Painful Stuff..Please help?

Question

Okie Dokie. Just to clear the air, here's my stats:
~I'm 40 weeks 5 days pregnant
~I'm 3cm dilated
~I'm 90% effaced
~I lost my mucus plug about a day and a half ago
~Today my doctor stripped my membranes

All evening this has been going on:
~My stomach tightens up REAL tight and I get this horrible cramping feeling in my mid-lower belly and it sometimes spreads around my sides.

Now don't get me wrong, it's VERY painful..but it's bearable. Which leads me to think it's not labor.
This is my first baby, so I have no idea what I'm doing. Is this possibly just a side effect of my Doc stripping my membranes? Or could I be in the early stages of labor?

The doctor told me only to call if I have contractions 10 min. or less apart. And these probably happen about every 15-20 min. So what does that mean?

Any advise would be much appreciated..I'm pretty uncomfortable :-S

Answer 1

Hi there,
stripping the membranes usually dose bring on labour. So you are prob in early stages. Try a hot bath or shower, if that changes the pains dramatically then it could be false. If it eases the pain off a little, then you have found a good way to deal with your labour pain. It's what i do in labour.

Plus being on your feet lets gravity help your bub along the way. Trust your body, it knows what to do. Try to go with the flow as tensing up will only slow things down.

Maybe you will have a good tolerance to pain and for some women like me you will do just fine without pain killers.

Keep track of your pains and call your Doc when you get to 10 Min's apart or you are having more pain than you can deal with.

Good luck for a safe arrival.

Answer 2

early labor usually is painful, but bearable...my labor was bearable right up until the last minute. Stripping membranes can often trigger labor, especially if you lost your mucus plug. my advice would be start timing your contractions. when they last for at least 30 seconds a piece and are comming about every 5 minutes go to the hospital.

congradulations!!!!! :)

Answer 3

To answer your question -- no it does not hurt. After everything is done, you may have a gritty feeling in your eyes but that will soon disappear. You will notice the difference right away and it is quite amazing. For about a month, you will notice a halo around lights. That should also disappear after a while. I wouldn't drive at night until this goes away. I had mine done about four years ago. Here was my situation. My left eye was far sighted and my right eye was near sighted (my right eye was my dominant eye). When I had the surgery done, the right became my far sighted eye and the left became my near sighted eye. I have never been able to get used to that. Also, I still need to wear reading glasses and, I pretty much can't see close up without them. It all depends on the person and the condition of your eyes before the surgery. But I would definitely look around and do some research. I am still amazed at how far away I can see but I wish I could see as good close up. Good luck!

Answer 4

I've never had my membranes stripped so I don't know what the side effects would be. It sounds like you're having contractions. The first 3 hours, the contractions were bearable to me too. Hopefully, they will get closer together and then you can call your doctor. Good luck.

Answer 5

sounds to me like early labor...when they strip you membrane it can cause contractions for a short amout of time but it usually takes a while for your body to decide to go into full on labor...you will be fine...you should go into labor you are over due after all! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

my advise.. check urself in the hospital right now...