Prodromal Labor: The Purgatory of Pregnancy

Some of you may have noticed a decrease in my presence here and on Facebook. The reason is that over the weekend I managed to lose myself in what I am now calling the purgatory of pregnancy, more commonly known as prodromal labor (best identified by my Playdate Crasher Wing-woman, Krista).

Prodromal Labor is something that you don’t hear or read about very much, and I think that doctors are hesitant to throw it out there because it’s hard to identify whats really going on “down there” unless you check the cervix for dilation and effacement. Prodromal labor is a term for early labor that lasts for a long time without progressing into active labor. Unlike Braxton Hicks contractions, these contractions bring on the pain, and can sometimes appear to be the real deal (regular pattern developing over time and increasing in strength and duration) until they decide to fizzle out after hours of torture. This can last for days.

Unfortunately (only because of the pain and psychological torture), I have been stuck in Prodromal since Sunday night. I was watching the Patriots lose to the Jets (Thank God, Go Steelers!) and I started to feel really weird, kind of feverish and just off, and I noticed that I was having several contractions that seemed pretty regular and uncomfortable. They put me on the monitor and it first my contractions looked like my uterus was irritable. But after a couple of hours I started to develop a regular pattern, and they were getting really painful. I felt the pain in my pelvis but I could feel my whole belly contracting with each one. They told me to let them know if it got really bad and that they would check me. Well, I was concerned that I would ask them to check me too soon so I powered through a few hours of some really painful contractions. Then the nurse came in and said I could take Ambien (sleeping medication) still, if I wanted to try to rest a little. I decided to take it because if it was real labor, I knew that I was going to need some rest. I was able to sleep for about an hour and half, and when I woke up I noticed they were still pretty regular (3-4 minutes apart) but not as intense. I got up to go to the bathroom, and once I got back they started to fizzle out, until they eventually stopped about an hour later.

Monday morning, I found myself in emotional torment because I was physically exhausted for what seemed like nothing. I also felt like my doctor misunderstood my frustration for being disappointed that the babies weren’t born yet. I am hoping to that they can stay in there until 34 weeks. But as of Sunday, I know that my body has begun to draft their eviction notice. The problem for me is that since Sunday I have had recurring episodes of painful contractions that start and stop, a significant amount of fluid and membrane loss, and general exhaustion. This laboring business is not for wimps! And Prodromal Labor seems cruel and unfair!

Now that I know my body is having trouble rallying itself into full-blown labor, I have decided to do the following to help get through this period of waiting:

• Eat food! Sunday night I made the mistake of not eating my dinner thinking that maybe I was going into labor and they wanted me not to eat if I was or I needed to have a c-section.
• Wait until I’m feeling contractions closer together before I report anything to the nurses. There is no point being strapped up to a TOCO monitor so I can see the contractions I’m having every 20 minutes. Watching the computer screen and waiting for contractions to get closer and stronger is just another form of psychological torture.
• Ask for pain relief! While I didn’t have a significant contraction episode yesterday I did have a ton of pain in my pelvic area that I just couldn’t shake. They gave me a muscle relaxer that took the edge off the pain (although I still felt some pain with my contractions that I had, just not as bad.
• Sleep. If I am able to manage the pain or am I having no pain I’ve been taking more naps because I know that I will need the energy when I finally enter active labor.

Right now I’ve had a lot of leaking, membrane loss, and contractions (with or without pain) but nothing that has been significant enough to risk the chance of infection during a cervical check. There is a possibility that they may check me today, but I’m not sure yet. I am waiting to be taken down somewhere else in the hospital for an ultrasound. We had an ultrasound in my room on Monday to check the size of the babies. One was estimated to be 3lb 11oz and the other 4lbs 5oz, which is really good. I imagine that by now, they are probably both over 4lbs.

I feel proud to have made it to 32 weeks and 2 days. 12 more to go! The doctors said that they think they babies are mono/di (identical) meaning that they do think they share a placenta. Because of that, the idea of trying to have me wait beyond 34 weeks would not be ideal because the infection risks would apply to both babies. If they haven’t arrived by Feb. 1st, they will get a little assistance (either by induction or c-section).

(*UPDATE: I ended up going into labor the evening that this post was written. Read my birth story here.)