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How did your labour start?

Just a general pondering.

My 1st labour was started with a sweep & I then lost my plug an hour or so after then got contractions the following day.

I've had a few niggles but nothing exciting yet. Just wondered how other peoples started!

(sorry, clearly labour is all I currently have on my mind!!!)

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  • 1st time I felt like I had a stomach upset ..Didn't know was in labour at all. Contractions once felt were immediately intense jn my back and I was unable to sit down (in hindsight this is due to the fact O's head was virtually hanging out ;-)

    With A it started with v mild contractions, to the point I dismissed as BHs to start with. Things ramped up gradually and then suddenly exploded. This time pains were all off across my bump.

    Don't know if it makes a difference but had anterior placenta first time and posterior this time x

  • I had my second sweep on the Friday and the Sunday evening my waters started to break. It started just a trickle and built up. Contractions started a couple of hours later, across the bump, started quite mild and built up over time.
  • First labour, in bed asleep when waters broke.  Contractions started an hour later. N was born 11 hours later.

    Second labour my contractions started mildly in the morning, gave birth two days later, waters broke 20 minutes before he came out.

  • My first contraction felt like a sudden lower back spasm. It was sore, but I didn't think more about it until an hour later when it happened again and started to move round my hips.this went on for nearly 4 days with them ramping up then petering out. I was then induced in the hospital and there was no mistaking the contractions then.

  • Isaac - absolutely knackered all day Tuesday, a friend took Lucas and I slept solidly for 8/9 hours which was unheard of

    Then slept all Tuesday night. Woke up Wednesday, bump going tight but no pain, didn't even really register. This continued throughout the day. At 7ish that night I felt that every time the bump went tight, I had the urge to wee. Went for a bath and noticed  that bump was still going tight. Phoned the ward and they said since he was a transverse lie then just to go in to get checked, but by the sounds of things not to worry I definitely wasn't in labour. Got to ward, apparently by the looks of me walking in the camera they thought I could be in labour, they put the ctg on as I'd no pain and it was showing regular contractions, internal exam showed I was 5cm with bulging waters. Everything went a but frantic after that as he was transverse and they worried my waters would go.

    This baby also transverse and I'm a bit worried :-/

    They asked what I'd had to eat that day and I said a bite of a crumpet as had no appetite and they said that that's another sign of labour  along with extreme tiredness which I'd had the day before

  • I felt rather squishy and damp down below for most of the day and then at about 4.30pm my tummy was a bit niggly so I thought baby was in a weird position and was giving my tummy a little prod to get her to move. My waters went in a small gush, then again when I was in the bathroom trying to strip my soaking wet clothes.

    Within an hour I started getting mild period pains which slowly came more regular and more intense.

  • Both times I woke up in the middle of the night with my waters having home, trickling rather than a gush. First time it was accompanied my mild period type pains which became more regular and within 12 hours k was born. This time I had no contractions so they induced me 24 hours after my waters went, contractions started within an hour, 2 and a half hours later D was born.

  • With B, waters trickled at around 10am on a Saturday morning. Ex-h was at work so rang him, rang the MLU, rang my mum and then got in the bath for a shave of my legs lol! Back and forwards to the hospital with pink tinged waters, cramps on and off all day. Back in hospital with fairly bad pains late evening, sent home again. Laboured for 4 hours alone (sent H for some sleep!) between 1 and 5am. Then went in to be put on the drip for induction. B was born at 14.50 on Sunday afternoon.

    Little B was an induction at 40+13. No signs of labour, nothing :( Pessary in at 5pm, labour kicked off at about 7pm and he was born at 22.17!

  • Thanks ladies,

    All so different. I keep looking out for a show but none of you have mentioned it so clearly it's not the only sign of labour. I've got a toddler training pad on my bed in case my waters go at night! Think it might be a bit premature!

  • O I had a show exactly a week before he was born, I panicked, totally not like me ;-), thinking it was a placental abrupt ion Weep  I remember posting about it on hitched and everyone was like erm no it's a bloody show lol, then I had bits of show over the course of the week. I then thought it was insignificant as no pain at all

  • Thanks RF, it can be scary, especially when you're well read on these things. I've heard with 2nds they can go a bit at a time.

    Hope your baby girl isn't transverse x

  • Hi BK. I had mild intermittent period pains on the Tues which didn't come to anything. Same again on the Sunday afternoon so ignored them. While watching Dragons Den, I realised I was having painless tightenings 10 mins apart, but assumed these were BH so ignored them. 11pm they were 5 mins apart lasting 40seconds but I still thought it wasn't significant since there was very little if any pain. Husband insisted I give the mws the heads up so I did. 3am I admitted i was in labour. 6.30 am first mw came out. 1cm dilated. 8.30am proper pain and 4cm. Got in pool at 11am wish and gave birth at 14.46 :-)

  • Oh, and at 3.30 am I was straightening my hair. Didn't really think that it would get very wrecked in the pool, just wanted to look yummy mummy. Needless to say, I looked like a bedraggled mess in the end :-)

  • Wow, not long to go now Blackkat! All of my labours started with me on the loo (TMI, sorry!). Then I got period-type pains which ramped up fairly quickly. All 3 times I was not convinced I was in labour as my waters didn't dramatically break and I wasn't instantly doubled over in pain, I was always a bit "This is NOT what it was like in Eastenders.".

    Good luck!

  • Thanks Sshh, hopefully not too long. Thanks for sharing your experiences

  • I was due to call labour ward at 9pm to see if it was still ok for my induction. At 8.10pm my waters went with a gush while I was on the new sofa, I chucked myself off it and hovered over a towel.

    17.5 hours later I got a section due to exhaustion and not progressing.

  • On the mon/tue I lost my plug.

    On the fri I thought my urine infection was playing up so was drinking loads of cranberry juice. My waters broke that night - I just felt a pop when I stood up.

    Went to hospital & they kept me in - I was so glad when I woke up in the middle of the night to feeling like I was sitting in a river - my continence mattress protector would never have coped!!

    As i was already booked in for a c-section on the Monday (maternal health reasons)I had an 'emergency' c section on the Saturday. I was 2cm dilated & had been having period type pains in my lower tummy & lower back.

  • Little Pixie, that sounds like hard work, my 1st labour (once established) was relatively quick so I'm hoping for the same this time.

    Sasasi: My waters only broke a little 1st time (then continued to leak for the next 5 hours until my daughter arrived), that does sound like a lot!

    Thanks both for sharing x

  • I woke at 1.30am with back ache and needing the loo. Woke again an hour later with same symptoms. There were 'bits' in my urine which I thought might be my waters breaking. H immediately said I was in labour but I wasn't sure as I didn't have any other pain/symptoms. He rang the hospital and they said to come in. Contractions had started by that point and in the car I timed them as being 2 and a half minutes apart. So the first part for me was much quicker than   I expected. My waters never obviously broke, and my plug came away in bits in the pool a few hours later.

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