read your journal and based on the pressure feeling she may need to go back to L&D. I would put off Pitocin as long as possible, though. It is artificial hormones. She should really try to let her body do the work to keep things as safe as possible. Pitocin will cause harder contractions but will tire her body out and may not be as effective in dilating. Just makes things more painful.
That's just my 2 cents and my personal opinion. Obviously your daughter needs to decide what she wants. But I would head back to L&D with that pressure going on!
That's just my 2 cents and my personal opinion. Obviously your daughter needs to decide what she wants. But I would head back to L&D with that pressure going on!
it sounds to me like she is in early labor.
i had contractions every 5 minutes and when i went in to the hospital there was little to no change in my cervix. by the next morning i was only 3 cm.
as long as the contractions aren't putting any stress on the baby then its okay for her to be in labor like this. im assuming they would have seen decelerations in the baby's heartrate on the monitor when she did go into l&d so i think its probably safe to say the baby is tolerating the contractions just fine.
id have her put a call in to her doctor. my doctor decided to admit me and break my water the following morning and then start pitocin. maybe her doctor will be as understanding. :)
also, even though she won't feel up to it, walking can bring about cervical changes. especially while she is having contractions. that will push the baby down putting pressure on her cervix.
i had contractions every 5 minutes and when i went in to the hospital there was little to no change in my cervix. by the next morning i was only 3 cm.
as long as the contractions aren't putting any stress on the baby then its okay for her to be in labor like this. im assuming they would have seen decelerations in the baby's heartrate on the monitor when she did go into l&d so i think its probably safe to say the baby is tolerating the contractions just fine.
id have her put a call in to her doctor. my doctor decided to admit me and break my water the following morning and then start pitocin. maybe her doctor will be as understanding. :)
also, even though she won't feel up to it, walking can bring about cervical changes. especially while she is having contractions. that will push the baby down putting pressure on her cervix.
Early labor can take many days. She can also change like a lightswitch; really fast.
It is actually best to labor on her own as much as possible, especially if she desires a natural birth. Walking and moving will get pressure on that cervix which can help it efface. Effacement is the number you want to watch. Once she reaches 100% effacement she will dilate much more quickly.
Walking, standing, etc. will be more productive and will also make the pain better. Tension and fear cause more pain.
When she reaches 3-4 centimeters she can ask to have her water broken, which may or may not speed things up. After the water is broken she'll want to get up and move around though most doctors won't "let" women. She is free to do as she needs to get her baby here safely. So my vote is to get moving!
It is actually best to labor on her own as much as possible, especially if she desires a natural birth. Walking and moving will get pressure on that cervix which can help it efface. Effacement is the number you want to watch. Once she reaches 100% effacement she will dilate much more quickly.
Walking, standing, etc. will be more productive and will also make the pain better. Tension and fear cause more pain.
When she reaches 3-4 centimeters she can ask to have her water broken, which may or may not speed things up. After the water is broken she'll want to get up and move around though most doctors won't "let" women. She is free to do as she needs to get her baby here safely. So my vote is to get moving!
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