Length of time in Pre- labor

For my first it was 48 hours before active labour set in. It started
sometime after midnight on Sunday/Monday and contractions continued at
approximately 30 minute intervals thereafter. I had an appointment with
my midwife in the afternoon of Wednesday and she immediately twigged
what was going on and did an internal (I was already scheduled for a
stretch and sweep if things hadnt kicked off by then). She checked me
and pronounced that I was already 3cm's stretching to 4. She did a
stretch and sweep just to get things really going and by 6pm that night,
the contractions were deeply painful and I thought it was time to go to
hospital. I had my daughter at 6:10am on Thursday morning after 12 hours
in the hospital. I went home at 9am on Friday morning.

Now, a question of my own....how long does it last for the second one?
Some tell me it'll be quick but the midwife says it could be the same
timing again? Also, I had food poisoning a few weeks ago and ended up in
hospital with very mild contractions (or monster braxton hicks, we
couldnt decide) and they gave me steroids then as a precaution. No-one
has been able to tell me if this artificial maturing of the lungs will
have any bearing on how early if at all this one will arrive. I am
currently 33 weeks pregnant and I would like to go on a coach trip to
visit a relative at about 37 weeks...should I be risking this or would
it be asking for trouble? Any advice would be welcome.

Wookie

Now, a question of my own....how long does it last for the second one?
Some tell me it'll be quick but the midwife says it could be the same
timing again? Also, I had food poisoning a few weeks ago and ended up in
hospital with very mild contractions (or monster braxton hicks, we
couldnt decide) and they gave me steroids then as a precaution. No-one
has been able to tell me if this artificial maturing of the lungs will
have any bearing on how early if at all this one will arrive. I am
currently 33 weeks pregnant and I would like to go on a coach trip to
visit a relative at about 37 weeks...should I be risking this or would
it be asking for trouble? Any advice would be welcome.

Wookie

I haven't read anything about the steroids progressing labor. but I
most likely would give a call to your midwife prior to a trip.

Good luck.

Anna.Nicole.m wrote:

Now, a question of my own....how long does it last for the second one?
Some tell me it'll be quick but the midwife says it could be the same
timing again? Also, I had food poisoning a few weeks ago and ended up in
hospital with very mild contractions (or monster braxton hicks, we
couldnt decide) and they gave me steroids then as a precaution. No-one
has been able to tell me if this artificial maturing of the lungs will
have any bearing on how early if at all this one will arrive. I am
currently 33 weeks pregnant and I would like to go on a coach trip to
visit a relative at about 37 weeks...should I be risking this or would
it be asking for trouble? Any advice would be welcome.

Wookie

I haven't read anything about the steroids progressing labor. but I
most likely would give a call to your midwife prior to a trip.

Good luck.


Thanks for the encouragement. I've just been googling it myself and all
the reports appear to be positive. Still, the question remains, how long
was it for the second? Is it, as most stories state, quicker, or is that
an old wives tale? Is there a greater chance of delivering early with
the second or is it about the same each time. My first was 10 days
overdue according to the midwives.

Wookie

My first was 10 days
overdue according to the midwives.

Wookie

God bless you, 10 days overdue and you went ahead with the next
pregnancy. good luck with finding an answer if it will go quicker for
you. I'll hope for you that it will :-)

Anna.Nicole.m wrote:
My first was 10 days
overdue according to the midwives.

Wookie

God bless you, 10 days overdue and you went ahead with the next
pregnancy. good luck with finding an answer if it will go quicker for
you. I'll hope for you that it will :-)


On the plus side...at 10 days overdue, her skin was perfect, not
wrinkled or cracked at all. The midwives in the delivery unit told me
that this was a side effect of being in utero for the extra time. It
wasnt so bad appart from the almost constant phone calls from family and
friends wanting to know if there was 'any news' yet. They always seemed
to call just as I was laying down for a little nap in the afternoon. In
the end, I left a message on our answering machine telling everyone that
as soon as I knew anything, I'd ring them, but until then...leave me the
hell alone. I dont want to go into 'extra time' as my husband wryly put
it, but neither do I want to be too early and put her health at risk....

ChocolateChip_Wookie wrote:

On the plus side...at 10 days overdue, her skin was perfect, not
wrinkled or cracked at all. The midwives in the delivery unit told me
that this was a side effect of being in utero for the extra time. It
wasnt so bad appart from the almost constant phone calls from family and
friends wanting to know if there was 'any news' yet. They always seemed
to call just as I was laying down for a little nap in the afternoon. In
the end, I left a message on our answering machine telling everyone that
as soon as I knew anything, I'd ring them, but until then...leave me the
hell alone. I dont want to go into 'extra time' as my husband wryly put
it, but neither do I want to be too early and put her health at risk....

LOL I like the phone message, My midwife told me that if she had it her
way she'd put all mommies on rest so that they delivered overdue, that
the babies seem healthier, breast feed better, and are typically more
content. Less colic less fussiness and a notable decrease in startle
reflex.

honestly other then the bouts of contractions and cramping I have had
an easy pregnancy. I don't have a lot of the aches and pains of
pregnancy. If the contractions and cramping would stop I wouldn't mind
carrying this baby for 4.5 more weeks.

"Anna.Nicole.m" wrote in message
ps.com...

ChocolateChip_Wookie wrote:

On the plus side...at 10 days overdue, her skin was perfect, not
wrinkled or cracked at all. The midwives in the delivery unit told me
that this was a side effect of being in utero for the extra time. It
wasnt so bad appart from the almost constant phone calls from family and
friends wanting to know if there was 'any news' yet. They always seemed
to call just as I was laying down for a little nap in the afternoon. In
the end, I left a message on our answering machine telling everyone that
as soon as I knew anything, I'd ring them, but until then...leave me the
hell alone. I dont want to go into 'extra time' as my husband wryly put
it, but neither do I want to be too early and put her health at risk....

LOL I like the phone message, My midwife told me that if she had it her
way she'd put all mommies on rest so that they delivered overdue, that
the babies seem healthier, breast feed better, and are typically more
content. Less colic less fussiness and a notable decrease in startle
reflex.

That seems to me to be a slightly strange comment. I don't think putting
most people on rest would have a significant change in dates.
I'm skeptical that being post dates would effect colic, can you produce
research to show this? And is there any problem with a strong startle
reflex, other than with associated problems that it is one of the signs?
There are associated problems with post-dates, although I don't think as
many as sometimes the pro-induction people talk about.

Debbie

honestly other then the bouts of contractions and cramping I have had
an easy pregnancy. I don't have a lot of the aches and pains of
pregnancy. If the contractions and cramping would stop I wouldn't mind
carrying this baby for 4.5 more weeks.

Anna.Nicole.m wrote:
ChocolateChip_Wookie wrote:

On the plus side...at 10 days overdue, her skin was perfect, not
wrinkled or cracked at all. The midwives in the delivery unit told me
that this was a side effect of being in utero for the extra time. It
wasnt so bad appart from the almost constant phone calls from family and
friends wanting to know if there was 'any news' yet. They always seemed
to call just as I was laying down for a little nap in the afternoon. In
the end, I left a message on our answering machine telling everyone that
as soon as I knew anything, I'd ring them, but until then...leave me the
hell alone. I dont want to go into 'extra time' as my husband wryly put
it, but neither do I want to be too early and put her health at risk....

LOL I like the phone message, My midwife told me that if she had it her
way she'd put all mommies on rest so that they delivered overdue, that
the babies seem healthier, breast feed better, and are typically more
content. Less colic less fussiness and a notable decrease in startle
reflex.

honestly other then the bouts of contractions and cramping I have had
an easy pregnancy. I don't have a lot of the aches and pains of
pregnancy. If the contractions and cramping would stop I wouldn't mind
carrying this baby for 4.5 more weeks.


Well, I did temper the language somewhat, but the poor postman got the
wrong end of my tongue one morning. Prior to the birth of my daughter I
had had nothing what so ever to do with babies, I hadnt even held one.
My ignorance was so extreme that when my husband remarked during her
first bath that her hair might fall out, I was shocked and horrified. I
too had a relatively easy pregnancy the first time around but this time,
I've had everything it seems. First of all, I had running kidney
infections and at least 4 courses of anti-biotics, then I developed SPD
which has worsened to the extent that I now use a support belt and
crutches, a ruptured disc, food poisoning occassioning early labour and
lately slightly elevated blood pressure. To be honest, I cant wait to
get this one over with even though I promised myself I would *enjoy*
this one as it is probably my last.

From my own experience though, my daughter does *seem* to be a
contented child and this has not changed since she was a small baby. She
latched onto the breast within minutes of being born and we never had a
problem with feeding until I had to go back into hospital 6 weeks later
for further *repairs* and my milk emptied. I never recovered the
situation and had to go to the bottle because she was starting to
starve. After having various arguments with the breast nazis who seemed
to believe that I was deliberately starving the baby, I finally went
completely to bottles. Dont get me wrong, I'm totally 100% behind breast
feeding as a natural way to nourish your child but sometimes, you just
have to admit defeat despite your best efforts. In my case, I later
found out that the anti-biotics they were giving me to supress
infections in the woundsite also inhibited cell division and therefore
were stopping the production of milk. The health visitors never took
this into account and I later found out that they had flagged my
daughter's file as being in danger! Anyway, she went from strength to
strength and is now a happy flourishing 2.5 year old. I dont know how
much truth there is in what your midwife said but since they see
thousands of women every year, they would have the most up to date
knowledge, even if it is circumstantial. Personally, I have always felt
that they rely too much on their charts and just because a baby is
*overdue* by their clocks, it doesnt mean that it really is overdue as
such. Their calculating wheel is based on an average of gestation and is
not precise, so when my midwife started mewling on about induction at
just 1 week over, I told her that I wouldnt even consider it until at
least week 2 or 3. Babies come when they are done and just because your
little wheel says it should be today, doesnt mean that it's late. Just
that your calculations are off by a week or two.

Wookie

That seems to me to be a slightly strange comment. I don't think putting
most people on rest would have a significant change in dates.
I'm skeptical that being post dates would effect colic, can you produce
research to show this? And is there any problem with a strong startle
reflex, other than with associated problems that it is one of the signs?
There are associated problems with post-dates, although I don't think as
many as sometimes the pro-induction people talk about.


I can only imagine that the midwife has observed that post-date babies
appear to be healthier than pre-date babies. Perhaps this is because (as
I said in the other post) their calculators are based on averages of
gestation and what they consider to be overdue, is in fact right on time
and therefore *done* as it were. I have never seen colic, my daughter
didnt seem to suffer from it though as I said in my other post, I was
very ignorant when she was born and it may have occurred but I did not
recognise it. As for the startle reflex, my daughter certainly had that
as well as her father who regularly tipped me out of bed *searching* for
Little_Wookie under my pillow, for some unfathomable reason. We never
did get to the bottom of it, but it went on for months almost every
night. If he wasnt searching under my pillow, it was down the side of
the bed etc. He doesnt have any sleep walk tendancies though I do (just
OT, he told me that I once frisked him for some keys, *found* them, told
him not to hide them in future and promptly went back to sleep). Who
knows. Certainly the midwives told me that her skin was nice and smooth,
not mottled, cracked or wrinkled. She seemed to feed easily enough
(though with the above caveats about being completely in the dark about
babies), she was always contented and slept well from 6 weeks onwards.
She is a good weight, slim and active and now an enquiring energetic
toddler. Perhaps I was just blessed. Something had to go right after the
trauma of her birth....

Wookie

That seems to me to be a slightly strange comment. I don't think putting
most people on rest would have a significant change in dates.
I'm skeptical that being post dates would effect colic, can you produce
research to show this? And is there any problem with a strong startle
reflex, other than with associated problems that it is one of the signs?
There are associated problems with post-dates, although I don't think as
many as sometimes the pro-induction people talk about.

Debbie


I'm fairly confident it was an off the cuff remark. And what I said
above was as things she saw in her experience. She hasn't put anyone
on rest nor would she, she was just making a comment from her personal
experience. at the positive outcomes of mommies going late