how did you know you were in labor?

[broodymama]

Well, I guess the title says it all!

With my DS I was induced - 6 cm dilated, completely effaced, preparing for a hurricane evacuation so my midwife broke my water. Even so, it was around 9 cm before things got uncomfortable, so I wouldn't have known before that.

Now I'm having lots of prodromal labor each night. Do I just wait for it to not stop overnight? I didn't think I was going to have any tonight but about 20 minutes after we put DS to bed my body decided to start things up again. Can your body "wait" for something like that?

I guess this is kind of a stupid question from a 2nd time mom, but inquiring (and impatient!) minds want to know!

[luckymama]

2nd time mom here, and i know how you feel right now. i had over 2 weeks of prodromal labor (with both births), and two false alarms (with things slowing or stopping right before my m/w appts). i waited for it to not stop overnight, and even then i didn't believe it was the real thing. matter of fact, even though i was fairly convinced i was really in labor once i got bloody show, i think i was still thinking it might stop, too. but once the ctx got hard to handle and it was six hours later and the blood & mucus hadn't stopped, i called my dh home, and a few hours later i was holding a baby. they say you'll know when it's the real thing, and really i did know, but i kept myself in denial for as long as possible.

does that help at all? hang in there, mama!

[TanyaS]

I had prodromal labor for two weeks with my second baby. It would get really active, too, but not painful, after my ds went to bed. Some nights cxn's even got 5 minutes apart. I'd go to bed and they would stop. Prodromal labor does have a purpose. When active labor finally started for me, I was already 6 cm dilated! Active labor was also only four hours once it finally kicked in. And trust me...you'll know when it's real. The anticipation factor with prodromal labor is hard.

I'm already experiencing it with this one, but I know it's just the beginning. Apparently, this is how my body labors. I had no idea because ds's birth involved pitocin and eventually a c/s. So all I have to go on is dd's birth, which could be unique or just how I labor. I'm not doing VEs this time, so I have no idea what's going on, except that I know *something* is going on...I can feel it!

[mamacatsbaby]

Sorry to crash your DDC! I just wanted to say I gave birth to our first DC about 11 weeks ago and I tell ya I really didn't think I was in labor. I too had prodromal labor for a few weeks.

[Mama2ABCD]

i distinctly remember with my dd (3rd baby). i had predomal labor for nearly 8 days. during the day, and it would last a few hours each time. i kept about my daily routine hoping it would catch. i finally got frustrated on the 8th day of this, called my mw, let her tell me it was ok and to hang in there, cut some grass, and the contractions started again. i was super irritable that afternoon. i was washing dishes when i realized i had been having contractions continuously for over 2 hours and they were steady, despite sitting, standing. I knew at that point i was in labor. And my mood went from crabby to happy ! That was around 8:30 at night and i had my dd at 6 am the next morning. MW got there after midnight and didn't believe i was actually in labor as i was making jokes. She lived a few hours away so she planned to stay until morning. DD was born sunnyside up.
Mw felt the posterior position of the baby is what caused the predomal labor. Baby never sat on cervix properly.
My 2nd child was prodomal labor at night for 8 days, but the ob was non supportive of having me wait and encouraged me to induce as he was going out of town for a week. That's why i love my mw, i got the professional support i needed Don't know if ds was sunnyside up.
This time around, baby has been head down for the last 4 mos. I haven't had what i call predomal labor as those were actual contractions, but i've had lots of cramping followed by a few contractions. I certainly feel i can have this baby in the next few days. This baby is also posterior. But, i know i'll know when labor has kicked in.
i much prefer predomal labor during the day as when it's at night, i get too excited and loose sleep. during the day it was easy to keep track of and to keep busy so i wouldn't dwell on it.

[carliec76]

For me it just hit me like a mack truck out of the blue!:

[lotus.blossom]

Its good to hear that there is a light at the end of the prodromal tunnel!
And I've been secretly hoping that all this will lead to a very short active labor!

I'm heavily in denial at all times now so I don't get my hopes up!

[MrsSurplus]

Well, I have had three babies, and this prodromal labor fooled me a week or so ago. I usually experience early labor for less than 24 hours before the active labor kicks in. I have never had prodromal labor go on for days (actually, more than a week - subsiding almost entirely in the evening) so it really threw me off...and in the past it always culminated in active labor. Now that I'm making a point to rest, stay cooler, and hydrated, the contractions have mostly stopped. I was definitely frustrated last week when it was going on, but now that it's stopped, I'm kind of glad to have more time to grow the baby. (However, since we had had Grandma and Grandpa take the kids when we thought the "real thing" was imminent (and they were so excited that they told lots of people), so now we get daily calls from family & friends...and at church everyone has to comment on how we haven't had the baby yet...which they would be doing anyway this close to the due date, but because of the "false alarm", it's even more frequent. Talk about feeling like a "watched pot.")

[broodymama]

Thanks for the input, mamas! I guess I really just wanted to know that I wasn't alone!

I understand the watched pot feeling, too. At least this time the family is emailing me instead of calling me. But that makes it so easy to fire back the snarky "oh, you wanted me to call you when I had the baby?" response!

[CalebsMama05]

by the time i actually admitted i was in labor he was born 4 hrs later. had 2 days prodromal labor

[sewaneecook]

I thought my early labor was the flu. I had a fever, aches, chills, and lots of throwing up. Once I sat still long enough to pay attention, I realized my ctx were regular and already about 5 minutes apart! The only pre-labor signs I had was that the baby had dropped 2 days before and I started to lose my plug the day before (I thought it could have been just excess CM ... no blood, just snotty like quality ... sorry, TMI!).