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2006-06-14 - 5.27pm��previous entry��next entry
41 weeks pregnant!!! - could it be?....
Well I think I might finally have some news! :) Not quite sure how to categorise what I'm feeling though, so I thought I'd update anyway in case it gets more difficult later.
Yesterday evening I did have a few painful contractions but they went away when I changed position, and they were only mildly painful really, and very short. At bedtime (10.30ish) I felt fairly crampy and it was pretty uncomfortable when I had a contraction (which I presumed to be Braxton Hicks still), so I wanted to go to bed in case I didn't end up getting much sleep that night! I woke loads during the night - for some reason I needed to pee soooo many times, and most of the times I woke, I had a contraction almost straight away. Some were just an uncomfy squeeze, and a couple hurt a little. But I was encouraged because at least SOMETHING was happening in the night, as opposed to the absolute nothingness that has been happening all along so far!
I woke when Arthur did just before 6am and had a crampy contraction then. Nothing seemed very regular or consistent though, but I was glad of some sort of activity in there! I was keeping in mind that I could just be cramping and stuff from the sweep, so I didn't get too excited. I went back to sleep till Neil woke me at 8am so he could go to work. I had two very tight and slightly painful contractions and just thought, there is no way I feel like I can do anything with Arthur on my own this morning! So I told him he mustn't go to work because I was having painful contractions - although they weren't frequent or regular enough to call them anything more than pre-labour (if that). He stayed home till my parents got here at around 10.30, and now he's at work.
I have been having contractions all morning, well, all day now, as it's 4.30pm already! They seemed very irregular and infrequent so I didn't bother taking much notice of them at first, and then after a while when I started to feel a couple that hurt more than the rest had, I wanted to make note of the times so that I could get an idea whether they were REALLY irregular, or starting to form a pattern, or what.
Mummy started writing them down for me from 11am. Some of them were very mild and seemed to only last like 10 seconds or something. They felt more uncomfortable than my normal Braxton Hicks, but not really very painful, so I noted those ones as "mild". Ones that were stronger than that I left blank with just the time, and at 11.24 I had one that really hurt so I put a star next to it. That way we could easily see if they were getting stronger as well. None of them were lasting even a minute, and they WERE irregular, coming on average maybe every 10 minutes, with some only 3 minutes apart, but a few were more than 15 minutes apart. I also made note of when Arthur was breastfeeding, to see if the nipple stimulation might be affecting the subsequent contractions (so that I didn't get too excited if they seemed to be hotting up after I breastfed, etc!).
By 2pm, most of my contractions had a star by them for "ow" (!!), and at 2.56 I had a humdinger which I had to give two stars! That one also lasted a good minute so I started noting how long each one was lasting from then too. Since then they are pretty much coming every 10 minutes, so quite a lot more regular now, though not frequent enough to be "real labour". Some are more frequent than 10 minutes apart, like 6 or 7 minutes, but most of them are spot on 10 minutes. About a third of them are lasting a minute or more, but the rest are shorter. All of them since 2pm have had at least one star, and quite a few have two now. For two stars, I can't do anything normal while I am having a contraction. I have to stop and breathe and just try not to tense up against the pain too much.
Mummy has taken Arthur out for a walk so I have a window to update and "feel" the contractions a bit better, with some personal space. I am starting to feel like I would like a bit more space. Some of my contractions have been with Arthur giving me rather vigorous cuddles (!) and asking for milk, etc. I am no longer nursing him during a contraction as I can't deal with more than one physical stimulation at the same time. I don't even want to be touched in any way, shape or form when I'm having a contraction now. I have had three contractions since starting this diary entry and have had to stop and breathe and say "Oooooh!" a lot and all that stuff!
The contractions hurt a lot! And if this is PRE-labour, then I know I'm in for a LOT worse later on! It's funny how my memory just doesn't seem to have a record of exactly how the pain felt or how bad it was, from my labour with Arthur. I guess that's nature's way of ensuring more children can be born after the first one, haha! ;) I am not sure I remember the early contractions with Arthur being quite this searing though. I wonder how much of the pain is actually just my aggravated cervix from the sweep? And therefore if this might JUST be down to the sweep and I shouldn't get excited? I am hesitant therefore to start saying, "Oooh, things are finally happening and I'm definitely going into labour!" because I still feel like maybe it could be the effects of the sweep and I don't want to look reeeeally silly if it all fades away! For the same reason I feel hesitant about getting out any of the birth supplies or the TENS machine for some pain relief, until I feel more sure that the pattern of my contractions resembles definite labour. Mummy and I are beginning to feel more and more confident that this really is progressing to "something" now though, as we can see from the chart we've made that my contractions are evening out more and coming more regularly, and they are definitely getting gradually stronger and more painful, and lasting a little longer too.
They feel like a combination of bad period pain and something searing and sharp, very low down in front on my bump and also in the small of my back at the same time. Sometimes the pressure on my cervix hurts so much when there is a contraction that it feels to me like I have a SHARP poker stuck up my unmentionables! But I guess that must be my poor aggravated cervix. One or two of the strongest and most painful contractions I've had so far have made me get such a clear sensation of Matthew's body/head. I can feel him being PRESSED down hard, it was the weirdest feeling, like I could almost just give birth to him right then, but I know that wouldn't be possible yet! I have no idea how I'll know if things are actually progressing or not, if I don't accept any internal examinations during my labour, but we'll see.
At least if this IS false labour and it ends up fading out, I feel confident that these contractions are at least DOING something useful to my cervix in the meantime. I am sure they must be finishing the job of effacing and softening it, which is encouraging.
The midwife phoned this morning before 9am to say that she has booked me an appointment for a midwife to come round on Saturday to give me another sweep, and also she's booked me in for induction on Monday 19th June. I have to phone the ward at 7am to confirm bed availability and then go in between 7.45 and 8am for induction. I am not thinking about that right now because today I have other things to think about! And hopefully those things will render the 19th irrelevant anyway. But if this comes to nothing then maybe I'll think about it some more. Not today though.
The midwife asked me if I had any changes since the sweep yet, and I felt happy to be able to say I had had a crampy night, and a few painful contractions this morning. Oh I forgot to say that I had loose stools this morning, which is also a good sign. My bowel feels crampy and annoyed, so I wondered at first whether I was feeling my crampy bowel more than it was actually contractions, but I guess not now! :) The midwife seemed excited and said it all sounded great, and that it looked promising that the sweep may well have worked for me. She said she would let the other community midwives know that I was having "tightenings" today, so that they were prepared for a call later if it happens. She told me to keep nice and upright, and keep eating and drinking, and to make sure I was weeing plenty, etc. I have been nervous about eating and drinking because I get scared that my body doesn't want that when it's gearing up for labour and it'll just throw the stuff I ingest back up again (which I hear is pretty common). So I haven't eaten like I normally would. I felt sick this morning after I had just a tiiiny bit of orange juice, so that made me nervous. But when the nausea passed I nibbled down a piece of marmite on toast and had only mild queasiness after it, which passed quickly. I have nibbled on bits and pieces quite frequently since then, with no problems. I am peeing okay but it hurts when I do, that searing poker-up-the-doodah feeling.
Mummy and Arthur are home from their walk so I need to finish this update for now. I just had a little break to let them in and then help Mummy to get Arthur's tea, as she wasn't sure where to find some things. While I have written this entry I have had 8 contractions, the last four of which were each 6 minutes apart, and then I had to lean on the wall in the porch to deal with another one after letting Mummy and Arthur in. I have had five since then, each 4 minutes apart, but I've been upright and walking about, and they haven't all reached a minute. They have all required me to stop and assume an odd position (!) and breathe and try to stay relaxed though, they really do hurt. So I am really beginning to think that this might be the start of labour at last!!!! :) I hope I am not proved wrong about it, now that I've said it!
Mummy isn't sure whether to go home (to my brother's) tonight or stay. I am not sure when I should call the midwife - I'm supposed to ring labour ward when I feel I am in labour, but when's that again?! Isn't it contractions at least every 5 minutes, lasting at least a minute, for at least an hour, or something like that? I feel like I don't know what they'd actually DO for me though, if I phoned, because they'd just ask how I was feeling and about my contractions, and then that's all they can really do. But I have NO idea what to expect in terms of how fast I might progress or anything, so I am not sure what to do next. I guess I will continue as I am now. I am quite glad that the timing of it seems to be that Arthur is only about an hour away from bedtime. He is eating tea at the moment. I hope I'll be physically able to see Arthur through bedtime as normal and nurse him almost-to-sleep as usual, in another hour's time. Then it will be such a relief to be able to "get on" with labour all the way to giving birth, with Arthur safely tucked up in bed and sleeping. He may wake, as he still does sometimes during the evening or night, but at least then Neil is likely to be successful at settling him back to sleep without me. And I would have WAY more space to just focus in on my labour and have both my birth partners focus on my needs too. I REALLY hope it works out this way!
Anyway, I am not dealing brilliantly with the contractions at the moment. The pain is so sharp that at the peak of a contraction it is beginning to make me feel a bit panicky and I'm struggling to tell myself to calm down. I have to really blow out my breathing in a pattern, and I'm trying to focus on my cervix opening with the pain, which helps a little. I think I might need to put my TENS machine on soon.
Mummy is calling me to ask about Arthur's dessert! I have to go. I'll try to update again later. Oh but I forgot to say I'm 41 weeks pregnant today! :) Go me, hehe! ;)
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