Dilation....curious, curious....

With DD1 I don't remember exactly how dilation went, I do know I was checked maybe once or twice at home, and then again at hospital - the thing that stands out to me was having to have been at a certain point to be 'allowed' in the pool.

With DD2 I decided after much discussion with my MW that, unless I was in serious distress / felt something was absolutely wrong, that I would have no VE's at all. I went into labour about an hour after I got up out of bed the morning of the day I had her, labour was just under 2hrs total - hard and fast. Case in point though, she came out even though I have no idea how dilated I was at any stage of it.

HTH

melnel wrote: pfft, well my cervix was clamped so tight it might as well have had a padlock on it! K, I am ordering one of these "didnt even know I was in labour and oh look I am already dilated" labours this time too! I am visualising it opening like a flower in bloom

Bahahahaha

The only thing I did that 'may' have helped was taking RLT from 36 weeks (tablet form). Also, I dunno if it helped but I didnt read anything into every niggle and cramp, every bit of backache or every BH I had, I kinda let my body just do its thing without thinking 'is this it' or 'when is it going to happen' etc. IYGWIM?? So perhaps I prepared myself mentally in that way as well, I dunno.

Mel, Emmi and Karen (and everyone else) I hope you all get a lovely labour this time around. Sending lots of positive fast labour vibes your way

HippyMama wrote: . Case in point though, she came out even though I have no idea how dilated I was at any stage of it. HTH

Well yes but that wasnt really the question LOL I am not planning on VE's this time (bit different with an induction... while I had a choice, after 24 hours and no baby, kinda need to know whats going on so they can make a plan LOL).

Hehe interesting thread! I only got to 2cm without it hurting. After that it was all on, then next check 3hrs later I was 9cm. Then she was born 17mins later.

Emmecat wrote: Whereas I had some bad ass painful contractions for ages before only getting to 1cm and wondered how I got to have the pain free 'didn't know I'd dilated' option!!

SLEEP!!!! Seriously, I did probably 3/4 of my dilating in my sleep....and had it not been for a contraction waking me out of a dead sleep I reckon I could have laboured on oblivious.

To be fair I don't know how dilated I was when I went back to bed the morning A was born, and actually I have no idea how dilated I was when the midwife turned up either as I had no internals this time ( ) but he was born about 90ish minutes after I woke up.

To 'compare'. When I was in labour with J, I was already at 6 when my waters broke, this was about 30 minutes after my serious contractions started, and he was born in just under 4 hours from that happening.

Doesn't dilation tend to be more about position than contractions? So you can have wicked contractions but if bubba's head is in the wrong place you aren't going to get very far. That's how I understand it anyway.

I was 3cm dilated when i had a S&S 9 days before T was born lol. As far as i knew id had no contractions just BH.

2 days before T was born i had another S&S and was still 3cm. Id had pre-labour all week.

By the time id been in labour for 10 hours and got to hospital i was 6cm. Then it took me another 10 hours to get to 10cm lol. Everything went down hill once i got to hospital. Silly hospitals lol shouldve stayed home

When I went in to be induced at 38 weeks due to gestational diabetes I was already 3 cm dialated - had no idea, niggles, contractions whatsoever!!. they used gel still nothing for a few hours then cramps started and within half an hour they where painful - they checked me I was 6cm dialated, DD was born just under 3 hours later.

I went to an acupunturist about 3 days before my induction that was well known for bringing on labour and was on 5W - could be a coincidence but I am for sure making sure I do both for the next one!!!!