What were your prelabor signs?

[Whisper-ma-Phone]

Hi ladies,

I'm just curious, what were your more unusual signs that labor was imminent? (I'm looking for more than mucus plug or water breaking, but feel free to include those too.)

Thanks!

[koru]

with my second, i started having severe GI symptoms (cramping & diarrhea). i was a week post date so i went in to see the midwife & i was already 4 cm dilated! my daughter was born 2.5 hrs later.

[marnie]

i got REALLY moody, like beyond all moodiness the evening before i went into labor. i've heard this is fairly common.

i'll second the diarrhea, but for me that was the onset of labor, not really pre-labor. i had diarrhea, and after my bowels were empty the cramping didn't stop - those cramps turned out to be the first contractions.

[Full Heart]

Last 2 times I had a migraine. Hoping not to repeat that experience!

My mother once had achy thighs and just knew she was in labor (I thought she was loony) but she was!

[pookel]

This isn't pre-labor, more like early labor, but I've never heard of anyone else who had the same experience, so I'll share.

My labor started out with absolutely painless contractions, no different from BH, at exactly four minutes apart. They continued to be exactly four minutes apart for at least 16 hours. As far as I can remember, they never got closer together, just progressively more painful. I got an epidural and then a C-section, so I can't tell you how it would have ended up naturally, but my water did break on its own and I dilated to 10, so it was the real thing.

[lizabird]

I didn't have much prelabor symptoms. The day before I had really mild but sort of regular contractions, all day, off and on, really mild as I went about life as ucual but spspected birth was coming soon. They got a litle stronger towards late afternoon but still quite mild. During the night I made lots of trips to the restroom and spent lots of time sitting on the toilet and it was a few hours before birth early the next mnorning that my mucous plug showed up and ctx were getting really more noticable and intense. So I would have to say I didn't have much "prelabor" -- My labors both started off with mild and regular contractoins that got more and more intense and then all the obvious (mucous plug, water breaks,, etc) and then baby is born.

[Vespertina]

Not really. I didn't have any signs with either that labor was imminent. I had been getting more frequent BH, pelvic pressure, loose stools, and losing bits of my mucous plug weeks before giving birth with both. I was hanging out at 5 cm with my first and didn't feel any different; likewise with my second, I was 6 cm before being induced. I didn't feel any different in terms of labor being soon.

[DoomaYula]

None, seriously!

With my twins I was induced with Cervidil, and labor started about 4 hours after the induction. Just got crampy and suddenly they started to HURT. I was like, "Hey, this isn't supposed to PUT ME INTO LABOR, is it?!?"

With #3, nothing, nada, zip. I was waiting for after my sil's wedding -- she had her wedding 4 days before my EDD and instructed me to PLEASE NOT RUIN *HER* SPECIAL DAY -- and I remember the day after her wedding I woke up and was like, "okay baby. Time to come out" and NOTHING.

On my edd, I went out with my twins to the park and chased them around for a few hours, then we all came home and took a big nap. Sometime during my nap, my water broke, and I didn't even feel it or wake up! Still nothing for about 8 hours, til I finally got on the breast pump.

[cidercat]

I had loose stools for several weeks (I guess that's not exactly a sign that labor was "imminent" though, is it).

I also had periods of crampiness the day before. Enough to make me stop and think about timing them, but not enough to make me actually time them.

Labor actually started with a bang... ROM before contractions started, contractions started 3 hours later, kicked off with serious vomiting.