Post Your Signs of Labor...Or False Alarms :) - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[meb2]

Originally Posted by Mal85 

Actually had myself excited thinking today could be the day. Pretty sure I had contractions while I slept all night, they were in my dreams all night long and I slept very uncomfortably. I woke up in the middle of a pretty intense one. Got up to use the bathroom to see if that would make them go away, but was up for the next hour and a half with pains. They were pretty frequent, every 4-5 minutes, but most of them were pretty short. I had a handful of them that were a good 60-90 seconds long, almost felt like double-peaking. It would start to go away, then come back strong. But, they've stopped and now I'm just having BH again. 

Ugh! That stinks mama... I get so anxious when the contractions pick up and you start to wonder... "Could this be it?! Is this REAL labor!??!" I also must be having contractions that are fairly strong in my sleep because I wake up and feel like I was just beat up for hours...

[Gemini529]

Well, I'm officially later with this baby than I was with my first (38 weeks 1 day).  Unless I go into labor like this minute and have him in a few hours!  Up to this point, I was reading every little cramp and twinge as a sign of labor.  Now I'm just sort of feeling like anything could happen and this baby could be here in 4 weeks for all I know.

I almost think I'm not letting myself go into labor.  I keep thinking about how my DS is soooo little still and he has been waking up a lot at night.  I thought he was kind of over the whole night waking thing, but it's like it's started back up again in full force.  He is also not going down easily anymore.  I have gotten to where I have to lay down with him for at least 45 min just to get him to sleep.  And forget about naps....I can't get him down for a nap unless I take him for a drive first.  Seriously, how am I going to be able to deal with a waking toddler AND newborn?  

So in a way, I'm disappointed that nothing is happening....and in another way, I'm almost relieved every day that I don't go into labor.  

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by Gemini529 

Well, I'm officially later with this baby than I was with my first (38 weeks 1 day). 

I almost think I'm not letting myself go into labor.  I keep thinking about how my DS is soooo little still and he has been waking up a lot at night.  I thought he was kind of over the whole night waking thing, but it's like it's started back up again in full force.  He is also not going down easily anymore.  I have gotten to where I have to lay down with him for at least 45 min just to get him to sleep.  And forget about naps....I can't get him down for a nap unless I take him for a drive first.  Seriously, how am I going to be able to deal with a waking toddler AND newborn?  

I was the same way with my second.  I had my first at 38w6d and when I made it past 39 weeks with my second I started to get discouraged.  It's so funny to look back and realize that seriously, he came just 6 days later... not much in the scheme of things and certainly not enough to make me as crazy as I was.  But I try not to judge my past self too badly b/c the end of pregnancy can be so miserable!

I'm also with you in regards to the toddler sleep situation.  Ds is 21 months and just came out of a sleep regression.  He was taking short naps, not letting dh comfort him down or back to sleep, squirming around continuously in his sleep, etc. and then about 1-2 weeks later he went back to the way he had been sleeping.  So FX that happens for your LO, too!  But I still worry about when the baby comes and how that will change EVERYTHING.  I was ds in his own room before that and I wonder if he'll regress and want to come into bed with us in the middle of the night.  Or if someone (probably me!) will have to sit with him in his room and get him back down.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

[jbk21]

Mal- that still sounds encouraging!  I sort of hope for a few nights of prodromal labor stuff before the real deal.  I know it sounds crazy :-)  I just hope it makes my labor shorter.  Are your legs okay today?

[IwannaBanRN]

Originally Posted by Gemini529 

Well, I'm officially later with this baby than I was with my first (38 weeks 1 day).  Unless I go into labor like this minute and have him in a few hours!  Up to this point, I was reading every little cramp and twinge as a sign of labor.  Now I'm just sort of feeling like anything could happen and this baby could be here in 4 weeks for all I know.

I almost think I'm not letting myself go into labor.  I keep thinking about how my DS is soooo little still and he has been waking up a lot at night.  I thought he was kind of over the whole night waking thing, but it's like it's started back up again in full force.  He is also not going down easily anymore.  I have gotten to where I have to lay down with him for at least 45 min just to get him to sleep.  And forget about naps....I can't get him down for a nap unless I take him for a drive first.  Seriously, how am I going to be able to deal with a waking toddler AND newborn?  

So in a way, I'm disappointed that nothing is happening....and in another way, I'm almost relieved every day that I don't go into labor.  

DD had a sleep regression about 2 weeks ago. It lasted on and off for 2 weeks. She woke up 3 times a night. Good thing we believe in naps in this family. lol
 

[Mal85]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Mal- that still sounds encouraging!  I sort of hope for a few nights of prodromal labor stuff before the real deal.  I know it sounds crazy :-)  I just hope it makes my labor shorter.  Are your legs okay today?

My feet actually looked a lot better this morning. But in the couple hours I've been awake, they are swelling back up. Still have the pitting in my legs too. 

[dashley111]

I think Mal should have her baby just so her legs can return to normal :)  Haha.

Its funny the variety of symptoms or lack of symptoms everyone is having- since we are all within weeks of each other. 

This is my 3rd, and I have NEVER lost a mucus plug.  Im only 35 weeks so Im hoping I have a bit of time left, but my doc did not seem to confident and gave me an early GBS test last week along with copies of my medical records in case I need to go to the nearest hospital and not drive all the way to the hospital I am seen at.    My cervix is VERY soft, and dilated to 1- the doc said it could be dilated more but she was not going to mess around in it.  It has also come forward and isn't as posterior.

Im not confident it means anything.  Watch me be induced in December. 

[jbk21]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

I think Mal should have her baby just so her legs can return to normal :)  Haha.

Its funny the variety of symptoms or lack of symptoms everyone is having- since we are all within weeks of each other. 

This is my 3rd, and I have NEVER lost a mucus plug.  Im only 35 weeks so Im hoping I have a bit of time left, but my doc did not seem to confident and gave me an early GBS test last week along with copies of my medical records in case I need to go to the nearest hospital and not drive all the way to the hospital I am seen at.    My cervix is VERY soft, and dilated to 1- the doc said it could be dilated more but she was not going to mess around in it.  It has also come forward and isn't as posterior.

Im not confident it means anything.  Watch me be induced in December. 

Yup, no labor signs here yet.  Not that any of us couldn't go into labor without any labor signs, but still.  I am 37 weeks this week, but am pretty much expecting to go late.  I guess if I go early then I won't be disappointed! 
 

[Jaimee]

I'm feeling super anxious to be checked after all this talk of mucus plugs, effacement, and dilation!  I think I may be losing little chunks of plug here and there, but nothing major, so I figure I'm probably a bit dilated and some plug is draining out slowly.  Not enough for me to say, "hey that's plug!" based on my previous experiences of losing giant globs of plug all at once. But it is stringy and yellow and I had to triple wipe b/c it was stretching and ended up down my leg as I pulled it out. 

[Lula's Mom]

I got nothin' here.  I just turned 37 weeks yesterday, though, and my earliest baby was 39+1. So I'm not expecting (or really, ready!) to go into labor anyime soon.

I'm trying to think back to my own mucous plugs... I know with my first, it came out the night before I had her.  So, about 36 hours before she was born.  My water broke while I was pushing in the pool. 

With #2, it came out something like 5 hours before he was born. My water broke before pushing this time, but still in the tub maybe an hour before he was born. 

With #3, I... can't remember anything about my mucous plug!  Why can't I remember? It was only 2 years ago!  But I was out of the pool when my water broke, and it was a huge puddle on the kitchen floor!  I got back in the pool and felt pushy right away, and he was born about half an hour later. 

I have been having mucous come out when I wipe the past couple of days, but nothing like the big bloody snot glob. 

I've never had prodromal labor for days or weeks ahead of time, that must be frustrating!  With my last baby though, I had very irregular contractions starting in the morning. 20 min apart, 10, 5, then back to 20- all day long.  I really wasn't sure it was the real thing at all. They even petered out when I first got in the birth pool, and went back to 20 min.  So I got out, and that's when my water broke and then I had him right away!  That was my weirdest labor ever.

[Gemini529]

@Jaimee and IWBNRN, 

I HOPE this doesn't last much longer (the sleep regression thing).  It's been really rough because DH doesn't get a lot of sleep as it is....he wakes up really early to go to work. So it's pretty much all on me to get him back down.  Luckily, though, DS will sleep in on the mornings when he doesn't sleep well, so at least I get that. I'm just thinking that when I also have a newborn, I won't have the ability to sleep in because I'll be up nursing the baby at 5 am.  I really really hope I can somehow get them on a similar schedule but DS has been so all over the place, who knows?  He is getting his first set of molars right now so I'm trying to go easy on him.  Only one has popped through, though so still 3 more to go.

On the labor signs, I've been having menstrual like cramps all day, but that's been going on for a week now so I don't think it means anything.  

I guess my stress about him coming late(er) is that I feel like I had a relatively easy time with DS.  He was kind of small (just over 6 lbs) and I hardly pushed at all to get him out. No tearing or anything.  But I've always heard that second babies are bigger and last time I was pregnant, my MIL tortured me with comments about how she gained all of her weight in the last month and DH was 9.5 lbs!  So when DS came early, I was like, "phew, I really dodged a bullet on that one."  If this one has an extra few weeks to fatten up in there, I'm scared I'm going to have a ginormous baby who tears me to shreds!  I've gained about 10 lbs less this time than last, but for some reason, I feel like my belly is bigger.   Maybe I'm overreacting just a little.  But still.....

[Ablemec]

I've been having menstrual cramps for two days, and lots of loose bowel movements, bordering on diarrhea.  Lots of increased discharge over the last week, but no mucous that I've noticed.  I've also been nesting like crazy for the last week, and I'm normally someone who doesn't care much at all about housecleaning.  And, I feel "weird."  I feel very adrenaline-y and almost high.

[jbk21]

Meh, but your MIL doesn't know that he wasn't big before that last month either.  I don't know, I tend to take advice from my mother/mil with a grain of salt- things were so different back then and they had such different ideas about childbirth and pregnancy.  My MIL is convinced that DH was a month overdue.  A month.  As in 4 weeks.  As in IMPOSSIBLE, like she must have just had no clue when she got pregnant.  Whatever   DH was a bigger baby (8 lbs 10 oz) but so were his siblings, who were all taken early via c-section.  She just must have grown larger babies.  Even with DH having been a larger baby my DS was only 7lbs 9oz at 10 days past-date.  So he would have been ~6.5 lbs around my EDD.  I think you'll have another 6 pounder, or at least definitely not 8 or 9!  I'm sure you just make average sized babies 

Originally Posted by Gemini529 

@Jaimee and IWBNRN, 

I HOPE this doesn't last much longer (the sleep regression thing).  It's been really rough because DH doesn't get a lot of sleep as it is....he wakes up really early to go to work. So it's pretty much all on me to get him back down.  Luckily, though, DS will sleep in on the mornings when he doesn't sleep well, so at least I get that. I'm just thinking that when I also have a newborn, I won't have the ability to sleep in because I'll be up nursing the baby at 5 am.  I really really hope I can somehow get them on a similar schedule but DS has been so all over the place, who knows?  He is getting his first set of molars right now so I'm trying to go easy on him.  Only one has popped through, though so still 3 more to go.

On the labor signs, I've been having menstrual like cramps all day, but that's been going on for a week now so I don't think it means anything.  

I guess my stress about him coming late(er) is that I feel like I had a relatively easy time with DS.  He was kind of small (just over 6 lbs) and I hardly pushed at all to get him out. No tearing or anything.  But I've always heard that second babies are bigger and last time I was pregnant, my MIL tortured me with comments about how she gained all of her weight in the last month and DH was 9.5 lbs!  So when DS came early, I was like, "phew, I really dodged a bullet on that one."  If this one has an extra few weeks to fatten up in there, I'm scared I'm going to have a ginormous baby who tears me to shreds!  I've gained about 10 lbs less this time than last, but for some reason, I feel like my belly is bigger.   Maybe I'm overreacting just a little.  But still.....

[LiLStar]

37w5d, and no signs that anything's happening any time soon, but I can tell my body is preparing! Seems the last several days my pelvis has received a GENEROUS dose of relaxin. Hoping this means an easier time pushing this time!

[MrsKatie]

Originally Posted by Ablemec 

 And, I feel "weird."  I feel very adrenaline-y and almost high.

  I felt this way last night and today.  I had a bunch of caffeinated tea yesterday and today (I know, I know, bad mama) so that may have contributed... but that's also nothing new.  I avoided caffeine like the plague till 24 weeks... then allowed myself to have it.  But the way I felt/feel is definitely different from feeling over-caffeinated.

[1love4ever]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Yup, no labor signs here yet.  Not that any of us couldn't go into labor without any labor signs, but still.  I am 37 weeks this week, but am pretty much expecting to go late.  I guess if I go early then I won't be disappointed!  

I had no signs with my first either.  Not a single BH, no mucous plug lost, no feeling like a bowling ball was b/w my legs, etc.  I was perfectly fine except being miserable from being so large!  At the time I didnt even know there was such a thing as a home birth, or that women believed in their bodies, or anything like that, so it is really strange to me looking back that: I knew when I would be going into labor (DH is a truck driver, and I told him he didnt have to be home til a day AFTER my due date, because I just knew it would not happen til then), I was not at all afraid of being in labor, I was totally cool with it.  I knew I would not have to be induced.  I didnt even tell DH that I was in labor all night and just slept b/w contractions and told him in the morning:)  We didnt even go to the hospital til 8:30 that night.  And I never even thought about formula being an option, I just knew I would breastfeed and never thought any different.  It still just surprises me looking back that I thought that way (I was also only 18) because of how so many other people I have talked to view things.

Anyway back to what we were talking about, I was one that had no signs until I was already in labor:)

[dashley111]

Originally Posted by Ablemec 

 I feel very adrenaline-y and almost high.

So strange to come on here and read this- I was just thinking the same thing in the car on the way home.  I was wondering why I was feeling slightly anxious, like the feeling you get after being scared just a little.  Interesting.

[Ablemec]

Originally Posted by MrsKatie 

  I felt this way last night and today.  I had a bunch of caffeinated tea yesterday and today (I know, I know, bad mama) so that may have contributed... but that's also nothing new.  I avoided caffeine like the plague till 24 weeks... then allowed myself to have it.  But the way I felt/feel is definitely different from feeling over-caffeinated.

I was the same way.  Stayed completely away from caffeine until 24ish weeks, and have been far less careful sense.  And caffeine doesn't really affect me all that much.  When I'm not pregnant I drink 5 or 6 cups of coffee a day.  So I don't think it's the caffeine.
 

Originally Posted by dashley111 

So strange to come on here and read this- I was just thinking the same thing in the car on the way home.  I was wondering why I was feeling slightly anxious, like the feeling you get after being scared just a little.  Interesting.

So glad I'm not the only one!  It would be nice to know if it meant it's imminent or not, but hey, I know it's going to happen at some point in the next 4 weeks, because I'll be induced after 42.

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Meh, but your MIL doesn't know that he wasn't big before that last month either.  I don't know, I tend to take advice from my mother/mil with a grain of salt- things were so different back then and they had such different ideas about childbirth and pregnancy.  My MIL is convinced that DH was a month overdue.  A month.  As in 4 weeks.  As in IMPOSSIBLE, like she must have just had no clue when she got pregnant.  Whatever   DH was a bigger baby (8 lbs 10 oz) but so were his siblings, who were all taken early via c-section.  She just must have grown larger babies.  Even with DH having been a larger baby my DS was only 7lbs 9oz at 10 days past-date.  So he would have been ~6.5 lbs around my EDD.  I think you'll have another 6 pounder, or at least definitely not 8 or 9!  I'm sure you just make average sized babies 

I hope so!  MIL and her sisters have all scared me with their stories of 9-11 lb babies.  I remember looking at DS when he was almost 2 months old and just under 10 lbs and thinking, "Wow, my MIL gave birth to a baby this big!!"   I'm just nervous that I can't really get that lucky twice.  Also, I think DH has jinxed the situation because he has been going around telling people that I'll most likely go early because DS was early.  I guess in the grand scheme of things, a couple weeks doesn't make a huge difference, but right now it feels like an eternity!  
 

ETA: that's funny about her thinking her baby was a month over.  I have a friend whose mom swears she had a 46 weeker. I was like, ummm...you don't think there's just a chance that your dates were off??

Edited by Gemini529 - 10/24/11 at 4:06pm

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

So strange to come on here and read this- I was just thinking the same thing in the car on the way home.  I was wondering why I was feeling slightly anxious, like the feeling you get after being scared just a little.  Interesting.

I've been getting that feeling off and on for a couple of weeks now.  Like butterflies in my stomach.