I am happy to hear things went so well for you! I hope this is the beginning of a turn around in the other stressful areas of your life as well.

-- Henci

Just for an update, I finally went into active labor the day before my induction , thank goodness! By the time I got to the hospital much to my surprise I was already 7 cm dilated and not even in any pain yet. As a matter of fact I was feeling so good I went grocery shopping, did 4 loads of laundry, packed my bags and got the other kids off to grandmas before heading to the hospital. I guess all that pre-labor was worth it! I had a wonderful natural delivery and the hospital even let me push spontaneously which is not very normal for hospitals. I had a beautiful boy, 8 lbs. 13 oz and 22" long. Thanks for your response!

Apologies for not getting to your post sooner. I hope that by now you are holding your 8th little one in your arms. Penny Simkin recommends calling what you are experiencing "prelabor" rather than "false labor" because while they may not immediately lead to progressive labor, they are certainly real contractions! And yes, you can go on for days in this way, which is frustrating but harmless, and yes, being under a lot of stress can make it hard for your body to let go and let labor happen. I do not know whether you went into labor on your own before the date your dr wanted to induce, you had the induction, or you waited it out, but for others who might be reading this post, the fact that your care provider wants to induce does not mean you have to go along with it if you don't want to. You have the right to make an informed refusal as well as to give informed consent. This is true under any circumstances, but it is especially true in situations where there is no medical reason for intervening.

-- Henci

I forgot to mention I'm 40 weeks and 2 days.

This is my 8th baby. I always have long labors so I know to expect that, but I've been having early or "false" labor for six days now. Braxton Hicks every 10-15 minutes, sometimes getting painful, non stop for six days. Extreme pelvic/rectal pressure, extreme backache for two days. Even loose stools for the six days. The only time the contractions go away is when I sleep (unless I'm just not noticing them) although they do wake me in the night sometimes. At my dr. appt. yesterday I was 3cm, 60% and -1 to 0 station and she said I'm still pretty thick. (not sure what she meant by that) One week ago I was 2cm, 60% and -2 station. I'm wondering if I should do anything to hasten this process or just be patient. I feel an urge to be alone and quiet but with 7 children it's impossible! Do you think my body is trying to go into labor but I keep getting stressed and that's stopping it? (I have alot of stressors right now including an injured husband, financial difficulties due to that, etc.) My doc wants to induce in 3 days with Cervidil in the evening, then break my water and start pitocin in the morning. I DO NOT want to do this. That is making me even more stressed. I even read that Cervidil is not for women who've had more than 6 term babies. (all mine have been term) Sorry this is so long, just trying to give as much details as possible. I'm so stressed and exausted from this. Thanks for your help.

Angel