by johanna8683 » Fri Mar 11, 2011 02:09 am
I had severe back pain. It was high and off to the side. It first came in the middle of the night at 37wks; my whole core was in a spasm and I spent awhile on the toilet with a bucket on my lap. The next morning my OB called it early labor. It continued off and on for 2wks. The back pain always occurred at night. It was horrible; the only thing that provided some relief was heat. I took hot showers and baths over and over again through the night. Sometimes my husband would massage the area too. I had been preparing for a natural childbirth; while probably helpful, those relaxation techniques were far from effective. By morning, the pains would start to go away. There were contractions too; but these were often irregular and "dysfunctional." I considered going to the hospital a couple times but the contractions weren't right. And I had a huge fear of a C-section. (Irony? Fearing a C-section as I develop HELLP by waiting for regular contractions.) Plus, I was exhausted in the morning and wanted a bit of rest as soon as I was able to sleep before going to the hospital. I always woke up with no contractions and mild back discomfort. A day or two before going to the hospital -- I had finally had enough after 2wks of this "puttering, early, back labor" -- I also developed a stiffness/discomfort in my shoulder.
Once again the contractions had stopped by the time I was going to the hospital. I even had to talk the admitting nurse into calling my OB because the contractions were so weak. They said my blood pressure was elevated and were concerned -- I don't recall the timeline and details of the day. They started the induction. Then they came back with the results of blood work showing my liver was failing. I had never heard of HELLP and was still resistant to things that put a time-line on labor, like breaking my water. My OB gave me a little time to hesitate and let things progress, maybe 2-3hrs. But I wasn't progressing until the epidural, which allowed me to relax. My platelets were high enough to have an epidural. I don't know about my blood pressure during labor. Afterward, I still had spells of back pain while in the hospital. When those occurred, my blood pressure shot up.
I had severe back pain. It was high and off to the side. It first came in the middle of the night at 37wks; my whole core was in a spasm and I spent awhile on the toilet with a bucket on my lap. The next morning my OB called it early labor. It continued off and on for 2wks. The back pain always occurred at night. It was horrible; the only thing that provided some relief was heat. I took hot showers and baths over and over again through the night. Sometimes my husband would massage the area too. I had been preparing for a natural childbirth; while probably helpful, those relaxation techniques were far from effective. By morning, the pains would start to go away. There were contractions too; but these were often irregular and "dysfunctional." I considered going to the hospital a couple times but the contractions weren't right. And I had a huge fear of a C-section. (Irony? Fearing a C-section as I develop HELLP by waiting for regular contractions.) Plus, I was exhausted in the morning and wanted a bit of rest as soon as I was able to sleep before going to the hospital. I always woke up with no contractions and mild back discomfort. A day or two before going to the hospital -- I had finally had enough after 2wks of this "puttering, early, back labor" -- I also developed a stiffness/discomfort in my shoulder.
Once again the contractions had stopped by the time I was going to the hospital. I even had to talk the admitting nurse into calling my OB because the contractions were so weak. They said my blood pressure was elevated and were concerned -- I don't recall the timeline and details of the day. They started the induction. Then they came back with the results of blood work showing my liver was failing. I had never heard of HELLP and was still resistant to things that put a time-line on labor, like breaking my water. My OB gave me a little time to hesitate and let things progress, maybe 2-3hrs. But I wasn't progressing until the epidural, which allowed me to relax. My platelets were high enough to have an epidural. I don't know about my blood pressure during labor. Afterward, I still had spells of back pain while in the hospital. When those occurred, my blood pressure shot up.
