How'd your labor begin?

mrsashkennedy

Hello there-popping over from 3rd tri. Since you've all recently had your babies, I was wondering how you felt leading up to labor? Before contractions or water breaking, did you feel it coming? Did you feel different? I'm getting so close, and I FEEL like my body is gearing up and maybe labor isnt far off, but I'm a FTM and there aren't any for sure signs, like regular contractions. 

I've been having a ton of irregular ones, and yesterday I even had painless (but uncomfortable ones) 3-10 minutes apart for 3 hours), but nothing for sure yet, 

What was your experience leading up to real labor?

missjilly1025

I was induced at 41 weeks and 3 days because my amniotic fluid was low. That night I had gone in for and NST test and I was having contractions but they weren't regular so on the pitocin I went because I was already 3cm dilated. From start to finish it was 12 hours with only 4 hours of hard labour and 45 minutes of pushing. 

mabst196

With my DD my water broke. With my DS, I had random contractions for about a week or so and then my water broke as well. With both, I had to get pitocin to have regular contractions and delivered vaginally.

CTteach1331

My "plan" was to teach until I gave birth which is what I did...I worked 2 weeks and that last Friday, I was just feeling so "done", I remember writing my plans for the next week, getting it ready and feeling there would be a sub there....I walked out of the school with a friend and I said "I'm just so done. I don't think I can teach anymore." I went home, and then my water broke...

BeachBlondie456

I had a HUGE burst of energy and went crazy cleaning five days before I went into labor. I had a lot of cramping and on and off contractions the week leading up to labor. Can't think of anything else except I felt really good lots of energy!

appletinibella

i had sharp cramping that wasn't consistent starting at 330 am. by 9 am they were about 5 mins apart and intense.. i was 41 weeks pregnant and they admited me into l&d. gave birth at 5:52 via c-section that day. 

indytara

for me it was back pain...my water broke after I had been feeling the back pain for about 24 hours.  I didn't know I was in labor!

alt0925

The night before I had her, I just felt off. Just a dull, uncomfortable feeling in my tummy. I knew I would go into labor and I had her the next day. 

Other than that, follow your instincts. I kept asking DH to reschedule his weekend with his girls from his previous marriage because I knew I'd go into labor that weekend and I also knew that their mother wouldn't come get them (long story, shes a terrible person). He refused becuase I was due on September 8th and that was the weekend of the 3rd. He just thought I was being dumb. Sure enough, my daughters birthday is September 3, 2011. I spent my day hiding in the bedroom trying not to let the girls hear my pain while we scrambled for a sitter, because their mother wouldn't come get them. By time i finally got to the hospital, I was 8 cm dilated and she was born an hour later. I labored entirely at home. 

firewiferut

I felt completely normal.

Never had any Braxton Hicks contractions, no irregular contractions either. Mine started lightly at 6:30am, like period cramps, 10 min apart until 3:30pm when they were a little stronger and about 5 min apart. Went to the hospital around 8pm, they got worse and were last 2 min and only about 30 sec between them. I gave birth at 3:45am that night/next morning.

 

Teffie

My water broke at work at exactly 39 wks.  That day I felt really "distracted" and couldn't concentrate on anything, I just felt like something was weird, but at the same time I totally was NOT expecting it to happen that day.

luvmyducks

I started losing my mucus plug at 39w5d.  I had some menstrual type cramps that were stronger than the days before but nothing time-able.  I had a really good idea that it would start soon.  1am at 39w6d I had time-able contractions really close to 5-1-1 and had DD at 5:39pm that evening.

rkto

I walked a lot in the 2-3 days leading up  (well, not a lot but way more than the 2 weeks prior) and I would feel tightness while walking but not a real contraction.

On Tuesday morning at 9am,  I woke up with contractions that felt like really bad gas cramps.  I would have thought I was just having a weird gassy day except they were every 10 minutes.  Then at noon, I went for a long walk and they increased to every 5 minutes.  By 5pm, they were pretty painful.  We went to L&D.  I was only 2 cm dilated, so they suggested I walk for a bit.  I returned at 9:30pm with 3minutes apart still only 2 cm dlated but begging for the epidural.  I got it at 1am.  Then no progression and baby's HR decreased with pitocin so we had to go to C-section at 11am on Wednesday

LauraOTR

Mine started like yours. I had contractions about 8-10 minutes apart on a Friday night for 3 hours, random off/on on Saturday, then the same thing on Sunday night. The difference with Sunday was that they continued, rather than stopping after 3 hours, got closer together, then were BAM - back labor and contractions 2-3 min apart. They weren't painful until that point. My water never broke and I didn't feel any different the day I went into labor.

aveeh

I was scheduled for an induction at 41 weeks 3 days.  I hadn't had any signs of labor AT ALL but my water broke on its own literally right as the nurse was preparing the cervadil to start the induction.  Even after that I didn't have any contractions until pitocin was started 6 hours later.

Good luck to you!

ColoGirl+25

I started losing my mucus plug at 36w6d--all week I lost mucus, plus lots of BH. 37w6d I got home, ate dinner, went for a walk and the BH seemed to be coming more and more. Took a bath, kept coming, and they seemed to be coming pretty consistently--figured I should tell DH! They were 3 minutes apart lasting over a minute! Went to the hospital at 9pm, DD was born just before 6am. 

BettyBookworm

My labor began as mildly annoying BH. I felt really bad. When I say I felt bad it was flu-like symptoms that passed rapidly.

Over the course of the evening the contractions increased in intensity & duration until my water broke at 1am. 

I hate to sound cliche and unhelpful, but I didn't believe those folks that said that you would "know" when you are in labor actively.  You will definitely know. You won't be able to do much of anything through the contractions. All I could do was waddle around and scream obscenities until they got me into the labor bed. Even then laying down was torture but the pain made my legs really weak so squatting wasn't an option.

My experience leading up to "real" labor was very mild if you include the flu like symptoms. Good luck! 

BeachBlondie456

BettyBookworm:

You will definitely know. You won't be able to do much of anything through the contractions. All I could do was waddle around and scream obscenities until they got me into the labor bed. Even then laying down was torture but the pain made my legs really weak so squatting wasn't an option.

My experience leading up to "real" labor was very mild if you include the flu like symptoms. Good luck! 

This exactly.

OUKap

My water broke at 37.5 weeks. It shocked me.

vnstacie

I felt weird so I went to the doc on the Tuesday before, they said she was still very high. Thursday my water broke the instant I got out of my car from driving to work. DD was born 13 hrs later. 

tiffandjames

I was at work, July 17th, so it was one week and one day before my induction on the 25th, when I think labor started for me.  I was feeling really, really crappy and my back was hurting so bad.  I mean, I literally ducked behind the jewelry counter at one point of the night and was pretty much in a ball because I was in so much pain, but I kept working through it till it was time for me to go home.  The rest of the week I just felt weird and off, some back pain but nothing like it was that night.  I had my last doctor appointment on the 21st, I was 3-4cm dialated and my doc almost had a heart attack lol apparently I was contracting and pretty much in labor but couldn't feel it.  He wanted to admit me asap because he didn't think I was gonna make it though the weekend.  But I said no because I had to go into work lol Well, work immediately told me to go home when I went in that day and told them how progressed I was.  I took it easy over the weekend, went in on Monday July 25th at 6am for my induction. I was 5cm dialated the first time they checked me, around 8am, and they started the pitocin, broke my water about 2 hours later, I got the epi shortly after that at 9cm, an hour and a half later I was at 10 and waiting on the doctor so I could push.  She was born at 2:27, so I pushed for maybe 10-15 minutes

brittalyn5187

I started having weekly NSTs and BPPs at 36 weeks due to high blood pressure. My OB wanted to get me as close to 38 weeks as possible before possibly inducing. On Tuesday, September 6th (37w2d) I had my BPP and a cervical check. I was 2 cm and I think my OB may have swept my membranes. I don't know for sure because she didn't say anything, but she was "up there" a lot longer than any of my other checks, so I'm only assuming due to the fact that I started having some contractions later that evening. They were irregular and not really all that painful, just mostly uncomfortable. DH and I decided to try some "self-induction" that night, if you know what I mean Contractions continued on and off all day and night Wednesday. I went in for my NST and check on Thursday the 8th, and it turned out I was 5 cm and in labor! My dr sent me to the hospital and DD was born 6 hours later.

binkydusty2

I had an extreme boost in energy. I had anxiety because I wanted the pregnancy to be over with already. I suddenly lost my ginormous appetite the day before I started having contractions. I just had this feeling... don't know how to describe it.

forensicmama

I didn't feel any different really. I was having more backaches up to three or four days before, also a feeling of more pressure down there, but nothing that made me think I was going to go into labor. I was scheduled for induction at 41 weeks. That morning, I was woken up by my hubby at 2:30 saying my nose was whistling. I got up to go pee, but just felt pressure and pain and couldn't pee (I've had this issue before, so not unusual). I went to bed and then woke up every 30 minutes to go pee, but the same thing happened again and again. I got out of bed at 4:30, giving up on sleep. I dealt with that stupid peeing issue and terrible back pain, but didn't think I was in labor until we were in the car on the way to the induction at 5:45 AM and my back was hurting so badly that I was angry at DH for stopping for coffee before going to the hospital. Sure enough, I was in labor, contractions every 2-3 minutes. I labored on my own, back labor intensifying until 9:30 when I decided that I would have to give up my natural labor dream, figuring he was posterior like his sister (and he was!). Pitocin started at 9:30.

aimlessone

My water broke unexpectedly at 38 weeks.  I didn't really feel any different before, but then again when I got to the hospital, I was apparently having contractions every 3-4 minutes and didn't know it.  I did feel them about 4 hours later, though.  Really painful.  

amyegunnip

At 32 weeks I was diagnosed with an irritable uterus which landed me in L&D twice in a week with pretty bad contractions. Luckily they didn't lead to early labor.

I was so used to having them on a daily basis that I didn't realize that I labored all day at work the day my water broke. The only difference I felt was a little more pressure but I didn't think anything of it since I was 39 weeks, 2 days. I was scheduled to go in 4 days later to have my c/s for my frank breech LO. But at 6 pm that evening my water broke. He had other plans!

GL mama

wintermama11

I had a lot of irregular and painless contractions for two weeks leading up to my labor, but I couldn't tell when the real thing was going to start.  Real contractions were definitely uncomfortable during pre-labor but not unbearable.  I found walking or leaning on a table/bed/DH and rocking my hips along with deep breathing got me through those contractions pretty easily.  I was in pre-labor for 5 hours before active labor began and that lasted another 12 hours.  My water never broke and the doctor had to break it when I started pushing.  DD was born at 40w6d.

LadyVi33

I lost my mucous plug at 36w6d, went in for an appt at 37w4d and spotted for 2 days after. Went into labor on a Friday. I had back pain all day at work, but was on my feet a lot more than I had been prior to that, so didn't think anything of it. Back pain intensified that night, but it felt more like constipation than "labor". Finally woke my husband up at 2:30am on Saturday. We were at the hospital by 3, and I had him at 7:30am at 37w6d. All the "you'll know when you're in labor"? Yeah, not so much. Even when we were going to the hospital, I thought they were going to  tell me I was dehydrated, give me iv fluids, and send me home later in the day. But DH had to work that Saturday, and I was afraid it would turn into real labor after he left (he's a 45 minute drive from home), so I wanted to get checked out while he was still home. I had back labor all the way, and never felt any kind of uterine contractions. (And since it was back pain I felt, it wasn't really time able - still couldn't tell you how far apart my contractions were, as I never could really tell that I was even having contractions - just low back pain). Definitely did NOT know, right up until the end (not to scare you!).

amyc216

My LO was born at 40w 2d.  I had had random cramps and BH contractions on and off from 38w.  The actual real contractions came out of nowhere.  I had felt fine all day (well, "pregnancy fine"- the usual tiredness) and after I went to bed that night woke up feeling contractions and knew they were for real!  Good luck!

ns1

I kept thinking...this is it!  I'm getting close...!  But when it really happened I felt more sure.  Over the weekend I got into a crazy cleaning mood and about drove DH crazy!  Then on Monday morning at about 4:00 am I woke up with some slight contractions, but they were close.  They were mostly in my back though.  I walked around a lot to make sure they would keep going, took a shower, etc. etc.  They were always less than 5 minutes apart, and finally, after a walk around the block and them getting more and more intense, I decided it was time to go to the hospital.  We got there at 8:00 am and I was 7 cm.

sn0tz

I went in for my 41w appointment, my mother was in town visiting as she expected that i would have already had the baby and booked her trip months in advance. I was scheduled to be induced the saturday (it was monday) My mom was pretty bummed and asked the doctor if anything could be done. He did a membrane sweep and not even 10 mins after i left his office i started getting regular timeable contractions. 2 hours later I had my LO in my arms

demmie326

With DS I started having contractions that were 7 minutes apart  but never got closer together and would go away after a couple of hours at 37 weeks without dilating. Finally at 41w6d I thought I had the flu along with contractions were 3 minutes apart. I was in labor for 40 hours before they broke my water and DS arrived a couple of hours later.

With DD I started bleeding at 34 weeks. Thankfully that stopped in the hospital. I had contractions similar to those with DS  but was dilating. I woke up in the middle of the night at 39 weeks and had my water break. DD arrived a couple of hours after my water broke. 

babyAutumn

I had painful BH for about 3 weeks prior to the onset of labour which dilated me about 2 cm.  Other than that I had nothing so my OB scheduled me for an induction on Sept 29.  The morning of Sept 26 I woke up about 5 am with rather painful contractions about 15 minutes apart which dropped to 7 minutes once I had a shower.  I had my LO 6 hours later.  The same happened with my first..only labour was 21 hours not 6.  With my middle child my water broke two weeks early so they induced me.  GL!!

mrsashkennedy

Thanks ladies! It was really helpful to read all your stories. I guess it's just a waiting game. Contractions have been on and off since I posted, and I haven't had any leaking or loss of the plug yet.