When do you go to the hospital? (especially for vbac)

[Sydsmom]

At what point do you go into the hospital? I keep having contractions and they are pretty painful and radiating down my legs. They aren't consistent and will usually stop if I take a shower or bath or walk for a bit or rest if I'm walking. My Dr is kiiinda ok with me having a vbac but he said himself 'if you come in dilated at a 5-6 I'll have you labor naturally, there's no reason to make you have a c-section' but this makes me think I need to labor at home for quite a while so I don't get there and have the nurses or other doctors all over me to have a c-section. When do I know when its 'safe' to go to the hospital? And how do I know if its real labor and not just BH??

[cristy_1996]

When I was in actual labor, my contractions never let up. Ever. They were 5 minutes apart, and then worked their way down. With that being said, I would personally rather play it safe and call your doctor at least.

[bumminbeachbabe]

True labor was intense for me. I had thought that prodromal labor was real, but labor leading up to transition was really intense. I couldn't talk. The only thing that helped was moving. It did make the car ride to the hospital really uncomfortable.

ETA: This was for my VBAC. I had a very supportive dr, but he also told me to try to stay at home as long as possible.

[babylove921]

Originally Posted by Sydsmom At what point do you go into the hospital? I keep having contractions and they are pretty painful and radiating down my legs. They aren't consistent and will usually stop if I take a shower or bath or walk for a bit or rest if I'm walking. My Dr is kiiinda ok with me having a vbac but he said himself 'if you come in dilated at a 5-6 I'll have you labor naturally, there's no reason to make you have a c-section' but this makes me think I need to labor at home for quite a while so I don't get there and have the nurses or other doctors all over me to have a c-section. When do I know when its 'safe' to go to the hospital? And how do I know if its real labor and not just BH??

I had the same problem and felt like an idiot with DS2.
Real labor obviously won't stop, you can't do anything to stop it. Labor at home as long as you can.
I also can't talk through real labor. I was walking the halls trying to "labor" and had to stop every 3 minutes to stand on my tippy toes, squeeze the chair railings and I would jump up and down and forget to breathe through them.
I promise you will know the difference.

[Hillargh]

I labored through transition to pushing at home Didn't meant to! Feeling a head on the hour long hospital ride isn't fun lemmie tell ya. I was afraid to go in too early and scared of interventions, so I waited too long. Don't psych yourself out I'm either direction mama, trust your instinct and keep in contact with your doctor.

This time, I have to drive myself so I'll be going in early-ish.

But if I weren't, I would wait until I can't doze between contractions or be fully focused on and carry on a conversation during them. That was the point looking back where it got bad for me. And I was probably around 6-8cm then.

I would never go by time of contractions for myself, because mine were 12min apart until pushing and then they went to 1-2min apart in under 15min.

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[ambie719]

My vbac baby was full on posterior, so I labored at home until I couldn't stand the pain anymore and needed meds lol. I've never had a problem knowing if it was the real deal or not though, its always been pretty obvious to me, my BHs don't ever hurt but labor sure does lol.

[nonipie]

If it stops at all then I don't think that is true labor. Once I was actually in labor for real there is no mistaking it. Nothing will ease it or make it stop. The contractions will be time-able and consistent. With both of my children my water broken and I was in a position where I kinda had to go the hospital when that happened( Strep B and then 35 weeks). This time as long as everything is fine I will wait until I am in or nearing transition and go from there. I do have a doula that I will be in contact with to sort of help me determine when we should leave.