My experience of Prodromal Labour

Experiencing Prodromal Labour can be frustrating and confusing!
Here is the story of my experience with Prodromal Labour taken from my Week 38 Pregnancy Diary for Baby #2

Image by Karen E Photography

Week 38 was certainly a memorable one! In week 37 I was experiencing mild nausea on and off, some lower backache, menstrual type cramps and the like - well, they only got worse! In terms of baby's vital statistics: At week 38, baby is approximately 50cm long and weighs about 3kg, although those guesstimates get less accurate as time goes on. Baby is considered 'term' from 37 weeks, but there are many great benefits to sticking around until 40 weeks so we'll see.

Saturday

On Saturday morning I had a bring-and-share continental breakfast with some lady friends - a great idea for an easy get-together - especially if you are 9 months pregnant. I struggled to sleep since Wednesday night because of the back pain and cramping. Through Saturday and Sunday, twinges and such seemed to get worse and the sense of downward pressure increased. I was just over 37 weeks pregnant but even as a second time mom it felt like labour starting to me, albeit quite slowly.

On Saturday evening I had some pretty strong, regular contractions...

On Saturday evening I had some pretty strong, regular contractions - about 30s each every 5-7min, but they happened quite soon after a cup of red raspberry leaf tea and an unusually long toddler breastfeeding session, which I have since discovered is the result of some unknown ailment currently causing a fever. I wasn't sure whether I should encourage the process with some red raspberry leaf tea, speed walking, stair climbing, breastfeeding and of course, conjugal intimacy, or if I should try to slow things down - resting, warm baths and the like - so I just carried on as usual.

...I had all relevant parties on standby all weekend!

Image by Karen E Photography

Sunday

By Sunday afternoon, my midwife Arlen thought it best that I try get a good night's sleep, rather than encouraging the process and ending up exhausted and not progressing, so I took a warm bath and went to bed. It was the most restful night I'd had that week! I had genuinely thought things were happening and I had the relevant parties on standby all weekend!

...I honestly believed I was in labour...

Monday 

Monday morning rolled around and things were getting going again - I honestly believed I was in labour - I had definite, reasonably regular contractions that I had to concentrate on and breathe through. The toddler and I were washing dishes and every couple of minutes I would have to lean forward onto the sink and focus on my breathing to get through each one. So I called in the troops. My mom drove up from Durban, my friend Janine excused herself from work while another friend Kerry brought supplies (chocolate!) and Hans went to collect the birth pool.

...things seemed to have slowed again...

By the time Janine arrived, things had slowed again, so we took the toddler in the stroller for a walk around the block. On our 2nd, and last circuit, a friend of Janine's caught up with us and we spent some time chatting. She had had two homebirths with my midwife as well so it was great to chat to her! As our paths diverged she mentioned she had quite a strong impression from God that our baby would have a particular character trait, which will remain confidential for the moment. I started crying right there because that was precisely the meaning of one of the final two names on our shortlist, which we hadn't shared with anyone. So the name of our little girl was decided! I was very encouraged!

By this time things had completely slowed down...

Last few days of being an only child...

My mom then arrived and started washing some dishes and the photographer who did our preggie shoot was in town so she popped in as well. We set up the birth pool and did some last minute prep for the home birth and sat down to chat. A little later another friend Kate joined us. After some more chatting they went off to get some lunch, and then we went for another walk. By this time things had completely slowed down and I was feeling a little 'moedeloos' (Afrikaans for discouraged - but the translation doesn't do it justice).

...I had started having my strongest and most regular contractions yet

My mom-in-law also popped in with some snacks and a little later everyone went home saying we must just phone if they need to come back. Kate and her husband brought us a feast for dinner, which I was really grateful for as I was quite bushed and, lo and behold, I had started having my strongest and most regular contractions yet. Again, they were about 30s long, about 4min apart for about 3 hours altogether and with each one I was on the floor on my knees with my head on my arms on the couch to focus so I could breathe through the pain. "This is really it!" I thought. Wrong again! I had a warm bath, things slowed down and I had another great night's sleep.

One thing that was quite funny that night was that the toddler was curious as to why I was burying my head in my arms every few minutes - so I told her that I just needed to close my eyes and invited her to come and join me, so for a couple of contractions she was next to me, head on her arms 'closing her eyes' with mom. Then she saw hubby stroking my back and started stroking and tickling my back too. At one stage when I was breathing through a contraction, she told me to 'wake up' so she could put her head on her arms and 'close her eyes' and told me to tickle her back!

Checking dilation in early labour can only tell you how far dilated you are...

I hadn't yet had a 'show' - which is when the mucous plug at the cervix comes out - often an early sign of labour as it shows that the cervix is effacing (thinning). I had also chosen not to have an internal exam to check dilation, unless absolutely necessary. Checking dilation in early labour can only tell you how far dilated you are - it doesn't actually give an accurate idea of how much longer things are going to take, or how long it took you to get there. Some women can be stuck at 2 or 3cm dilated for days without realizing it. So it can be encouraging to find out that you are further dilated than you thought, but it can also be discouraging to find out the opposite - and knowing me that would stress me out and hinder the process even more.

Tuesday

I think, "OK, today is the day!" Wrong again.

Tuesday morning rolls along. I go to the toilet in the morning, and I have a 'show'! (Apologies if this is TMI for the casual reader - you want real life, you got it!) I text the midwife to let her know and I think, "OK, today is the day!" Wrong again. I walked to our usual Tuesday morning mom's group close by, contemplated having a go on the trampoline but thought better of it. I had reasonably strong menstrual pain for most of the day, like I would for the first or second day of menstruation, but that was about it! (It was a weird sensation, having not menstruated in what felt like forever!)

I am choosing to trust my body and embrace the process!

Despite all the weirdness, I was feeling great - I was not as discouraged as I had been on Monday. We women so often assume that our bodies are somehow defective when something about us doesn't fit in with the 'average', but with birth the range of normal is very wide, and  Maybe I'm doing too much and I just need to rest, maybe baby isn't in quite the right position yet and all these contractions are squeezing her into the right spot, maybe I just need a little longer to dilate this time, and maybe it's none of the above. Baby is still moving well and I'm feeling fine.

Wednesday

...I woke up feeling stiff and irritable.

I woke up feeling stiff and irritable, despite having rested the whole day Tuesday. Alternative arrangements had been made for my ballet classes so I went from pretty-active mode, to couch-potato mode. Frustration! I decided get some last minute supplies at the mall. Even with extra walking there was no change - nothing - it was the quietest day since Wednesday last week. Arg!

The fact that it was a full lunar eclipse that night too didn't seem to impress little one at all - it would have been so poetic!

I was hoping that something might happen on Wednesday night considering that it was a full moon and there are many old wives' tales / urban legends and one or two studies that show that more babies are born during the last quarter of the moon than at any other time of the lunar month, but no such luck. The fact that it was a full lunar eclipse that night too didn't seem to impress little one at all - it would have been so poetic! This was my Facebook status for that day:

Thursday

Thursday was also quiet...

We had a laugh on Thursday morning when a friend of ours (an out-of-towner to give him credit) phoned to congratulate us, thinking the baby must be born by now! Thursday was also quiet, so I spent much of the day pondering the whole idea of a 'ripening' process. Later that night I was in the bath and discovered that I could barely move; even turning on to my side was painful. Something in my pelvic / sacral area was out of whack - it felt like it was in pieces that simply refused to work together!

Friday

And so the sun rose on another Friday morning - a full week after I first mentioned that I was starting to feel twingey. I must admit, I was feeling a little emotionally overwhelmed, not about all the false starts but about things in general, like my back. I took the emotional-ness as a good sign that my hormones were kicking into high gear, or so I hoped! My back was even more uncomfortable than before and it was really upsetting me.

I also got a great back massage for the first time in months...

Because I've danced all my life, my physical mobility is really important to me so limping about because my pelvis didn't want to hold me up was very distressing. Fortunately I managed to get an appointment with the chiropractor - what bliss! Apparently my pelvis was slightly twisted as my pubic symphysis was out and she got that fix in 5 minutes flat. I also got a great back massage for the first time in months because I could actually lie on my stomach on that fancy table of hers! Joy!

I am feeling strong... I promise I'm not putting it on just to get the attention!

Besides the fact that we keep expecting this baby to pop out, our one car won't start, I have developed a cavity and the toddler has had a reasonably high fever for the last two days - we are doing well! I am feeling strong and really empowered actually. I've said elsewhere:

If at any stage it seems as though I am in pain, please do not pity me. I am not suffering. I am doing what I was born to do.

And I would add to that: I promise I'm not putting it on just to get the attention!

...what I am experiencing is generally referred to as prodromal labour...

If you want a name for it, what I am experiencing is generally referred to as prodromal labour (also known as pre-labour, or false labour). The thing about it is that it can be very difficult to distinguish from the real thing. You can generally find an exception to anything anyone says about prodromal labour. When people say real contractions should get stronger and more regular but prodromal contractions don't - you'll find someone whose experience contradicts that. So really, prodromal labour is generally only recognized in retrospect!

I've got a more technical post about the various forms of prodromal labour and how to cope with it in the pipeline, so please do subscribe to the Blog or like the Durban Doula Facebook Page to keep updated when I post it!

So that's the long story about I'm learning to embrace the process and trust my body! Looking forward to sharing again next week!

UPDATE: So it seems all that prodromal labour was leading up to something! Here is the story of our Quick, Almost Unassisted, Home Water Birth

UPDATE:
Well, it turns out this was the last week of our pregnancy diary! It seems all that prodromal labour was heading somewhere and our little girl was born the Saturday night. You can check out the story of our amazing beautiful ecstatic home water birth here.

Eloise's Birth Story - My Second Child's Home Water Birth

The Durban Doula's very own birth story!
The almost unassisted home water-birth of our second daughter.

(Lots of pics at the end!)

After a week of erratic prodromal labour, I woke up just after midnight on a Friday evening. This was nothing unusual. For the last month or so I had been waking sometime in the middle of the night, wide awake that is, only to fall sleep about 2 hours later.

The contractions were also not unusual; I had been having prodromal labour consisting of rather painful, somewhat regular contractions on and off for a week. This time the contractions carried on for another 12 hours which was admittedly a bit unusual, but after the week I'd had, I wasn't getting my hopes up! So I tried sleeping between surges, and managed to get a couple more hours in.

We took a leisurely stroll...

We took a leisurely stroll to the Farmer's Market nearby at about 8am, and oddly the contractions actually calmed down quite substantially while I was walking. Side note: The fact that I could get them to go away by moving apparently indicates 'false' labour. Whatever!

I was over it!

I didn't keep track, because I had been timing contractions all week and I was over it! But they were pretty irregular, some 3 minutes apart, some 15 minutes apart - no pattern I could discern.

'Another false alarm,' I thought.

We got back and Hans looked after the toddler while I tried to nap between contractions, thinking they would go away like they had been doing the whole week. They did. At about lunchtime they stopped. 'Another false alarm,' I thought.

I didn't want to try and get things moving before my body was ready...

The previous week I experienced various odd sensations, from mild backache to serious contractions. I rested as much as I could rather than trying to get things moving before my body was ready as that might only exhaust me, without having made any ‘progress’.

...at 6:45pm I had 2 very strong contractions quite close together...

Warm baths had helped me to relax so at about 6:30pm that evening I went to bathe and at 6:45pm, after about 6 hours of no contractions at all - nil, niks, nada - I had 2 very strong contractions in the bath, quite close together, probably the strongest I'd had. The next one followed just as I got out and I could feel my legs trembling. In my previous labour, that had been a sign that I was already in transition.

My mom wanted a time estimate; I think I said, 'Soon!'

I yelled for Hans, things were finally happening, and happening fast. We phoned Arlen our midwife first, and then my folks, who had just arrived at a formal dinner 45 minutes away. My mom wanted a time estimate; I think I said, 'Soon!' We called Hans's folks to come and help with the toddler just as they were finishing their dinner at a restaurant - impeccable timing this baby has! We also texted those who wanted to know, and those whom I had invited to join us for the occasion.

Most of everything had already been set up since Monday...

With all systems go, Hans did some last minute prep clearing my sewing gear out the lounge with cranky toddler in tow while I went upstairs and put on 'Classical Music for Meditation' CD while I breathed and huffed and snorted through contractions. Most of everything had been set up since Monday, so it was only some last minute clearing to do.

That time alone to gather my wits and breathe and focus was precious.

I was most comfortable on my hands and knees, or bent forward with my hands on the bed and my knees slightly bent - as comfortable as you can get in transition that is. That time alone to gather my wits and breathe and focus was precious. Between contractions I sat cross legged on the bed and relaxed as best I could but as I felt each new wave coming, there was absolutely no way I could stay still! I tried, and felt I was going to crawl out of my skin!

...instead of fighting each contraction and tensing against it, I surrendered to it...

On my hands and knees, rocking forwards and backwards, and side to side, I felt power surging through my body with each contraction and instead of fighting it and tensing against it, I surrendered to it, understanding that this was all working to get my baby out. At the end of each one, I experienced a warm glow through my entire body – like that feeling when you stand under a hot shower or lower yourself into a warm bath – an afterglow of sorts.

While I was upstairs, the midwife, hubby's folks and two of my friends who had been constant companions throughout all our ups and downs that week arrived. I don't remember the order!

...thank the Lord for laminate flooring!

Arlen the midwife checked my blood pressure and baby's heartbeat between surges which were coming thick and fast by that stage. Hubby's mom took over with the toddler who promptly threw up on the floor in our bedroom. I'm not sure if it was all the excitement or overdosing on milkshake earlier that day, or a combination of the two, but thank the Lord for laminate flooring! We had all the supplies for mopping up on hand in any case, so no stress there. What it did mean though, was that the in-laws waited downstairs for a while, loathe to put the potential vomiter in their car, and so they fortunately ended up sticking around until the baby was born. But I'm getting ahead of things now.

I do think the kettle was enlisted at some stage...

We hadn't checked for pipe-tap compatibility concerning the birth pool, but hubby made a plan and our two friends, Janine and Kate, worked on getting the pool filled. To be honest, I didn't think we were going to make it, and I don't think the midwife did either! Even though our hot water pressure is dismal, the geyser is set quite hot so it doesn't take much to warm things up. I do think the kettle was enlisted at some stage, but I wasn't noticing much of that.

I swear the smell of his hair was better than any drug!

Once the pool was well on its way to being filled, Hans joined me and things turned a corner. I could let go, and I swear the smell of his hair was better than any drug! One or two contractions later I felt the fronts of my thighs burning and aching - somehow in that moment I remembered reading that this was a sign of full dilation. Transition had been much longer with my first, and to be honest, when I first started getting those intense contractions in the bath, I was fully expecting a few more hours! Relief!

People often think that pushing is the most intense stage, but for me transition was the hardest with the pushing stage like a downhill run by comparison. I found pushing much more satisfying than transition as it finally felt like I was getting somewhere!

...I could feel the baby's head...

I was most comfortable in a wide kneeling position on a little mattress we had next to the bed, leaning forward on Hans sitting on the bed. My waters broke, and I felt baby moving down. What an incredible feeling! I did an internal check myself (the only internal check for this birth) and I could feel her head! I loved being the first person to touch my baby. As contractions happened, I worked with them and waited and rested quietly between.

Far away in labour land in the birth pool!

The midwife knew I wanted to catch the baby myself, and so right then she mentioned to me that I might struggle in the position I was in, and that the pool was ready. I was already in 'the zone' and not keen to do anything other than stay put, but fortunately I listened!

So I got into the water...

So I got into the water and it was heavenly. I wasn't resting on my sacrum, but rather supporting myself on my knees or in a squat as I felt comfortable. Soon after I got into the water the midwife checked the heartbeat and all seemed fine.

...I grunted, groaned and growled that baby out!

I thought I made a lot of strange noises, although my in-laws said they barely heard a thing from downstairs! Some women breathe their babies out, and I was kind of hoping I might do the same, but when it came to it I grunted, groaned and growled that baby out! Making a noise helped keep my jaw soft while working with the contractions. Soft up top means soft at the bottom! Again I checked for baby's head, and it was right there, just out of sight.

My folks arrived while I was in the water and my mom rushed upstairs. With a fuel stop along the way, they had apparently engaged in some low flying to get there. Even then, they made it only about 5 or 10 minutes before she was born!

With each surge, Hans supported me in the water. I could hear encouraging murmurs from around me, but it was his voice that pierced through everything and his words that wrapped around me and kept me going. I was truly an intimate experience for us. I wouldn't change that for anything!

...like pulling a door with one hand and pushing with the other...

I realized I had been working too hard with the contractions, like pulling a door with one hand and pushing with the other. I consciously ‘let go’ and felt her head start crowning on the next contraction! One more contraction after that and her head was out.

'Is there anything I'm supposed to do now?'

 'Is there anything I'm supposed to do now?' I asked. "No, just wait." So we waited patiently for the next surge. We were still in the water all this time, which is safe as the baby hadn't yet started to breathe, with her body being so compressed in the birth canal, and wouldn't try to take a breath until she felt the cold, which she would only feel when I took her out the water.

Also, the baby would only try to breathe if she was in distress, which we knew she wasn't. Tickling her head and waiting for the surge that would push the rest of her body out was another moment I will never forget!

Her body rotated and emerged with relative ease and I lifted her up out of the water myself at 8:24pm, just under 2 hours after those first contractions in the bath. What a flood of emotions and sensations! The pictures say it all...

Straight into mom's arms...

That first sqauwk!

We did it!

The midwife dabbed her face with a cloth and she let out a squawk but was otherwise very calm. She was covered in vernix, millimeters thick in some places, probably because she was 2 weeks early. I held her close and kept her body under the water to stay warm and we rested like that for a while. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I do remember confirming that she was a girl, and we announced her name - Eloise: Famous Warrior!

The toddler Amelia came up to say hello and her first remark was, 'Lotsa tweam!' (Lots of cream!) She was utterly fascinated! In retrospect I would have liked her there a little earlier so she could see the baby coming out, but I just didn't think of it. She had watched birth videos with me before and was completely enthralled! Maybe next time...

Lotsa tweam!

After some quick hello's, we were left alone with our little one, resting in the pool. When she looked ready to feed I let her do her thing and she latched like a pro first time! We had been in the water about half an hour, enough time for the cord to stop pulsing, when Hans cut the cord and I got out as I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

A comfy sling scale...
much nicer than cold metal or plastic!
See how beautifully pink she is!

We delivered the placenta, and later the midwife weighed and measured her and checked her hips and her reflexes. I dressed myself and our newest little human, Eloise, and we drank tea downstairs with the grandparents in the wee hours of the morning. There is nothing quite like that first cup of tea after baby is born!

...all so intensely sacred but so terrifically normal!

So that was that! No internal checks other than my own, no needles for me or for baby, no suctioning, no chemicals, no plastic box and no loud noises other than squeals of delight! - all so intensely sacred but so terrifically normal!

In retrospect, recovery has been so much easier this time! I had a drug-free birth with my first, and I know that the second one is usually easier, but this was way better! Another big difference is that my first labour was 12 hours start to finish – not this on-again-off-again for a whole week business! But, of course, I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

So, in summary, our home water-birth included a week of prodromal labour, or pre-labour, or early labour - whatever you want to call it - then a solid 12 hours of totally irregular contractions - then nothing for 6 hours - then straight into transition and baby born less than 2 hours later!

I think if I hadn't been with a midwife I would have had induction recommended at least three times that week, and would probably have ended up with a c-section because my body wasn't ready yet. I would have been diagnosed with 'failure to progress' when the problem was simply a case of 'failure to wait'.

Fortunately, we waited, and the experience far surpassed my expectations! I tell people I had an unassisted birth with the midwife in the room because that's how it felt. Honestly it was one of the highlights of my life and that experience played a huge part in my wanting to be a doula.

For the record, Eloise is now already almost 7 years old, but I felt this incredible story deserved sharing! She is a delight to everyone she meets and she loves it when I tell her the story of how she was born.

Find more birth stories here.