These might be premature questions but.....

[Ebony_Mommy]

....

Say you think you're having contractions/pains.....you then go to the hospital and they say you're 3cms dialated.... will they keep you in or send you home?

When you have your first contraction/pain... what do you do? Do you call hospital or just turn up?

How do you know your having contractions and not just 'normal' pains?

I had a whole bunch o questions but im talkin on msn while typing this and my mind has gone blank...

I'll come back and ask a few more when they come back to me

 

[honey7733]

Say you think you're having contractions/pains.....you then go to the hospital and they say you're 3cms dialated.... will they keep you in or send you home?

I think they would keep you in

When you have your first contraction/pain... what do you do? Do you call hospital or just turn up?

i`d leave it as long as you can then call the hospital

How do you know your having contractions and not just 'normal' pains?

all i can say is i just knew what they were as soon as they started

I had a whole bunch o questions but im talkin on msn while typing this and my mind has gone blank...

I'll come back and ask a few more when they come back to me


hope this helps hun

 

[budge]

if you're having regular contractions and you go to the hospital and they find you to be 3 cm dilated they will keep you in.

You phone the hospital before going in so that they are aware you are arriving

 

[littlebump]

It may vary from hospital to hospital and also depend on how busy they are at the time. With first baby, you can still have a LONG time to go to get from 3cm to 10cm, so if you coping OK with the pain, they may offer the choice to go home & come back later - especially if they don't have any beds free in the labour ward. I went in three times altogether and was 3cms the first time I went in - 8 hours later when I went back I was still only 3.5cms . To give you an idea my contractions first started on a Thursday night, I called my Midwife on Friday morning and she came to my house to assess me, told me I was doing nicely and to get lots of rest. They came on and off throughout Friday, then came on strong and frequent again Friday night. I eventually went into hospital on the Saturday morning as I realised my waters must have broken in the night (contrary to popular belief it isn't always obvious!!) and I didn't finally give birth until the Monday morning!! And apparently it's not that uncommon for labour to span over several days when it's baby no. 1.

They left it up to me though - so I think I could have stayed if I wanted to, or if I wanted pain relief, but it's soooooo much more relaxed and comfortable in your own home.

Re. distinguishing 'contractions' from normal pains, in my case it was VERY apparent as the contractions were pretty painful and I had to concentrate on relaxing. Also they are evenly spaced but get longer in duration and become more frequent over time. I asked the Midwife how you knew contractions from strong braxton hicks and she said with BHs you focus on the tightening of the uterus and it can be quite uncomfortable, whereas with contractions your first focus is on the pain - not that the pain is too bad, it's just that you notice the discomfort before the tightening.

Everyone is sooo different unfortunately - I know someone who experienced no pain, but her MW did an examination and found she was 3cms dilated and had probably been in slow labour for some time without even realising!! Also a friend I met at NCT had her baby (first one) in about 4 hours and didn't even use gas & air!

Your body gives you big clues and in my case I definitely knew things were happening - apart from having a show, I just 'felt' different on the day I went into labour.

Hope this helps (and doesn't freak you out - it's not meant to!)

Lots of luck & love

LBxx

 

[Ebony_Mommy]

i think if given the option... i might just stay in

 

[budge]

oh yeah. by 3 cm you may be having quite strong contractions and once you're in you're in!

 

[violet-glow]

Ebony judging by your recent threads it sounds like your starting to panic. Are you alright hun? I know the closer im getting to baby arriving im even starting to panic and ive done it all before. I remember when I was a first timer and asking my mum and anyone else who had, had kids a crap load of questions. I found that everyone tells you different things about labour and baby bottles etc, which can be a bit overwhelming

You'll be a pro in no time at all hun xx

 

[Lyndsey]

I went to my antenatal classes this week.... we only get one 2 hour session..... I was told to try and stay at home as long as you can but to get advice and info from your midwife or labour ward when needed.... I was also told not to turn up at the ward I had to ring first.... ( they would then get my notes etc) they were very adamant about that part!!!


I am hoping to have a very natural birth without people poking and prodding and I feel that I will be more relaxed at home... however, once I get the pains I am aware that I may be singing a different tune.. one in the key of OW with the lyrics "get me an epidural!"

Lyndsey

 

[Hypnorm]

They asked me to come in when i was having contraction 5 mins appart, i could have gone home again for a while, but my bp was high so i was transfered to hospital. and stuck in hospital for 19 hours!

 

[Ebony_Mommy]

Ebony judging by your recent threads it sounds like your starting to panic.

a little...

its just barely sinking in that theres a baby inside my belly

 

[violet-glow]

a little...

its just barely sinking in that theres a baby inside my belly

lol I feel the same. Still cant believe im pregnant. Think im still going to be shocked when they hand baby to me after labour lol