Contractions Have Started
I began having contractions last night around 10 PM. I kept having them all throughout the night, one every 45 minutes to an hour. I would say they are mild to moderate, but having never experienced labor before, I don't know how strong contractions really get. I haven't been diligent about timing them yet, since they are still so far apart, but I would estimate they last between twenty and forty seconds each. I feel them all around my abdomen, both front and back, and they don't go away if I change position, so I'm hoping that they are the real thing, and not just false labor.
3 comments:
Yippee! Yes, that indeed sounds like the real thing. Do you know how to check your cervix to see how far you are dialated? It's pretty neat to do when you are in labor, here's how:
How to Check Your Own Cervix- "it's not rocket science"
"I think it's a good and empowering thing for a woman to check her own cervix for dilation. This is not rocket science, and you hardly need a medical degree or years of training to do it. Your vagina is a lot like your nose- other people may do harm if they put fingers or instruments up there but you have a greater sensitivity and will not do yourself any harm.
"The best way to do it when hugely pregnant is to sit on the toilet with one foot on the floor and one up on the seat of the toilet. Put two fingers in and go back towards your bum. The cervix in a pregnant woman feels like your lips puckered up into a kiss. On a non-pregnant woman it feels like the end of your nose. When it is dilating, one finger slips into the middle of the cervix easily (just like you could slide your finger into your mouth easily if you are puckered up for a kiss). As the dilation progresses the inside of that hole becomes more like a taught elastic band and by 5 cms dilated (5 fingerwidths) it is a perfect rubbery circle like one of those Mason jar rings that you use for canning, and about that thick.
"What's in the centre of that opening space is the membranes (bag of waters) that are covering the baby's head and feel like a latex balloon filled with water. If you push on them a bit you'll feel the baby's head like a hard ball (as in baseball). If the waters have released you'll feel the babe's head directly.
-By: Gloria Lemay, Vancouver, BC
from Midwife Archives
Yay!! I'm so excited for you! I'm praying for you and your (soon to be larger) family. :-)
Been thinking about you all day. Hope things are going well.
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