Early labor and fetal activity?

[5thAttempt]

Hi!

I am trying to figure out if I am in labor or not. This is very important for me since I am on blood thinners and if the labor started I should not use any more medicine. I am due for my dose now.

An hour or so I had a bm (sorry TMI) and after that I had a strong menstrual-like cramps in the lower abdomen. It was painfull to stand, so I went to bed and felt better. The baby was very active all this time. Is it true that the fetal activity during labor usually diminishes?

As of 2 days ago the baby was high up , the cervix tight and closed, I am 38w. I had no painful contractions prior to today.

[Naughty Dingo]

Wow, exciting.

I have found a general decrease in activity when baby gets bigger and labor nears.

What I have found to be more correlated with activity is when baby turns from having back towards my belly to back towards my spine, so that the legs and arms point out KWIM? I wonder if your babe spun back to back with you, causing the cramping and the sensation of more activity?

Not really helpful. I hope it becomes clear one way or the other. When you take a warm bath and lie down and they stop it may just be your uterus reacting to some different pressure on it from within.

ND

[autumn_faune]

I didn't experience any decrease in activity with labor with dd. Actually, perhaps an increase. my dh tells me that the only growling I did was at her for kicking me during contractions.

[wrzos]

Like ND - I experienced a decrease in fetal movement during labor last time. To the point where I kind of freaked out and wanted reassurance that the baby was ok (b/c he was normally just SO active, kwim?). Good luck!

[5thAttempt]

Thanks to everyone responding. It was a false alarm. After few hours of super-activity from the baby part the pain stopped. I even called OB who said that sometimes baby's strong movements can generate contractions. He did advise me to skip a heparin dose (just in case) and see what the next morning will bring. Back to 'nothing is happenning'.