[sweet tea]

or does it always happen in sequence after you lose your mucus plug?

Just curious if anyone knew, I'm reading Ina May's guide to childbirth and she describes the cervix being sealed by the plug until the hours before labor begins (pg144) But I have heard of women dialating in the last month of pregnancy..so have they all lost there plug.

I know it seems like a stupid question...but I plan on visualizing everything that is happening inside me to help labor along, and this question is going to hinder my abilities..lol
like with the contractions i feel the last few weeks of pregnancy, do I visualize my cervix thinning and dialation, or do I start with the mucus plug?

thanks in adavance

 

[anothermama]

This is my hypothesis..........

I dialated a little with both my kids prior to any real labor happening......about 2cm with each.

The plug is mucous.........and so my *guess* is that to a certain point it will stretch and still stick in there.......

I assume that at a certain point of dialation (4? 6?) it can't hang on and then will come out..........with both my kids it came out at about 3 cm, however with my son I got to 3 with no real labor also.

 

[wardermom]

I have only lost my mucous plug early in labour 1 out of 6 times. With the rest, it was pushed out when I started pushing. Losing my mucous plug is not an early sign for me.

 

[LittleOne03]

With my son, I lost my plug 4 weeks before I was induced (at 40 weeks). I had dilated to a 3 at that point, and walked around like that for 4 weeks... Soooo, I would definitely say I lost mine WELL before early labor started.

 

[Marsupialmom]

Your body can make more mucous plug.

With my first I never noticed a mucus plug.

With my second it was obvious. I also knew I was in labor.

With my third I lost it bits and pieces at a time. Doctor told me that you keep on making the stuff, to help keep germs out. I started this about three weeks before my dd showed up.

Loosing mucus plug is not a good predictor of labor.

So, IMO if you start visualization start somewere else.

 

[Foobar]

With Goo, my cervix dilated and I slowly lost peices of the plug. It didn't come out in one clump like some people.

I believe the body will continue to manufacture more mucus during the early dilation phases.

Focus first on relaxing, softening and opening the cervix.
Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about thinking about the plug, just on how the cervix is preparing for your baby

 

[pamamidwife]

I've seen women lose their plug at 8cm or so. It's not a given that it will happen in a particular order - sometimes the "plug" gets pushed over inside the cervix/uterine neck and doesn't appear until later in labor....or some not at all.

 

[Liba]

I never saw a "plug" of mucus before or during labor but I did pass a lot of mucus in late pregnancy with my second and have had a lot of mucus this time as well (I have been having contractions for weeks and have started dialating and effacing). From what I have been told your body will keep on making more mucus to block the cervical opening until the baby is born, dialated or not.

 

[Artisan]

I was 3 cm when I started labor, and never noticed a plug of any kind.

 

[Jennifer H]

I have no idea when I lost my plug. I was dilated to 3 a couple of days before going into labor with my first and to 4.5 several days before my second was born.