When do you actually GO to the hospital?

mommy2noelle · #1 January 21st, 2012, 05:16 AM

Ok, so my plan is to labor at home as long as possible. My only fear is possibly not making it to the hospital in time. I had a relatively short labor with DD (13 hours), so a part of me expects this one to be shorter (I know that doesn't always happen). Anyway, I'm trying to plan as much as I can and was just wondering, at what point do you leave home and head to the hospital (if you have a hospital delivery)?

I'm guessing this will be different for everyone, but I was trying to get a general idea...

FLCharlotte · #2 January 21st, 2012, 10:25 AM

I have always heard 5 mins apart lasting 1 minute for 1 hour 5-1-1. The deal with my doula and Dr was that I was going to head to the hospital when that happened and our drive was about 45 mins in no traffic or it could be well over an hour in traffic. So I was going to be more like 5-1-2.
My family has a history of short labors, my contractions woke me up and my labor never went 5-1-1. They started 2 mins long and 12 mins apart then they were 8 mins apart and still 2 mins. My doula talked to us and told us to go, that was only about 45 mins into it. By the time I finished arguing with everyone and we got to the hospital they were 2 mins long and 4-6 mins apart. I was 4-5 cm and had him 6 and a half hours after getting the hospital.
Next time I have no clue, I obviously don't have "text book" labors. I think you may just "know"

lunarmagic · #3 January 21st, 2012, 11:35 AM

I have very fast labors... so this time my plan is to go as soon as I think I'm actually in actual labor (it's hard for me to distinguish pre-labor and real/hard labor). If I had done that with my last pregnancy I would have gotten to the hospital about 2 hours before she was born. (Instead I got there 5 minutes before she was born.)

UrbanMomma · #4 January 21st, 2012, 12:23 PM

When it hurts...a lot. But I wait until the very last minute. With my last daughter we made it to the hospital and I had her about 20-25 minutes later. My goal is to leave as little time as possible though to avoid all the crap they want to do to me, like CFM.

ashj_1218 · #5 January 21st, 2012, 04:09 PM

Sorta does depend on circumstances. I have always heard 5-minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, and when you have trouble concentrating to get through them. But like someone else said, my labor never went that way. I think concentrating on how you FEEL versus timing is a better indicator. My doula was telling my husband some signs to look for, in case she wasn't here, when to take me in. And they were behavioral (losing my train of thought, having to stop moving and really concentrate through contractions, getting serious and not still being "fun and flighty," snipping at people or getting agitated with things not going my way).

Thankfully, I don't think I will ever "miss" getting to the hospital on time. My labors are pretty lengthy. With my son, my husband convinced me to go because I was crying and really struggling (I did not know I was in actual labor) and I had him about 3 hours after getting there (the drive is an hour). I was at 7-8cm when I arrived and it slowed just enough to get settled before I started pushing. Which was perfect. My second had a whole different set of circumstances (breech), so I ended up at the hospital way too early, which was a great indicator for some interventions.

I think most people (most, not all) know what real labor and actual need to get to the hospital feels like. The feelings will be intense, not necessarily painful, but intense and you will want to do something about them.

mommy2noelle · #6 January 21st, 2012, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanMomma

When it hurts...a lot.

See this is what I was thinking. LOL! With my dd, my gbs was positive so I went asap in order to get the two rounds of antibiotics.

I'm going to talk to my doc about it Tuesday, but I'm curious as to how everyone else handles it. I want to avoid a lot of monitoring and such too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashj_1218

My doula was telling my husband some signs to look for, in case she wasn't here, when to take me in. And they were behavioral (losing my train of thought, having to stop moving and really concentrate through contractions, getting serious and not still being "fun and flighty," snipping at people or getting agitated with things not going my way).

See for me, my contractions didn't get like this until my water broke. Up until that point I was fine and managing my contractions. Yeah, I had to focus on getting through them, but I was still sorta fun.

I think I'm just nervous and wondering how it's going to be the second time around as I shoot for my unmedicated birth.

~~Que~~ · #7 January 21st, 2012, 04:59 PM

It's different for everyone. With my last one, I went in with my ctx 10 mins apart, lasting about a minute and a half long. I was 8 cm and had my baby within the hour. I wouldn't have gone to the hospital if I hadn't checked my own cervix. I didn't know what I was looking for really. I knew what it felt like normally, and I was just looking for change. Well- I felt a bulging bag of water, and I didn't feel any cervix, so I decided it was a great time to go to the hospital. Even though labor "seemed" slow. I just had a easy slow labor that time (it stayed 10-20 mins apart from start to finish- 12 hours.)

When I am with clients: I look out for a few things:

The sound of their voice. Usually around 4-6 cm there is an octave change in moans for most women. Some women do not make any noise at all.

Ctx lasting over a minute for the past hour or more.

Ctx take some concentration, you are getting serious. Not really up for joking around like normal.

Your intuition tells you that you need to go.

kristen121 · #8 January 21st, 2012, 07:00 PM

With my first labor, I used the 5-1-1 rule. I was 4 cm when I got to the hospital and was there about 12 hours before she was born.

With my most recent labor, I was using Hypnobabies and wasn't really timing my contractions. I went to the hospital when I started thinking "screw this hypnobabies crap, I'm going to go to the hospital and get an epidural!" I had my DD less than 10 minutes after I checked into L&D!

mommy2noelle · #9 January 21st, 2012, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristen121

With my most recent labor, I was using Hypnobabies and wasn't really timing my contractions. I went to the hospital when I started thinking "screw this hypnobabies crap, I'm going to go to the hospital and get an epidural!" I had my DD less than 10 minutes after I checked into L&D!

LOL!!!!! That's awesome though! Guess hynobabies worked great for you!

UrbanMomma · #10 January 22nd, 2012, 07:52 AM

I will keep talking to you until I am ready to push.

Also my contrax never even out until the last minute either. They will never get on that 5 min, 3, min, 2 min apart stuff. With Kya (last baby) we were on our way to the hospital and I still was having some contrax 2-3 min apart and then wouldn't have one for 12 min.

I just kinda know now when it is pretty close.

.:fearless:. · #11 January 22nd, 2012, 08:43 AM

I have a difficult time telling the difference as well. I had NO clue I was in labor with my first and was 6cm when I found out. It never hurt at all. Was induced with my 2nd, so none of it counts. My 3rd, my water broke and contractions were immediately so intense I couldn't talk through them. I was 6cm when I got to the hospital an hour later.
This one, I just pray I know when to go. I have FAST labors and the hospital is an hour away. Sorry, I had no advice.

mommy2noelle · #12 January 22nd, 2012, 11:17 AM

No it's ok. Every little bit of input helps.

Twhylite21 · #13 January 22nd, 2012, 11:18 AM

My first labor was about 6.5 hours and my second was just over 9 hours, but she was stuck for 3 of those hours of pushing. Anyway, with my first, my contractions started around 5 minutes apart, but by the end of the first hour they were coming closer together and lasting over a minute. That went on at home for about 3 hours before I decided to get to the hospital. If I had followed the 5-1-1 rule, then I would have gone in that first hour. When I got to the hospital they were coming about a minute apart and lasting well over a minute each time and had been for a while. I was 4.5 cm dilated when I got to the hospital and delivered Lily about 3 hours later.

Vi was a home birth, but similar contraction pattern. Started out about 10 minutes apart, but by end of first hour they were pretty much one on top of the other. I was ready to push about 6 hours in, but then it took 3 more hours to get her out since she was stuck. Looking back, I'm not sure I would have made it to hospital prior to feeling need to push (if I had chosen hospital birth). I know I was dealing with contractions fine and then I just said that I needed to push NOW!

Pain wise, I can't rely on that either since I never felt like I was in pain with contractions, even when they came one on top of the other. I'm just going to have to rely on my intuition

..Penelope.. · #14 January 22nd, 2012, 01:40 PM

I have no idea what I should do. With L, we went to the hospital after 6 hrs of active labor (skipped early labor altogether) and at that point, my contractions were only 3 minutes apart and 1 minute long. But I was only 1 cm dilated and fully effaced. Being stuck in a hospital assessment room and unable to use any coping mechanisms for the pain was HELL. Two hours later, I was 10 cm and L was born after 10 min of pushing. I was told that with any subsequent labors, I should come to the hospital as soon as I feel the first twinge because I have 'stop and drop' labors (their term, yuck). But I want to stay home this time for as long as possible.

forest · #15 January 22nd, 2012, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanMomma

Also my contrax never even out until the last minute either. They will never get on that 5 min, 3, min, 2 min apart stuff. With Kya (last baby) we were on our way to the hospital and I still was having some contrax 2-3 min apart and then wouldn't have one for 12 min.

I just kinda know now when it is pretty close.

Same here on the contractions never evening out until right at the end. I was a bit slow getting to the hospital last time because I didn't think I was that far along because my contractions were coming at such uneven intervals. If my mother hadn't insisted I go to the hospital she would have been born at home. I never made it to the delivery room! My hospital is about 10 minutes away and this time I think I'll head in when I start having to breath through my contractions.

Mod-quietsong · #16 January 22nd, 2012, 04:38 PM

I'm totally taking this all in. I followed 5-1-1 - contractions were 5 minutes or less apart, lasting a minute, for over an hour - with my first labor, but they were super easy to get through, and obviously I went in too soon because I still spent 13 hours in the hospital before he was born. The second one, I went in when they gave me an ultrasound and told me all my water was gone even though I wasn't contracting, LOL. So I've got no idea this time what I'm going to do

NutMeg76 · #17 January 22nd, 2012, 09:51 PM

The hospital I used this time had different rules for FTMs and women that had labored already. FTMs were told to come in when they were contracting 2-3 minutes apart for one hour. Women who had already labored were told painful contraction 5-7 minutes apart.

I went in when they were 7 minutes apart and I felt like I was snipping at the kids during the contraction. I don't get upset between contractions, just during. So I can't go by the 'when you stop acting fun and excited' idea. When I got checked last week, I had been contracting for about 2-3 hours for 6-10 miins apart, and I was 6 cm. The nurse was amazed. He was born 1 hour 27 minutes after getting there.

daneeleigh · #18 January 24th, 2012, 05:56 PM

I'm a FTM so I have no experience yet with this. But my birth center keeps preaching to me not to come in until my contractions are at the 3-1-1 rule or 2-1-1 rule. For me, I'll head the direction of the birth center a little earlier since I live about 45 minutes away and I don't want to have the kid on the side of the road. But my midwife keeps saying that since I"m not getting pain meds there's no reason to labor there when I can stay at home as long as possible and stay comfortable. They also like to listen to how the mom is laboring through her contractions on the phone, what kind of noise we're making and they kind of have an idea as to when to tell us to come in from that.

one.juniper · #19 January 25th, 2012, 07:15 AM

I'm also wondering. Ask your doctor maybe? I'm also one of those who is over an hour away from a hospital that can deliver babies so I really hope it goes ok...

ChicaChels · #20 January 31st, 2012, 08:54 AM

i usually tell my students to think about going to the hospital when they can no longer talk through contractions....or if they're less than 5min apart and lasting 60-90sec for an hour....it's really hard for me to judge personally, because my spontaneous labor, the ctx never really got closer than 8-10min apart

but i knew when i had to go to the hospital (and was there about 10 minutes before hew as born) so i say just listen to your body..you'll know!