What have been your labor signs???

[Lucy&Jude'sMama]

I'm asking just for fun. Babies come out when they are good and ready (majority of the time), but I'm finally to the point where I actually want this kid to get out. LOL. I'm 8 days from my due date.

Anyways so looking back on the day you went into labor, the few days prior, the week prior... what were the signs? Did you know they were signs at the time? Please share!

The week before I had my daughter I had no signs or symptoms. I was very swollen from water retention and very uncomfortable, but that's just pregnancy. A few days prior to having her I had a bloody show.... which naturally I googled and got really excited that I could have her any moment! LOL

The night before... I got a tremendous burst of energy and went on a 6 mile walk on the beach. I felt great! After feeling really crummy for weeks it was a lovely change. That was around 6pm-8pm. 1:15am the following morning I wake up thinking "Uh... why am I peeing on myself? Uh... why can't I stop peeing on myself... Oh sh** my water broke!"

So those were my signs. I didn't get my 1st contraction until about 5 hours after my water broke and I didn't get my 1st semi-painful contraction until about 10 hours after. She was born a full 20 hours after my water broke.

Anyways so that's me! Totally anxious about how it will be the 2nd time around. I never even had braxton hicks or false labor with #1. This time I've had braxton hicks and some mild off and on contractions, but nothing even remotely consistent.

[kalamos23]

i had prodromal labor for weeks before dd was born, but the morning i went into labor with her, i woke up craving hardcore sweet carby things. i ate piece after piece of honey on bread - it was crazy. apparently your body can sometimes carbload right before labor in prep for it. i did have some bloody show later that day, but i was at 4cm and 100 effaced when i went into labor - so yeah...

[nova22]

Okay, but this will be long, I have five kids.

#1

• lost mucous plug 1wk before due date
• day after EDD - woke up with contractions 1min long and 3min apart
• no BH contractions or early labor - went right to active labor
• 12hr labor, natural, hospital

#2

• 2wks before EDD - heard and felt a "pop" when I went to bed and when I stood up, water gushed out. She wasn't engaged so there was nothing to stop the amniotic fluid from coming out.
• Cntx immediately hit hard and strong
• no BH contractions or early labor - went right to active labor after ROM
• 3hr labor, natural, hospital

#3

• prodromal labor for weeks
• one false alarm when I started having regular cntx (I thought) but it petered out as soon as my poor doula arrived
• 2wks after EDD I lost part of mucous plug; the next morning I woke up in active labor with cntx 1min long and 3min apart
• 11.5hr labor, natural (except for AROM - I let them break my water at 9cm because she was heading towards my hip instead of engaging; afterwards she was born within ten minutes), hospital

#4

• 3wks after EDD on a Monday: water broke, but it was a very light trickle
• Following Tuesday: trickling continued along with some cntx; midwife came out but nothing happened so she gave me a quick prenatal check-up (blood pressure, etc...no internal exam), put me on a regimen of extra vitamin C and supplements to keep my strength up and avoid infection, and left
• Following Wednesday: walked around Target for hours to try to naturally augment labor, had a few hard cntx but nothing important
• Wednesday night: MW told me to take 15 (maybe 10?) Swiss Kriss herbal laxative tablets; she thought active labor would start about 2-3 hours after I did. I was too scared to take that many laxatives, herbal or not, so I put it off until about 11am when I went to bed. Sure enough I woke up early the next morning in active labor (and no other unfortunate side effects...I was afraid of having diarrhea but it didn't happen).
• 8hr (?) labor, natural, homebirth. From ROM to birth was about 56 hours.

#5

• 33wks: felt a contraction that made my entire abdomen rock-hard and lasted about 10 minutes. Meanwhile I felt suddenly dizzy with blurred vision and I had to lay down to avoid falling over.
• After this episode I had a few BH contractions, some stronger than what I was used to
• Following night: had a couple cntx that I had to stop and breathe through
• Later that night: had an insatiable craving for steak. DH offered to get some from the grocery store and cook it up for me but I settled with a can of beef stew from a convenience store.
• Went to the bathroom and saw blood on the toilet paper; continued to feel small gushes and saw increasing amounts of blood, each time it got more watery
• Called MW, who said it sounded like my water had broken (it honestly had not occurred to me, I had no reason to believe I'd go into labor prematurely) and advised me to call an ambulance
• After being on observation all night and having repeated gushes of blood and fluid, the OBs and I agreed that the risk to baby and I if I stayed pregnant was greater than the risk if the baby were born. DD was born via emergency c-section and spent a month in the NICU.
• Turns out that cramping/dizziness I felt was probably the moment that my placenta separted...now I know to call for help the second that happens, but I hope it doesn't ever happen again!!!

[othersomethings]

Spent the day and night prior emptying my bowels
Had the best sleep of my entire pregnancy
Woke up at 8am to what felt like "I'd peed myself"
realized it wasn't urine...my water broke.

Within an hour, mild contractions started.

[MamaFern]

I have always had REALLY strong nesting urges in the few days leading up to giving birth.. not much appetite or really hungry, depending..
loose stools. loss of mucous plug & bloody show in the few days before..maybe 2 at the most? period like cramps for last few weeks
and then of course contractions.
The earliest I felt contractions before giving birth (like actually meeting baby) was 14 hours or so before.. i dont really have pre-labour contractions..or have not as of yet...

generally though i really have had NO idea im going to have a baby the next day. These are all looking back after the fact..

[Buddhamom]

Baby #1 we DTD and I had strong contractions within a few hours afterward. Huge bout of diarrhea and then she was bor 12 hours later naturally, no IV or meds.

Baby #2 I was cleaning the house and washing clothes all day and pooped about 9 times with light contractions and realized they were close together and though, well maybe. Sure enough had her within 20 min. of getting to the hospital and the contractions never got painful, just like period cramps. She too was natural birth with no meds. or IV.

[nova22]

Originally Posted by Buddhamom

Baby #1 we DTD and I had strong contractions within a few hours afterward.

I totally forgot about that part - all of my labors (except possibly the preterm one, I can't remember) started within a few hours of DTD. DH and I joke that our pregnancies start and finish in the same way.

[ibusymomto5]

Mine's going to be long too. I've had 8! First 2 were c/sec, so I'll start with my 3rd.

#3
I had tons of braxton-hicks for weeks before labor hit. During the last week I had downright strong and painful crampy contractions, one night in particular a couple days before kept me up all night thinking it was the real deal. Two days later, a week past my due date it was the real deal, and wouldn't you know I totally blew it off that time. I think I had resigned myself to being pregnant forever. I also lost my mucous plug a couple days before real labor.


#4
He turned footling breech days before my due date. I had absolutely NO signs, contractions, braxton hicks, nothing at all prior to going into labor with him. My very first sign of labor was losing my mucous plug and that happened just 3hrs before he was born. Water didn't break till my first push, and he was born safely at home footling breech after a fast and mild labor. It was quite an unexpected surprise, as I was scheduled to go in for an u/s and attempted version the next day. I'm so thankful it happened like it did, because I know if I'd gone in for the version and it had been unsuccessful that I would've wound up with another c/sec.

#5
Had days of contractions and lost mucous plug a couple of days before. Water broke at 8:30am, contractions started at 2:30pm that same day and baby was born less than 3hrs later. I was one week overdue.

#6
Had off and on contractions a few days before labor started. Lost mucous plug a couple days before. I was excited and knew labor could start any time but I also wasn't too excited knowing that it could easily be days away. The day before I had a huge energy burst. Dh and I went shopping, bought a tree, planted it, I cooked a big supper, and just really felt on top of the world and happy. The very next day, one week past my due date I woke feeling weepy, no appetite, and just wanted to lay in bed all day. Cancelled my plans for the day and was really feeling sorry for myself and just wanted to be done with the whole thing. Totally didn't see any of this as a possible sign at the time. My water broke late that afternoon, and I delivered that evening.

#7
I went about a week over this time too. I had a few contractions during the day but nothing regular. That night I had no appetite at supper. I should've known that could be a sign, but I didn't. Around 10pm I started feeling some crampiness along with some contractions but figured it was just the beginning of days of my typical pre-labor stuff. About 10:30pm I felt a couple of little gushes of something that I thought was my water leaking but instead found bloody show. I had the baby a few hours later.

#8
About a week over my due date I had a few irregular crampy, contractions during the day and some loose stools. Contractions went away, and I blew it all off and didn't think it meant anything at the time. Had a bout of insomnia that night and lurked at the computer. Finally started getting really sleepy around 2am just as I started having contractions again. I actually didn't want it to be real labor by that time, because I was so sleepy. I tried to go to bed around 2:30 but quickly realized I couldn't sleep through them. Got into the shower on my birth ball and tried to relax so I could sleep. Ended up realizing it was probably real labor after a few hours of contractions not letting up and lots of bloody show, and it was. He was born at 8:32 that morning.

You'd think after this many I'd be a pro at recognizing when it's the real deal, but it's so different each time I don't get any better at it. It's not until after the baby is born that I can look back and see things that pointed to labor starting soon, like loss of appetite, moodiness, energy burst, etc.

[Cujobunny]

#1- lost my mucous plug, then started having mild contractions, he was born 24 hrs later (with help from hospital staff who decided I needed to have my water broken then put on pitocin )

#2- (natural birth with midwife)- had mild contractions for 2 days, lost mucous plug early morning, she was born 12 hrs later.

So not much advanced notice for me, but the days of contractions aren't much fun!

[Hope4six]

I usually, but not always, get a really strong urge to clean house in the day or two leading up to the birth. I also tend to stay up late the night before delivery, which is a total bummer, and obviously if I realized I were going to give birth in the morning I would go to sleep sooner!
Four of my five children have been born in the morning (all at a quarter till the hour, strange?), and each time I have gotten little to no sleep the night before.<sigh>
With my first, I had bloody show and loose bowels directly before my active labor, but with the rest of my children I either got bloody show several days in advance, or had none at all until fully in active labor, so I don't look at that as a sign for me.
Quite honestly, I look for that burst of nervous energy that makes me clean house, because that has been the one constant (except for my son's birth, but he was a preemie born after PROM) with all my babies. But for some reason, even while I'm cleaning, I don't think that I'm really going to have a baby the next day.