Hello ladies,
I just wanted your imput on this. This is my first baby and I am starting to get a little nervous about going into labor...
How did your labor started? how did you feel during the days before your LO was born? Any comments would help.
Thanks!!!

Re: Beginning of Labor...
- days before labor I felt great.
- the morning labor started my body started "cleansing" itself.
-at noon my contractions started. They felt like menstrural cramps with my belly hardening.
All I can say is, relax and enjoy the last few hours, days, or weeks being pregnant. I miss it! You will know when you're in labor. Early contractions are not really painful (can be somewhat painful but you'll be able to continue with what ever you're doing.) When you notice that there is a pattern, then you can start timing.
I was induced at 41 weeks, so I don't know how it feels to start up on your own.
I was nervous too, it was my first baby and I didn't know what to expect. I discovered I had gotten myself more anxious than I needed to be. The nurses at the hospital were wonderful and helped me feel at ease. Be open to their advice & tips on labor, especially when they remind you to breathe during your contractions. In my head I was worried about how bad things would hurt, and during my pregnancy I would tense up just imagining what labor was like. I can tell you now that the entire experience is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be (fyi, I had an epidural).
People will tell you "sleep!" in the days before you deliver and it's the TRUTH. I was up for 48 hours at the time my baby was born and I'm so glad I got as much rest as I did so I had strength during delivery.
Your body knows what to do. You'll do great!
I felt fine minus being HUGE and swollen.
At 39 weeks 4 days or something I went in for my 39 week internal. Only a finger tip dilated and nothing else. Doctor was pretty sure that I would be endued sometime after 40 weeks. Three hours later, I lost my mucus plug. About 10 minutes after that my water broke. An hour an a half later, I get to the hospital and am not having regular contractions so they gave me pitocin. So as for "real" contractions, I have no clue what those feel like. Anything else just kind of happened.
woke up with crampiness. i'd been having contractions for weeks. but this did not stop. continued all day, i knew they were contractions. they just felt different. they went all day getting increasingly more uncomfortable. went to hospital but was only 1.5 cm, 10 days overdue. within a few hours i was at 3, contractions hurting much more. an hour later, at 7 cm, major back labor, 30 minutes later, 10 cm. pushed 45 minutes. did not get epidural. ask for pressure on lower back, or jacuzzi. water broke when i got out of jacuzzi, before i was told i was at 7 cm. counteractive pressure on lower back helped a lot. focus on breathing SLOWLY. dont close your eyes. focus on something.
good luck.
before my lo was born, i was flat out crabby. being overdue and all.
I went into labor at 38 weeks 2 days - one week before my scheduled induction due to GD.
That morning I went to the hospital for my weekly NST. I had been having BHs for weeks about 10 minutes apart. The nurse asked if they were hurting that morning, but they weren't. They noticed "carrot sticks" in DS's heart rate, so they sent me for an ultrasound downstairs to check his umbilical cord and my fluid levels. After two hours there, everything checked out and they let me go home. I called my mom and we went to lunch and shopping. I started having contractions during the 3 hours that were out. They were starting to hurt and I knew something was a little different, but figured it was mostly due to walking a lot. I was not at all dilated, so I figured I had a while.
Around 5pm that day, I started timing my contractions b/c they were getting more painful and closer together. Went to the restroom and lost mucus plug. DH got home at 6 and told him I'm in labor! I made dinner, ate, pooped twice (thank god- didn't poop during delivery), threw in some laundry, took a shower and finished packing the bag. By 7:30 I was on my hands and knees in the closet b/c the contractions were getting super painful and all of a sudden they were 4 minutes apart! Rushed to the hospital...
Got to the hospital at 8:15pm, contrax 4 min apart, and I'm dilated ZERO! 20 minutes later dilated to 1cm, 15 minutes later water broke and now 3cm, 30 minutes later I'm at 6 cm and still in triage. Finally moved to my room and got the epi I had been begging for at 9cm. Pushed for an hour and half. DS was born that morning at 1:16am.
I had a bunch of false labors before I actually went into labor where I suffered through contrax for 3-4 hours and then BAM nothing! The night before I went to the hospital at 39w1d, I sneezed and felt a little trickle- my water or pee?? I wasn't sure which, so I went to the OB the next morning to check since I was 5cm already the week before. My OB confirmed it was my water leaking and I was 7cm already (!!), so I drove myself to the hospital, parked the car, and walked in and got hooked up as I waited for my DH to arrive. 3 hours later my nurse "accidentally" broke my water completely while checking progress and that's when my labor got REAL. 40 mins of pushing (I had to wait 20 mins or so 1/2 way though for my Dr to show up!) and my purple baby boy came into the world.
My best advice- don't be afraid of the pain. Push through it as best you can and the pain will go away that much faster! GL mama, you'll do great
She dropped big time a couple of days before I went into labor, so those last two days I was miserable and could barely walk.
My labor started with my water breaking.
Contractions felt like constant diarrhea pains at first, but became regular and in my back a couple of hours after my water broke. I also had my bloody show a couple of hours after my water broke. My labor was pretty fast, I went from 2cm to 10cm in about 3.5 hours.
I felt great in the days before (went 40 weeks and 2 days), I had no signs leading up to.
I went to bed feeling the coming and going of contractions but wasn't sure if it was actually happening or not, actually got out my books to read the difference between real and false labour! It was real, continued inconsistenly (never got to go to bed, lying down was too uncomfortable) all night and then got stronger and more consistent the next morning, DD was born 4 hours after I got to the hospital, 7 hours after 'consistent' contractions began!
Don't be nervous, your body was made for this, it knows just what to do!
I posted this: https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/38806724.aspx on the morning of June 26th, the day DD was born. Right after I posted it, I went to lay back down in bed, and I felt a contraction from hell. It was then that I knew it was time to call the nurse line. I called, they said to come in, but I was convinced they would send me back home because of the irregularity of my contractions. They sent me to the bathroom to put my gown on and my water broke on the floor. The rest is history. DD was born at 3:19 that afternoon. Here's the rest of the story if you're interested: https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/38827479.aspx
My point? I know it's annoying to hear.. but you really will know when it's go time.
GL to you!!!!!!
med-free birth x2, breastfeeding, baby wearing SAHM
My BFP Chart
I had DS on a Monday morning and the whole weekend before was just "off'. I didn't feel right, I was tired and irritable..I could tell my body was just not the same. Sunday, I took a LONG nap that I didn't expect to get kind of just happened (DH didn't wake me up to meet my parents for dinner just let me keep sleeping). Later I started having loose stools but nothing bad at all...about midnight I had a horrible menstrual like cramp and from then on I had contractions every 4ish minutes!
Sex and Chipotle!! That's what started it for me...hee hee!
Seriously, we had sex that morning (ahem...dr's orders) and the bloody show started immediately. That was Memorial Day Monday, my mp had started coming out that Friday before. Prior to that I was 50% effaced and my cervix was completely closed. Induction was scheduled for Tuesday. Had bloody show all day Monday, and then about 8:30 that night we were headed to Chipotle for dinner and my water broke. See....sex and Chipotle...worked for me!
Day before: felt fine. Had my 39-week appt. and an internal. Experienced some cramping and spotting that night. I attributed it to the internal, but in retrospect, it probably was the beginning signs of labor. OB thought I had at least another 3-4 days left to go; I thought I had at least another week (I never expected to go early).
That night/early morning: still felt pretty good, but had an increase in discharge (looking back, it was probably my water starting to leak).
Morning of: still felt fine, had even more leaking. When I got out of bed to check things out, my water broke. I didn't start feeling noticeable contractions until about 2 hours after being admitted.
days before: I felt like I was going to be late & it was never going to happen. I just felt tired like I had for weeks.
labor started: 39w4d my water broke at 3:30am while I was in bed. I ate something & took a shower & contractions began in the shower. I had eaten the Scalini's eggplant parm recipe that's supposed to start labor the night before. Maybe a fluke, but maybe not
Edit: I dropped at 34 wks & had been dilated to 2 since 35 wks.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.