Just to reiterate, if you’re ever unsure, call your doctor. There is no way of knowing how it’s going to be for you until it happens - and even then it varies from one pregnancy to the next. If you get to the point where you think you might be, call your doctor - don’t wait until it gets “too bad” to handle". That 45 minute drive to the hospital could prove very long indeed. And OBs are perfectly used to getting called up at all times of the day to help women decide what they should do.
It was absolutely, definitively unmistakable with Dweezil: I was on the toilet, attempting to deal with certain natural excretory functions, when pop WHOOOSH.
I remember calling the doc’s office, and they suggested I stop by so they could test to see if it was really amniotic fluid. My response was something along the lines of “I may not be a doctor, but there is absolutely no way this could be anything else”.
With Moon Unit, well, I was sort of distracted by the fact that I was undergoing a c-section and the epidural wasn’t quite working :eek: so no, I guess I don’t remember the exact moment it broke.
But effacing is progress! That’s a good thing!
Forgive my addled brain, but when is your due date?
No, not that it’s so BAD that you can’t walk or rest it away, just that it’s so established and consistent that you can’t walk or rest it away. I had some doozies of painful Braxton-Hicks in my last few months, but, like I wrote above, I literally couldn’t feel a thing for hours and hours of my actual labor. Not even a light menstrual cramp type pain. I can’t promise you’ll be the same way, of course, but don’t look for pain, or intensity of pain, as your marker.
Cyros , I think we’re due around the same time aren’t we? My due date is September 16th…Although I don’t think I’m going to last that long - but you never know!
WhyNot , I had some major back pain in the early morning. I tried walking it off and my belly got extremely hard…but then it went away yet again! Grrrr… I guess I will just have to listen to my body like you said. My husband stayed home from work today because he was nervous about me…but unfortunately he can’t stay home everyday.
Ah well, it will be fine. I keep telling myself millions of women have done this, millions of women have done this, millions of women have done this, millions of women have done this… 
Yup, my due date was September 15th, but the induction will be next week. Maybe our babies will be born the same day.
It sounds like you are going through something very similar to my experience. I stayed home from work a few times here and there in the weeks before my due date, I was sure something was starting only to be disappointed (and yet relieved? I was afraid of labor too.) each time. I had braxton-hicks contractions that continued for hours, only to stop as soon as I was really starting to think ‘this must be it.’ I was very worried that I wouldn’t know when it was real, but I did, and when it did happen I was sure. Not because it was so excruciatingly painful, but it felt different, and very strong, and lower. I was frustrated by my Dr. telling me ‘when it happens you will know’ but it turned out to be true.
Previously I had even gotten false contractions 5 minutes apart for a half hour or so but they were irregular and inconsistent. When the real thing came I steadily progressed both in strength and timing. By this time I was used to contractions so a few hours went by before I really took notice, because I was afraid of it going away again. Yet I still knew when it was really time to go to the hospital. I still waited until I was admitted and got a room before calling people and telling them it was it though :).
I agree that if you want to be sure or want reassurance, call your Dr. And I know it does no good to say this, but try to relax and enjoy this last bit of time. I know time slows down the closer you get to due date (I made it worse because I was so sure I would go early…by the time my due date came I felt like I was already overdue. I went into labor on my due date…right on schedule!) My poor friend was pregnant the same time as me and had a due date 10 days before mine. I gave birth first, and she told me later she wanted to kill me :).
Good luck, take lots of naps if you can!
Where I live, you can also call Labour & Delivery directly and they’ll tell you whether to come in. Sometimes it’s hard to get a hold of your own OB and the L & D people seem pretty on the ball.
Cyros , maybe we will have our babies on the same day? I did read about your induction in MPSIMS. I wish you luck, luck, and more LUCK!! I can’t wait to hear how it all goes for you…and to see some pics of the little one :)…
Oh and I have already called the hospital a few times with questions. They have a great hotline and have been very helpful (good tip Cyros). They seem to give me more of their time than my OB, who always seems rushed to get off the phone!
Velma , thanks for the vote of confidence. I do hope I will know when the real time comes. I must say it’s confusing the heck out of me right now. Sometimes the contractions seem to last a long time. Sometimes they get worse with walking and sometimes not. But I will just keep on trying to be in tune with my body. Maybe I will not go early but end up going past my due date…That would be funny…Um, no, actually it wouldn’t!
It will be over before you know it. Ahhh, spoken like a woman who is not 9 months pregnant, right?
Get your husband to pamper you right now, and rest up!
In my wife’s case, the first indication of her labor was that her water broke. She woke up, realized what happened and we went to the hospital.
I remember them pulling away a sheet of paper from beneath her covered with a jelly-like liquid.
She never felt a single contraction, BTW. Despite that, the baby went into distress every time the monitor indicated she had one. At one point, the baby heart monitor flatlined. It was the scariest moment of my life. Turned out the scalp monitor had just come loose and was no longer registering. But the baby went into severe distress at every contraction – my wife still not feeling them – so they did an emergency c-section.
Turned out the baby was severely anemic after transfusing blood through the placenta. (My wife’s blood later showed 4% baby’s blood.) This was despite a fairly good Apgar score (7). The baby had showed signs of apnea, so they rushed her to neonatal intensive care.
But all ended well. A blood transfusion did the trick and RealityDaughter was fine the next day.
Even with experience, it’s hard to tell “when it’s time.”
My waters didn’t break for either of my kids. With the first one, I felt the contractions in my legs at first. We were doing yard-sales that morning, and it took me a while to figure out what the sensation was. (I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for a few weeks, but this was completely different.) I popped into a bathroom at a local mall, and noticed that the mucus plug had come out. We timed the contractions, then went to the hospital an hour or so later. Once I was at the hospital, the contractions moved up into my back from my thighs, but they were slow and steady, and becoming much closer together. I had an epidural which completely stopped the contractions for a while, but Daughter was born about 14 hours after we went to the hospital.
With the second child, I actually started having labor pains (and yes, I am sure they were labor pains, even though they didn’t feel anything like the labor pains the first time around) about two weeks before the due date. They got very intense, and when they were five minutes apart, we called the doctor who had us go to the hospital. At the time, it didn’t really feel like I was in labor, even with contractions at three minutes apart. The nurses also felt that this looked enough like labor to be treated like labor, even though I didn’t really act like I was in labor. The contractions gradually petered off overnight, and by the next morning, I was about 2cm dilated, with no more contractions. They sent me home, but promised I would be back by the end of the week.
For the next FOUR weeks, I had intermittent labor pains (the kind that make you stop in your tracks) several times a day. The doctor kept saying that the baby would come any day, but I wasn’t dilating, and there didn’t seem to be any reason to rush things. Finally, two weeks after the due date, I went into labor and KNEW I was in labor. No broken water, no mucus plugs, just a certainty that the time had come. We called the sitters to come over to stay with our daughter, I cooked dinner for them, then we left for the hospital. After about three hours of labor, the doctor cut open the waters, and our son practically rode out in the surf.
Kiminy , I think I am having a similar experience. Intermittant (and rather intense) contractions that have been going on for days now. Hopefully it won’t be 4 weeks…gah! It’s hard not to be in a constant state of nervous exhaustion. I’m always wondering and timing and worrying. I called my doctor again, but she keeps saying to let her know when they’re five minutes apart (which they unfortunately are not)…sigh.
Evidently pregnancy makes your spelling worse…That would be intermittent!
Shana, I hope you get some relief soon, preferably by way of delivering that baby!
I had braxton-hicks contractions several times in my last month, and I went to the hospital once because my back and pelvis were hurting so bad I could barely walk. Nothing regular though. They said the back pain was from the baby being so low in my pelvis. My weight wasn’t helping matters much.
The morning I started actual labor, I woke up around five a.m. (christmas morning!) not feeling pain, just little squeezy feelings going from around the bottom of my ribs down the sides and to my vagina. Thing is, these weren’t painful squeezy feelings. Nothing like those braxton-hicks contractions! But I KNEW I was in labor. They weren’t ten minutes apart but I knew. It was confirmed around ten-thirty when they were five minutes apart.
(about damned time too, since I was three weeks past due and was scheduled for the pity-drip the 27th)
Isabella was born at midnight on the 26th. Ahhh sweet relief!
My water was broken by the doctor so I have no help for ya there.
Best of luck!
Thanks Cyros …I hope so too!!
Rushgeekgirl , I’ve been having “squeezy feelings” today…but then they go away! :smack:
I am starting to feel like one of those annoying, alarmist patients that is constantly pestering the doctor with annoying, alarmist questions. Today I called yet again, practically in tears. My OB wanted me to come in to have my contractions monitored, but I didn’t have anyone to take me…so I waited it out and they disappeared. I was half relieved and half dissapointed. It’s such a strange feeling! You want it to come and yet you’re terror stricken that it will come…Maybe that’s why my body is being so schizophrenic?
Just wanted to thank everyone again for your responses…I’m going to try to sleep now I think!
The best thing you can do - and the most difficult- is try to relax. Work with your body on this one. Don’t fight it. When you get any kind of contraction-type pains, just think that there’s one less to go when you’re in full labor (maybe not in a literal sense, but your body is prepping itself) and relax and breathe through it til it passes. Don’t tighten up, let it happen. It’s a great time to practice any kind of breathing/relaxation technique you’ve been taught. You are going to have this baby no matter what. It WILL happen! With my first, my water broke at 4am (a week early) and there was no mistaking it. Didn’t start contractions til 9am and didn’t go into more pronounced labor until 4pm when I decided to take another shower. I think it was the getting up and moving around, rather than sitting there waiting for each contraction, that helped move things along. My next two were both induced (one a week late, one on his due date) so, although I had been having lots of pre-labor contractions with both, I never went into full labor. Not only is every mother different, but every baby is different, too.
Best of luck to you!
Well, with my first daughter, I was actually on the toilet, had just finished peeing, and another stream of water came from somewhere. But it didn’t feel like I was peeing more. So hubby took me to the hospital, where they did a ph test, and said it was urine. I didn’t think it was, but hey, they’re the medical folks, right? On the way out of the hospital, more trickled down my thigh, they tested again and said “oh, our mistake; it’s definitely amniotic fluid”. Turns out the sac had broken up high, producing a slow trickle of fluid.
With baby number two, I was having contractions, went to the hospital, and they sent me home with a sleeping pill. They said if it was true labor, the sleeping pill wouldn’t work and I’d be back in a few hours, but if it was false labor, the pill would help me get a good night’s sleep and I could come back the next day. We’d been home and back in bed for a couple of hours when I felt something really strange going on down there. I thought that my water was going to break, and tried to wake hubby up in time for it not to soak him, but was not successful. Strange popping feeling (no pain, though), big gush of water. No mistaking it for anything other than what it was.
Both of those labors ended up in C-section for failure to progress, and they were both large babies (9lbs. 1 oz. for baby number one; 10lbs. 6 oz. for baby number two). Baby number three, my water never broke because she was a scheduled C-section; good thing, too, because she was 11lbs. 14 oz. :eek:
I had mine gush in the middle of the night during one of those frequent bathroom breaks (they are really just to prepare you for the next three years without a full night of sleep). A big gush. By the time we got to the hopsital, none left, but my S&M practicing L&D nurse didn’t believe me and wanted to test. But there was nothing to test, not a drop coming out by that time. So now she really didn’t believe me.