# keeping the contractions going



## AngieB (Oct 25, 2003)

My EDD was march 9. For the last 3 nights sarting around 11 or 12 I have had contractions every 10 minutes, they feel pretty strong and after about an hour or so I'll get up to walk around and they stop. Dh thinks I should stay in bed and hope they keep going, but when do I consider them the real thing and is there anything I can do to keep them going and get them to not stop when I get up and start walking? My last birth was really fast and MW wants me to call her when the contractions are 10 minutes apart, but I don't want to call her if they are going to stop as soon as I start moving







: .


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## homebirthbaby (Aug 10, 2006)

I had the same expierience for about 4 nights before I went into labor! It was so frusturating!!!
I just layed awake until I fell asleep, obviously the contractions stopped. The night that I DID go into labor, I had strong contractions and this time decided to get up and see if the stopped....they did and I went back to bed. 2 hours later my water broke and baby was born 1 hour and 15 min's later!


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## Rockies5 (May 17, 2005)

That is how all of my labors begin. It's classic prodomol or "slow start" and a great way to get going. Try to be patient, it will get going better in the next week or so.

It's also classic to begin a labor this way if baby is posterior, sometimes being active and practicing OFP will get things going.

#1 was 3 weeks of this, eventually contractions were 24-7 10mins apart he was born a few days after this pattern developed. My second was the same, it's annoying and frustrating. Impatience and exhaustion are your worst enemies for this type of labor. My third was 6 weeks of this patterns. It was very frustrating for me, but it was my bodies way of trying to slowing turn such a big baby. My fourth was 5 nights of 5-10min apart contractions that stopped every time the sun rose and started when it set, and the same was true for our fifth and last.


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## Spark (Nov 21, 2001)

That's how I tend to start labor over a couple weeks or so. I really think patience is the best. The birth where I forced things to happen (I walked for 3 hours straight) was just plain tiring. I was so so so so tired. The labor where I did nothing but breathe and enjoy the ride -- that was wonderful.









Your baby knows when the time is best.


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## tinyshoes (Mar 6, 2002)

I'm a believer in the "prelabor" or "false labor" as being wonderful stuff to help coax baby into a lovely perfect-for-REAL-labor position.

There are all sorts of little adjustments that can be made by these types of contractions--and not just getting a baby out of an OP position. Those "useless contractions that peter out" are wonderful! Maybe they're helping to get a little hand away from the face, softening the cervix a little more, revving up the uterus for the hard work of labor, or helping to ease baby's head into a more chin-to-chest tucked position.

Contractions that quickly result in a baby aren't the only useful, helpful, lovely type of contractions that women's bodies can do.









It's so hard to be patient, sooooooooo near the end!!!!!! hang in there, and know all of these nights of 'practice' are good uterine effort, doing useful helpful work!


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## ~*~MamaJava~*~ (Mar 7, 2004)

And even if you TRY to get them to keep going....it might not work...my 2nd pregnancy was like that...weeks of nightly prodromal labour. It was a long but easy labour, if that helps







He was my only properly positioned baby.

Just go with the flow. Babe will come when it's fully cooked


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## AngieB (Oct 25, 2003)

Thanks for all the replies. I wanted to give everyone and update. DD was born march 13 at 3:00 am. It was an easy 5 hour labor. The funny thing is that after all my worry about getting the labor started once I knew I was in labor and called MW she was at another birth and told me to do things to slow it down until her back-up could get there. She had me sit in the tub and drink a beer





















if you can believe that.


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## tinyshoes (Mar 6, 2002)

I believe every word!

congratulations!


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## Rockies5 (May 17, 2005)

Congratulations!!


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## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AngieB* 
Thanks for all the replies. I wanted to give everyone and update. DD was born march 13 at 3:00 am. It was an easy 5 hour labor. The funny thing is that after all my worry about getting the labor started once I knew I was in labor and called MW she was at another birth and told me to do things to slow it down until her back-up could get there. She had me sit in the tub and drink a beer





















if you can believe that.









Congrats on your new baby! It sounds like all of those practice contractions helped out!


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