Silent Labor--midnightdaydream

Ok Midnight Daydreams--I will respond in an entirely different post to help you out a bit

 Ok, so your entire post got me thinking about the topic of silent labor.  In fact, I never even considered it what happened to me, but maybe there is a name for it?  My birth story with my DS 2 1/2 years ago comes close, but I am not sure if its really what you are talking about.

 Nutshell story....

My first pregnancy everything seemed normal.  At 38 weeks I had a day that I did not feel the baby move AT ALL the whole day.  By 11pm I was starting to worry.  Called my mom and she said to go to the hospital.  I was  FTM and didn't want the embarrassment of being sent away for being so stupid.  Well her and DH convinced me and there I was in L&D with monitors on my stomach by midnight.  My dr came in and said--guess what--you are in labor!  I thought he was kidding.  According to the printout, I was having regular-timeable contractions--but I wasn't feeling them.  Next he said I couldn't leave because I was about to have this baby.

So here is what happened next-- I was told I was one centimeter at that time, I got an epi (because I was scared) about 2 hours later, my water broke in the hospital bed 30ish min later.  Only 5 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital my son was born.  

So there you have it.  I never experienced any actual contractions that were not just BH leading up until that day.  I even returned my stopwatch I bought to time them with.   As cool as this story sounds, I do not want to repeat this.  I found out the reason my son wasn't moving was low amniotic fluid.  My new dr says if I hadn't gone in when I did, I may have not brought a baby home (worst case scenario).  It was a sign that the placenta wasn't quite doing its job anymore.

Sorry for the long post, but now my DH asks everyday if I feel this baby moving.  To tell you the truth I am hoping my water breaks or I get real contractions to know that its time and don't have to make a guess. 

To answer your questions-- I don't think heredity played in it for me.  My mom had three kids and did not experience it the way I did.   There is a much larger chance that you will have a normal labor.  Just make sure you listen to your body and watch for signs.  Seriously, I almost let my pride get in the way and that "might have" been not so good for DS.  I think I am more nervous this time around, but I feel much more prepared too.  Good luck to you!