I thought I was in Labor, but then I learned the Real Signs

Now I am overdue for three days and still no sign of labor. Though, there have been many signs I thought I saw, but then I learned what the real signs were. I remember all the walks I took with my dog about a month ago, thinking of what I would do if labor started right that moment. Out in the neighborhood. By myself. Who would I call? What would I do? And now I sit here and still nothing happened.

But lets get to the meat.

One sign of Prelabor is that your uterus changes with the activities you do. Let me explain. Right now it is January and it is really cold outside. My husband, such a sweetheart, goes out and warms the car up before we go places. When I get into the car, it is nice and warm, except for my seat. Every time I sit down and the cold touches my back I get one good long cramp running all the way through my back. This surely is the time you would appreciate heated car seats and you start to wonder if they invented them especially for pregnant women.

Another sign of Prelabor is that contractions do not build in intensity and disappear after a while. One morning I was laying in bed, I so did not feel like getting up at all and my stomach would tighten up every now and then. Somehow I felt awful for a good while, but then I got too bored, got up and soon was feeling just fine. That morning I also learned that sometimes when your uterus contracts you can get light hot flashes which made me just feel sicker and sicker.

My most helpful sign for Prelabor is that the contractions are not painful. I get contractions when I stand up, while I sit at my laptop totally relaxed, I get them all the time. Believe me, when I had a tight stomach like that without being pregnant, you would be impressed with my abs. What am I talking about? I am so impressed with it, that I walk up to my husband all the time asking him to touch my belly and how hard it is.

The last sign for Prelabor that I would like to mention is no blood and no water. No blood always sounds like a good things to me and no water comes simply from the fact that the amniotic membranes stay in tact and your water doesn't break. I got to tell you though. My midwife told me that sometimes women come in being sure that their water broke and they are starting labor. As they run a short test they find out it is not amniotic fluid that they lost. How embarrassing.



Now lets take a look at the real signs of Labor. I don't have examples for those yet, so I'll keep it short, but informative:

• There is a regular and rhythmic pattern in which your Uterus contracts.
• It keeps contracting no matter what you do.
• Contractions become stronger and stronger.
• Contractions hurt.
• There can be pain in the back or near the pubic bone with Contractions.
• You loose your mucus plug, which means you find mucus and dark blood coming out of you.
• Contractions are staying longer.
• Your water may break.

Today, I had another prenatal appointment and learned something new. As labor starts, or at least you think it finally starts, GO TO BED. This serves two purposes. One is that if it is prelabor, your contractions will fade away as you fall asleep. Second, if it is real labor you'll wake up with each contraction but you'll be well rested for the birth and won't wear out in the middle of it.