I laugh at women whose birth stories read "...and I was in labor for 24 hours!" or some like number, as if it's horrific. All I can think is, ya, well, try 2 weeks, 3 weeks, longer!
And, I had forgotten how much prodromal labor contractions hurt, compared to run-of-the-mill braxton hicks.
Monday my contractions started up. I thought I was just catching the stomach flu, but it took me a while to realize the pains were every 10 minutes and my ab was tightening. Last night, it was more clear that I was having contractions every 10 minutes most of the evening, mostly starting in my back and wrapping around. I was confidant that they would stop when I went to sleep, which they did...
And started right back up again this morning. Now I'm having contractions without pain and pain without contractions, if that makes sense. Add spotting and a very low-riding child, and it makes for an uncomfortable day.
Now, I still think it'll be a couple weeks until the baby arrives, if s/he arrives without pitocin. Jay's not as convinced. I guess time will tell who is right.
I'm grateful I have a doctor who understands that this is how my body works. He knows not to read any more into the consistent contractions, even those I can't talk through. He doesn't put much weight into how dilated I am, because he knows it takes weeks for me to get from 2 cm to 4 cm. And he's willing to give me as much time as I want to go into labor on my own, but also willing to boost labor whenever I holler "mercy!"
The question is, how long will I tolerate the contractions? How long before I'm too tired to screw with it any more? When do I give up? Time will tell.
1 comment:
Urg. Good luck. My current client has been doing this for 2 weeks and she is getting soooo tired of it too.
Strangely, I only had prodromal labor at night. Never during the day. Weird how our bodies all work so differently to do the same basic thing!
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