Transitioning from Braxton Hicks to "Real" Labor **Birth Story Added**

For my first 2 pregnancies, I NEVER felt Braxton Hicks contractions with my previous pregnancies, so this is all new to me. With my first, my water broke (at 34 wks) before I felt ANY contractions, with my 2nd I delivered (at 37+ wks) within maybe 2 hours of them breaking my water. I have been on bedrest in the hospital for 12 days now because I was having contractions as close as 2 minutes apart, even though they consider them Braxton Hicks because they are not producing cervical change. Now that I am past 34 weeks and my fraternal b/g twins have had the steroid shot and are each estimated over 5lbs, they are thinking about sending me home. As tempting as it is to go and be with my 2 and 3 year old, we have all adapted and adjusted to the "new" routine, and I would be fine either way - staying ot going.

The part that worries me about going home is with so many contractions already if I will be able to tell when to come in. My high risk doc says just to watch for water breaking, bleeding, or intreased intensity, but I live over 30 minutes away from the hospital and don't want to ignore symptoms long enough that I don't make it to the hospital. Even though I have been thru 2 deliveries, I am not sure I will be able to tell the difference between these Braxton Hicks and "real" contractions. I'm worried that if my water breaks or my contractions start kicking in, that my labor will progress very quickly with twins and 3rd delivery escpecially. I'm shooting for a natural delivery, but if Baby B stays breech my doc says it would be a c-scetion until 36 weeks. So I'm hoping for Baby B to turn or to make it to 36 weeks.

Can enyone tell me about your labor experience:
Did you have fraternal or identical twins?
How could you tell you were transitioning from Braxton Hicks to "Real" Labor?
Did your water(s) break?
What kind of time frame did you have before you delivered?
How far along were you when you delivered?

 

:wavey:

Are they giving you an option to stay there? With your history, I would probably take that option if possible. I wouldn't want to be 30 minutes from a hospital if I were prone to quick deliveries, and not feeling contractions, especially with twins!

For me, 'real' contractions were completely different from BH. BH's, while uncomfortably tight at times, didn't have the achy period-like-cramp-hurt of the real ones. But, they are so different for everyone. I have a friend that had one(ONE!) moderate contraction, and the rest she really couldn't feel, before she delivered her son, so you just never know. I definitely felt all of my real ones! I started having BH with the twins at 12 weeks. I delivered them via C at 37 weeks, because of Pre-E, after 9 weeks of strict home bedrest.

Best of luck. Keep those babies bakin'! :hug:

 

Wish I could be help to you but I never felt a single contraction with my babies...not even Braxton Hicks! They are my first and I never had the option of labor because baby A was breech from my first ultrasound all the way to my last. Good luck with everything and I am definitely open for any questions you have if you end up having to have a C-section. Let us know how things go and congrats on your Christmastime babies! :smilie_xmas_116:

 

Well, the 2 things I feared would happen actually did and I was very thankful that I was still on bedrest at the hospital when they did. My Braxton-Hicks had converted to progressive "real" contractions and I had no clue - if anything the contractions did not seem as bad as ones I had before. Two days after having a "high and tight" cervix, they discovered after a routine non-stress test monitoring that my contractions were regular and that I was 2-3cm dialated and -1 position.

The other part was that I ended up with an unplanned C-Section less than 3 hours later and the babies were born at 34wks +1day (5lbs 6oz and 5lbs 3oz, both about 18 inches) During the same routine non-stress test monitoring, they detected an very fast heart rate for Baby B, which ended up being a result of her having an atrial flutter (abnormal heart rate). By midnight the NICU doctors shocked her to reset her heart rhythm, and she spent the next 3 days in the NICU. We stayed in the hospital a 3 more days in the regular nursery to monitor their weight gain and jaundice levels and just got home this week.

There are sooo many things that ironically fell into place that night - Praise God looking over us through the whole situation and placing us where we needed to be and in the hands of great nurses and doctors!

 

Thank you for all your input!

 

Wow, what a story! :hug: Congratulations on the birth of your babies!

 

I agree with Becky, do you have the option to stay there? Being 30 minutes away and having so many contractions, I'd be worried too.
1. I have fraternal b/g twins
2. I just had sporadic BH contractions. I never experienced a real contraction
3. No
4. I had a scheduled c-section. Baby A was breech the whole pregnancy.
5. 38 weeks and if my kids had their way, they'd probably still be in there!

Wishing you all the best during the rest of your pregnancy!
PS: I just saw the rest of your story! :yahoo: Congratulations Momma on the birth of your babies!

 

Wow, that was fast! Before you could get responses to your question, you're holding your babies! Congrats!

 

Your story sound a lot like myne. I have b/g twins. This was my first pregnancy so I didn'tknow the difference between Brax. Hicks. I lived 45 minutes from the hospital. I made over five trips in the three months that I was on complete bedrest. They put me on Procardia (a blodd pressure med) to reduce my uterine activity. Basically, if I had more than six contractions in one hour I was told to come back and get checked. I also monitored the intensity. If I had any back pain, or pressure we headed back.

I also needed to make it t 36 weeks. I went home got in the bed and did not move. I had a bench in the shower which was about ten feet away from the bed and that was the extent of my exercise. At 36 weeks I went back the hospital. They broke my water. The twins were born three hours later(vaginally). Good Luck!

 

Congrats on the birth of your babies! I'm glad everything worked out and that you AND your twins are at home now

 

Wow what a story! Congrats on your new arrivals!

 

What a great outcome! Congrats!