Still going...
Contractions stayed every 8 to 10 minutes during the day yesterday, really ... getting slightly more intense in the evening. Filled the pool before bed in the hope that I'd be able to get a couple of hours of sleep and wake up to strong contractions. The sleep happened, the strong contractions didn't.
Managed to sleep from midnight until 3am, staying hooked up to my TENS and waking every 10 minutes to hit the boost button. At 3am I got up and had some bloody show, but by 6am I felt rather tired again and the contractions hadn't gotten any worse, so I went back to bed. Slept again until 7.30am, but noticed everything started the slow down. Between 9 and 11 I only had around 4 contractions, so worried it was all coming to a stop.
Midwife came over at 11am to check up on me and gave me a sweep in the hope it would speed things up. The sweep brought up lots of bloody mucus plug, but after over a day of contracting I was (am?) still only 2cm with a long cervix. Little lady's head is very low and membranes are bulging over her head, but it's slow progress. Did a doppler scan afterwards to make sure the sweep hadn't caused any distress, and her heart rate dipped to 105 (normally 140 / 145) for over a minute so had to be sent for an ECG. After calling the hospital it was agreed I could be monitored at the midwife clinic instead of hospital.
Bit of a mad rush packing some stuff in a hospital bag, just in case and dropping Eleanor off at MILs. The 20 minute ECG turned into a 90 minute ECG as the little lady kept going to sleep. She was showing a steady heart rate without drops, but during her naps no movement was registered and her heart rate didn't accelerate either (which apparently, it is supposed to do when awake). After 90 minutes we had 2 nice periods (one 20 minutes and one 30 minutes) of her being awake with lovely acceleration periods where her heart rate would go up to 155 and lots of movement being measured. No more dips in this period at all, so everyone was happy and we were allowed home to continue on our home birth.
That's where we are now. Contractions have picked up again since the sweep, roughly every 8 minutes again now. Not quite at the intensity as they were last night, and that was only the very start of things pain wise... but it's a start again. The toco managed to pick them up too, so that's good and it isn't just me
As I didn't have any contractions any more when leaving the house to go for the ECG I had taken off my TENS ... boy did I miss it! So very very glad to be back home and hooked up again. Just hope things will actually speed up soon to get this all over and done with.
Just in case it doesn't, I'm getting booked in for a scan on Thursday to check my placenta and cord flow.