Prodromal Labour

For anyone wondering what happened to me.. you know, posting a couple giveaways and then disappearing... two words for you:
PRODROMAL LABOUR

I'd like to state right now that I had never heard that term in my life before the other day. I've been to the hospital 3 times now. The first time I didn't feel like I needed to go in, but called just in case since my contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. They told me to come in just to be checked. That "just to be checked" turned into 4 hours. Why? Don't know. It just did.

The next visit was this past Tuesday. I called because I was having contractions close together, lasting a while, and cramping. They wanted me to go in to be checked. Again, this took 4 hours. While I was there, they were astounded. They couldn't believe my contractions were that close together, that long, and yet I was having literally ZERO progress. Upon discharge, I was told that normally they would say to come in if your contractions are 3min apart and lasting 50-70 seconds... but mine were 3min apart and lasting 60-120 seconds... but yet I wasn't progressing.

Of course, I could only ask them one question: When DO I come in, then?

They didn't know what to tell me other than "if they get stronger" or "if your water breaks".

Talk about frustrating!

The next day my midwife was leaving town and wanted to know if the contractions had let up any. I told her they hadn't, and that I had barely gotten any sleep. Most of the night I felt nauseated, and I simply couldn't sleep through the pain in my back. She wanted me to go in and get checked should she need to pop in before leaving town.

This "getting checked" turned into a FIVE hour visit. Just like the day before, as soon as I got there, my pain got severely worse. So weird it didn't hurt like that at home. So very weird.

Upon arrival, they told me I was 1cm more dilated than I was the day before. I was now at 4cm. That's a GOOD sign, right? Except... my midwife was now out of town and wouldn't be back until next week. They said they'd monitor me in an hour and a half, then check me 30min after that. Until then, I should either rest (since I couldn't sleep the night before), or move around.

They came back to monitor me, then checked me. No progress still. They left to call my midwife and came back to discharge me, but saw me in tears I was in so much pain. This is new to me... I delivered Bobble without pain medication and it was relatively pain free... why do these contractions hurt so badly? I finally caved and agreed to accept a shot of painkiller in my hip. The midwife (who is fairly anti-interventions) suggested it. That fact alone, coupled with the fact she said I would either wake up and be in labour, or wake up and the contractions would have died off and I would be rested... yeah. That was enough for me. I was in severe pain.

I hated taking the painkiller. I'm very anti-medicines. I don't take anything but a children's chewable tylenol (ONE of them!) if I have a migraine, much less painkillers like they gave me. I'm also very anti-interventions (medicinal, surgical, etc.) unless absolutely necessary... but when I found myself contemplating how nice a c-section would be comparatively, I decided I should probably take the shot. It's supposed to wear off after a few hours anyway. It was called Nubane, and it's a medicine that they give to people recovering from surgery to help with pain. It's still medicine, and I still hated the fact I was going to take it.

I got the shot.

Ready for the irony? I COULDN'T SLEEP THROUGH THE BACK PAIN... after the shot. Yes. That's how much it was actually hurting. The nurses couldn't believe I wasn't asleep 2+ hours later. I was not in crying pain anymore, and the pain was manageable.. but it still hurt enough to where I couldn't sleep. Why on earth WAS this?!

They checked me one last time and said there was no cervical change, so it was just prodromal labour. They felt bad for me. Heck, *I* felt bad for me at this point! I was told a big part of this issue is the way the baby is positioned. She isn't facing front or back, she has her back along my side. She's engaged, but not turned properly. Once she turns, it's likely smooth sailing from there... unless she turns to be sunnyside-up, of course.

I came home and complained to my husband about the pain. I didn't understand why these contractions weren't so easy like with Bobble. The whole drive home I had contractions, but they were not really a bother. I thought nothing of it.

That whole night, I laid on my side or sat up doing whatever we were doing. I had plenty of contractions. They weren't really a bother. Again, I thought nothing of it.

My husband was conversing with an friend (who happens to be a midwife) who said she went through this personally... and mentioned that a lot of times that pain (that I described... on ONE side of my back in ONE spot) can be caused from reclining. I decided to sleep on the couch that night instead of in the La-Z-Boy like I had been the last couple of weeks (which was comfy, actually... I slept there in the last month or so of my pregnancy with Bobble).

I woke up every hour to two hours, but at least that meant I was sleeping at least an hour to two hours at a time. That was vast improvement from the 3 hours of horribly broken sleep the night before.

I decided to either stay on my side (lie on the couch) or sit throughout the whole morning as Bobble played. I played with him from the couch. I had plenty of contractions, but no pain. At one point near lunch time, I said slightly reclined on my couch for maybe 5 minutes. I started having horrible pains in my back and tailbone again. I laid back down. They went away.

Then I realized something. The contractions were not what was painful, or they would have been bothering me this whole time. Most of the time I don't even notice them... not unless my hand is on my stomach when they happen. The pain being severe at the hospital? they had me reclining in a hospital bed while monitoring me. They monitored me as soon as I got there for 20 minutes, then unhooked me... but that's why it hurt so bad nearly immediately upon arrival... I was reclining immediately upon arrival!

I'm so thankful that midwife friend of my husband's said something about that... I don't know how much pain I'd be in right now if she hadn't.

Of course, that leaves us with where I am now: 38w1d pregnant. At least it's much more manageable without that pain! I never made it this far with Bobble (he was born at 36w), so this is all new to me. Late pregnancy AND with a very active toddler at that!

So now you know where I've been. I hope you are enjoying the giveaways, and keep your eyes peeled for a few reviews (and maybe some giveaways, too!) from some awesome companies coming up!