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I slept in after taking 3 Tylenol last nite. You are really lucky if Tylenol PM helps/allows you to sleep. Actually Tylenol PM is just Tylenol plus Benadryl so if it works for you and you don't need pain relief you could just take the equivalent dose of Benadryl. My doctors recommend that to me for occasional use when I can't sleep and am very uncomfortable, but I know from experince that Benadryl actually keeps me awake and is therefore completely useless and unnecessary to try. A lot of people swear by it, and I think they are lucky, lucky, lucky if it helps them sleep!! Ah well...I have been sleeping better anyway, just sometimes my stomach is SO uncomfortable for the first hour or two after going to bed! Sometimes I have to get up!

I want an epidural.  So, if I wait until I'm contracting at 3 - 5 mins apart and 30 - 60 secs each one, will I still be able to get one? The other thing to keep in mind here is that, really, there are two possible scenarios here. (Well... 3...) 1. You do as described above, to to the hospital, and are well into active labor, probably dilated around 3-5 cm. get your epidural and all is well. 2. Your labor is so intense that you can't wait that long, decide you are ready for your epidural, go to the hospital and (hopefully) find that you are indeed dilated enough to get it. 3.  You wait until you meet those criteria, get to the hospital, and find that are too far along to get an epidural (say... 8-9 cm.)  At that point, you've gotten through most of your labor without the epidural anyway... so you probably don't really need it anyway, right? Naomi CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator (either remove spamblock or change address to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to e-mail reply.)

minutes apart, 30-60 (or more) seconds long, *and* you can't talk through the contractions (the last one is important), it's time to head to the hospital (assuming you're having a hospital birth, which I think you are). I had trouble with this, since my labor contractions were 2 minutes apart, lasting 1 1/2 minutes.  I could talk and smile and everything.  I knew it was labor.  I knew I would deliver soon.  My previous labor went quickly.  I didn't want to wait until I couldn't talk through them because 1) I wouldn't be able to drive myself in in that state and 2) by that time, the baby will be coming out.  I just couldn't convince anyone, doctors, nurses, anyone. They sent me home because I was smiling too much, doc said I couldn't possibly be having the baby that night and I had the baby 3 1/2 hours after I got home.  If it weren't for the fact that it was middle of the night and there was no traffic and no stop lights, I'd have had the baby in the car. She was born 12 minutes after I got into labor & delivery.  I really didn't have any bad labor pains until we got in the car, and I suspect it was mostly from the restriction in my movements.

these will feel like.  At this point, I get major tightness in my tummy which feels like the baby is pulling on all sides of my front. Then, it goes away.  Then, it comes back.  But, then stops completely. Questions: Do we lose our mucous plug before we go into labour? Does our water break before we lose our mucous plug? Do we go into labour AFTER our water breaks? Just what happens???  I'm scared and a bit confused.  Honestly all the prepared childbirth classes didn't seem to stick!!  I'm just not sure what to expect. I'm due in 16 days!! ~Carol Ann EDD Mar 22 The birth story of ruben is quite short. I was very lucky.. Things started at 5.30 pm with contractions that were like menstruation pains. I have them quite bad so this was no big deal!! After approx 1 hour which I hung on the radiator (I loved the warmth) I called my DH to tell him I thought things were starting and he should get his appointments out of the way for the day after because he would prob. not be in the office. He asked if he needed to get home but I did feel the need. He came home at 7 pm just the same. At 7.30 I got under the shower where I stayed for 1 hour and a half.... filling the tub somewhere between and lay in the warm water breathing away the contractions which were still very managable. At 9 pm they lasted approx 55 sec. and I had them every 3-5 minutes. During classes they told us NOT to come in the hospital untill they lasted 60 seconds so I was in NO hurry but DH was getting anxious so he got me out of the tub and into the car. During the 15 min drive to the hosital I really felt the baby getting down. I had the car stopped twice because I needed to concentrate. Then at the hospital they couldn't find my charts so that took 15-20 min. during which I was visitated and found 6 cm dilatated. My water broke in the meanwhile (around 10.15 pm) just when they told me to lay down, while they were still looking for the papers. I wanted to deliver at the Birthing house and NOT at the second floor which was the normal hospital d/l. Then fortunatly the ostrician who had me in her class came in, saw the situation and had me at the delivery room right then and there. I got in and needed to push . 'Do what your body tells you to do....' where the only instructions they gave me. I got on the Dutch delivery chair and stayed there the next hour, breathing 4 in, 8 out. I thought that everything was going too fast and that I would never be able to push him out without tearing myself apart... but after some convincement I just went for it and out he came at 11.30pm. I needed some stiched but not many. A very fast delivery as you can see. Lets hope #2 will do the same..

Just what happens???  I'm scared and a bit confused.  Honestly all the prepared childbirth classes didn't seem to stick!!  I'm just not sure what to expect. For my first, my water broke, so it was easy to tell that it was time to go. With my second, contractions were 2 minutes apart and lasted 1 1/2 minutes. My labors are unusual, because I dilate very quickly.  I knew that from my first birth (active labor was 2 1/2 hours).  When I went in, they sent me home, because I was dilated a fingertip and I could talk and smile and laugh through each contraction.  I could not convince them I was in labor.  I told them that's how I was the first time around, but no one would listen.  They sent me home.  DH offered to drive me right back as we were driving home, because I told him it was a mistake for them to send me home, but I decided to go home, because I figured they were not going to admit me if they just released me.  3 1/2 hours later, DH drives me back.  I was dilated to 8 cm. I had DD 12 minutes later.  Honestly, I didn't feel bad labor pains until we got into the car.  I think it was the sitting position that didn't agree with me.  My first doc told me I have a high pain tolerance.  If I ever have another one, I will know for sure that waiting until I can't talk through the pain means waiting until the head is almost out.  DH will have to have the emergency birth kit in the car.

::: I slept in after taking 3 Tylenol last nite. :: :: You are really lucky if Tylenol PM helps/allows you to sleep. I didn't take the PM version.  Just the extra strength. I took 3 an hour or so ago, too.  But, now I'm back at home and done eating. So, I'm heading down for a nap!  I love sleeping!! ~Carol Ann