Question for Sheila--Latent Labor

[Gayla]

I am 37 weeks pregnant and have been having latent labor for around four days. The contractions are extremely strong (similar to what I remember feeling when on Pitocin with my daughter) but also very irregular--some are only a minute or two apart, some are ten or fifteen minutes apart. The duration is also extremely irregular, between 20 and 40 seconds. They do start in the front and radiate toward the back, they don't change when I change position, walking makes them stronger, etc., but according to the nurse/midwife who examined me, they're not doing a thing to my cervix.

I had the same problem with my daughter, but I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant at the time. We did a lot of things to naturally augment the labor (nipple stimulation, etc.) and ended up rupturing the membranes and finally inducing with Pitocin after three days.

Here are my questions:
1. Are these contractions likely to stop before I go into active labor, or will they turn into "real" labor? The tendency seems to be toward stronger contractions with more time between them.
2. If the baby is born now, will he be okay? Are his lungs likely to be developed, etc.? Will he be big enough? I am very worried about this because I did not anticipate this situation so early in the pregnancy.

I can't talk to my doctor about this because he is out of town until Tuesday. The nurse/midwife who is covering for him was very nice but not extremely helpful.

I'm sorry this is such an insanely long post!

-- Gayla

 

[Sheila]

Re: Latent labor

Hi Gayla,

I would love to be able to help you with what is going on, but unfortunately I am not a medical professional. My expertise is in exercise and pregnancy.

However, I will tell you that it has been my experience that babies born after 37 weeks are usually just fine. They might be a little smaller than your average 7 -7 1/2 pound baby though.

I hope that you can hold on until your physician gets back!

Take care and keep us posted. I am sorry that I couldn't be of more help. Good luck.

Sheila Watkins

 

[BLinda]

A completely non-medical opinion-

It sounds to me like this is your body's labor pattern. I would not worry, but still pay attention to what is going on. You said the same thing happened last time, and you didn't actually go into labor then, so you very well may not now. Personally (as a mom, not a Dr.) I would try very hard not to let anyone rupture my membranes until I was "in labor" or past my due date.
My second I had endless practice contractions, and they were pretty much patternless, and accomplished nothing visible. But then my body did go into real labor, and did a great job. I did notice a difference in the feel of real contractions, kind of more of a clamping down, although at the beginning they actually hurt less than the practice ones, and I wasn't certain right away that it wasn't just wishful thinking. For me, my membranes always rupture spontanously long before I have an actual contraction. Since this always makes a problem, and puts me under a deadline, I would really try to hold off from this if possible.
Anyway, my advice is not to worry, to pay attention to your contractions, and to talk to your Dr. or someone at the practice as soon as possible.

I hope all goes well, and you have a great birth experience, and a healthy full term baby. And that I believe you will.