how did you know labor was imminent? other than the obvious...

[urquie]

other than the most obvious indicators (water breaking, painful contractions) what made you think it was almost time?

i'm getting very anxious for dd to arrive and keeping waiting for my body to give me some more subtle signs... but what?

[bluej]

With my first two, I had no clue. Out of no where my water just broke both times and contractions started shortly after. With my last my membranes were stripped and I kept waiting for those magical contractions to come, but they didn't until two days later :( So for me, there were no indications that labor was on the horizon. Sorry, I'm not much help. Just wanted to let you know that even though you don't feel like anything is going to happen, it can happen just like that (this is where I'd snap my fingers) :)

[jbowman]

Hi! I was so anxious for Ellie to arrive, so I understand how you feel. Unfortunately I didn't have many "subtle" signs...I was 8 days late and thought I'd never go into labor! I had been having some Braxton Hicks contractions quite a bit the week before.

The real sign for me (although this is not the case for everyone) was the loss of the mucous plug. That happened around 3 in the morning the day I went into labor and then contractions (albeit less painful ones) began. At that point I remember thinking "this is it." Of course I didn't give birth to Ellie until the next day around 1 pm, but the "party" had started at that point! LOL!

Good luck! You are about to have a wonderful experience, enjoy it!

ETA: my water didn't break until around 8:30 pm the day I went into labor and that's when the *fun* really began! I remember being completely surprised by that!

[Tondi G]

DS came about a week to 10 days early! My labor began with mild contractions in the late morning/afternoon. I started timing them and they were 10 minutes apart... for a long time! We went and had lunch.... thats how mild they were! As the night wore on the contractions got more intense and closer together.... we called my OB to warn her and she said to go in when they got 5 minutes apart and I couldn't walk or talk through them!

Only earlier indicator was my OB checking me and saying I was 1cm dilated a few weeks before.... oh and DS dropping a week or two before!

Everyone is different! My SIL thought she was going to be preggo forever (overdue) and was complaining to us over the phone..... sure enough in the middle of the night her water broke! Ya never know!!!

Good Luck.... it will happen sooner than later!

~Tondi and Mason 7/8/01

[ritacheetah]

No kidding - I figured my labor would be days late since it was my first. I took my due date off work, which was a Friday, and had planned to spend the weekend cleaning and baking X-mas cookies. I woke up at 5am Saturday morning with contractions 5 minutes apart. I did manage to produce a cranberry oat bread between contractions, but I still have the unused X-mas cookie ingredients all over the house.

My only symptoms were some Braxton-Hicks contractions and some spotting from the mucus plug - and maybe a little bit if PMS style achiness. Had I had any idea I'd be in labor that early, I certainly wouldn't have stayed up until 1:30am reading...

You just never know so just relax and get some sleep while you can!!

Live long and prosper,
Tracy
Mom to Victoria, 12/20/03

[llcoddington]

I woke up at 3 am and was having contractions 3 minutes apart. I wasn't really sure I was in labor, but gave the doctor a call. I felt ridiculous calling at 3 am, but thought better safe than sorry. He said, "Come to the hospital NOW!" At my last check-up, I was 3 cms dilated. I worried all the way to the hospital that we were making the trip for no reason. And, this was no easy trip- we were in the middle of a snowstorm and had to drive 12 miles on unplowed highway! After checking in, I still thought they might send me home. Even after they hooked me up to an IV (I tested positive for Group B Strep, so had to have antibiotics), I asked the nurse if they were going to send me home! She laughed. I had Lauren at noon. I really can't tell you how I knew to call the doctor. I just knew. I should add that by 6 am, these contractions were quite painful, so if I had waited around, I DEFINITELY would have known!

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03

[tinkerbell1217]

I could finally breathe easier!


Kelly

[Vajrastorm]

I got hungry. LOL

Usually I am very regular and routine about when I get hungry (unless I've changed my eating habits). The day before I had Aine I was suddenly starving for dinner at about 4 pm. (Normal dinner was around 7). I sent my husband out for a falafel plate, we ate, and then I fell dead asleep for a few hours. Also very unusual.

I went to bed at around 10 or 11, and woke up at 2 am with my water having broken.

I will say that I'd been having regular Braxton hicks for weeks, that increased in frequency over time. Ie, two days before birth I was having them every 20 minutes, the day before they started at every 15 minutes and inched closer to 10 minutes. I can't tell you where the BH left off and "real labor" began because it was rather seamless.

[papal]

I started cleaning the (already spotless) house like a mad woman!!! Wouldn't you know it, 11pm that night, labor started!

[mommd]

For me it was losing the plug in the morning with spotting. I also didn't want to eat anything and used the bathroom a lot. My water didn't break until I was already ready to push. I had no "subtle" signs until that morning.

[toomanystrollers]

Lets see, with Neve, I had a last minute spurt of nesting energy and mowed the entire lawn - went into labor that night :)

With both girls, I awoke to really noticeable cramping (contractions) starting at about 5 mins. apart. With Shea, I was induced - ugh!!!!

Happy delivery!

[lukkykatt]

Pg #1 - no clue. My water broke when I was 36 weeks pg.

Pg #2 - MAJOR Braxton-Hicks, starting at 32 weeks. Then the week DS was born I started getting "the bloody show". Also started cleaning the furnace, water pipes, etc. in my laundry room...

[Momof3Labs]

Colin was born on a Saturday, exactly two weeks early.

The Monday before he was born, he dropped.

The night before my water broke, I was crabbier than all get-out. DH was at risk for being kicked out of the house by me, and he really didn't do anything wrong! My mom says that being super crabby is a sign of impending labor, FWIW.

[cuca_]

Nesting. A week before my due date I was cleaning the kitchen like a mad woman. Cleaned the refrigerator, everything (very unlike me). Made DH take me to Costco to stock up on paper towels, toilet paper, etc... I was having mild contractions by that time, but didn't really think it was labor and didn't tell DH for fear that he would nix my Costco trip (I was on a mission). Later that day I lost my mucus plug and that was the first thing that made me realize that I was in labor after all (I had had false labor a couple of weeks before, so I wasn't taking the contractions too seriously). Good luck!

Carmen

[jubilee]

The evening before I had my first son I was out to eat and felt small contractions, but they didn't progress to anything. I was too excited to sleep (mistake!) and by midnight I went to the hospital to be checked. I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart, but they were mild. They sent me home because I was only at 2 cm. Then about 4 am I woke up with horrible back pain, in the small of my back. I was crying. We went to the hospital again and they admitted me. I was at 4 cm then. My son was born that afternoon.

[calebsmama03]

According to my midwife (and in my experience) aside from the burst of "nesting" energy (which I had the 3 days prior to his birth) your body kind of "cleans itself out". Don't want to risk sharing TMI but you kinda feel like you ate some bad fish or something ;) For me I had PTL, so was contracting from 22 weeks on. This was the only way I knew it was different! (That and the mucous plug...)
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03

[caleymama]

Nothing! I was at work on a Friday and my due date was the next day, a Saturday. I went out to do an errand for work that Friday afternoon and the cashier at the store asked when I was due. I said "tomorrow, but by the looks of things it'll be a while longer." She said, "no, I think you'll go into labor tomorrow. I'm right about these things." I thought "yeah, that's nice but not likely" and went about my business. I worked the rest of the evening (my hours were 1pm - 10pm) and got my office in order just in case, as I had been doing every Friday for the past few weeks. Sure enough, I woke up around 4am on Saturday with steady contractions. Didn't have DD until Monday evening, but was "in labor" all weekend. I'd been having Braxton Hicks for several weeks, and had made minimal progress at each doctor's appointment but I was sure I would go late. I always meant to go back and tell that cashier she was right, but never remembered to.

[daisymommy]

You know how everyone laughs that you go into a crazy nesting flurry, sometimes cooking up a storm? (ever seen Father of the Bride #2?). Well, that was me the day we went to the hospital. I went shopping to the bulk food store, and cooked up about 20 lbs. of beef and chicken, made soup, lasagna, cookies, and other freezer foods for after we came home. It was crazy, but I could not make myself sit down and rest. I was so jazzed up, like I was on speed! I started having some cramps that late afternoon, so we went to the hospital, and I was 7 cm. dialated! Wooaahh! But Josh still wasn't born for another 2 days...stubborn child!

[DeeEast]

Nothing. I had a cleaning frenzy a good one to two weeks before DD was born. I lost my mucus plug about a week before I went into labor. Of course after that I was holding my breath just waiting every minute for labor to begin. Ugh. Other than that, I was five days overdue (5 longest days of my life)and had no signs at all. Went to see the doctor on the 4th day and I think he stripped my membranes because he sent me over to the hospital after my appointment for a non-stress test and I was having contractions that I couldn't feel. Never really felt the contractions until that night and they didn't get painful at all until around midnight. Went to the hospital at 3 AM when they were 2-3 minutes apart and they still weren't that painful. They didn't get strong until 6 or 7 that morning and she was born at 10:45 AM. Sorry, just wanted to let you know that sometimes there are zero signs. Actually if you aren't having any signs, maybe that will make you feel better? I know the agony of being overdue. I loved being pregnant but hated being past the due date!

[gravymommy3]

I was induced with the first two, so I was clueless about what labor felt like. Very clueless!! I figured it out about 30 minutes before Hayden made a guest appearance on our kitchen floor, 1 minute after my water broke. Guess she had a bus to catch or something!

[urquie]

thanks for all the replies, it's nice to have an idea of what to expect! dh even read this thread and really liked the real life accounts... as opposed to a short paragraph from a book. he's even saying things like dd and dh now :)