Q&A: How do you know when you're about to have a baby?

I thought this one was too silly, but then realized it might be kind of interesting. I was asked by a random pregnant stranger on public transportation how you know when you're going to have the baby soon.

The obvious answer is "when contractions start," but she was looking for the signs before that. She was within a week of her due date, so it could happen anytime.

I was thinking about it, and came up with the following:

* bloody show or releasing the mucus plug

* manic energy

* nesting/cleaning

But I couldn't really come up with anything else myself. Are there other things that you have experienced (or that you've heard) are signs that you're going to go into labor within the next few days?

With me personally, I lost all fear of labor because I was just so done with the whole process. I don't know if that's common, though.

I'd be interested to see if this is something that's common across cultures, or if it's got some cultural specificity.

So. What would you say if someone asked you if there's any way to know? Conversely, are there signs that you're *not* going to go into labor any time soon?

Comments

[Moriah]

Whoa. I am quite curious about this myself as I may be considering pregnancy soon. Good question!

[cs]

I too lost all fear of labour - I didn't care what I had to go through, as long as at the end the baby would be on the outside.

[SarcastiCarrie]

How do you know labor is imminent?

You've scheduled your induction for tomorrow, so you, of course, go into labor today.

People telling you you've dropped (although honestly, that started at 6 months since I carry babies between my knees... actually "drop" even lower...though how that is possible I don't know shortly before).

Strong desire to finish the Christmas shopping in October.

[Melanie K.]

This is HARD!
My first ... I just felt BAD. On that Friday, I had to leave work at 10 am ... I just could NOT be there. I ended up in labor on Sunday night (though I didn't think I was until the nurse confirmed I was - I didn't have a lot of pain until later.).
My second ... I went in to work on a Saturday to clean my desk and cube ... finish things up. Got home and 'felt out of sorts' ... then the pains hit. Ended up having him at 11:45 that night.
My third ... I was MISERABLE with no sign of going into labor. Scheduled a C-section to get it over with! Doctors told me it was a good thing ... he would have been over 10 lbs if I had waited ... not good for me!

So as odd as it sounds, you will just KNOW. You feel out of sorts, jumpy, edgy ... and perhaps 'sick-ish' feeling.

[Becky]

For me, well, suddenly that 3rd trimester constipation was gone. The day before I had my scheduled-C for my breech baby, things really cleared out. And then I found out that I was having contractions every 7 minutes when they were doing the fetal monitoring that next morning.
I've heard some women say that they feel a little flu-ey or like they might be coming down with a stomach bug the 24-48 hours ahead of time.

[MrsHaley]

When I'm about to go into labor (maybe 24 hours out) I get very inwardly-focused. I stop talking much, I 'zone out' a lot and I get a very focused, serious affect going. My husband noticed right away and then several other people commented throughout the day. I went into labor at 10:30pm that night.

After that happened with my first, I read about the same sort of phenomenon in Ina May's "Spiritual Midwifery." Then it happened again with my second.

Also, I had GREAT success regulating & strengthening those initial are-they-or-aren't-they contractions using my breast pump (on my breasts). It only works if you're already effaced & dilated a little, but it's the ONLY research-proven method to jump-start things. When I told the nurses what I did when I got to the hospital, they were aghast. "We do NOT recommend that!" they said. "Why not?" I asked. "Because it works!" they whispered!

[Jennifer]

My pregnancy was totally out of the norm, in that my body simply DID NOT CARE that it was pregnant! I kid you not. My other mommy friends hate me. :-) Anyway, for me, I had crazy manic nesting energy (must. finish. organizing. baby's room. NOW!), and then for the three days prior, I had Braxton-Hicks contractions a lot: everything down there would tighten up (no pain) and I would totally space out.

[Jennifer]

I didn't know either time (water broke with first and traditional labor with second). No nesting or lost mucus plug or anything like that. Just one of nature's great surprises!

[CG]

Ha! I never went into labor. Induced at 42 weeks. I'd love to know what normal, gradual labor feels like. Here's hoping for this time!

[Charisse]

I agree. I remember reading with great interest a story about a woman in rural Mexico who gave herself a C-section with a kitchen knife after laboring alone for 2 or 3 days, then managed to hitch a ride to the hospital and was OK. My thought was "good, good to know that's possible--I need this baby out, no matter what". I became obsessive, which I'm normally not, and energetic, which I hadn't been for the last couple weeks. I ran all over town, walking and riding 4 or 5 buses, in a red maternity tank top, looking for the exact right sunhat for the baby. During my travels, I called several friends and my mom and told them I couldn't stand it any longer. I was through with this pregnancy nonsense. That night I woke up at 2:30 with contractions and Mouse was born at 8 the next morning.

[Joceline]

Very interesting set of comments.

With both of my kids, I stayed up all night before going into labor, for unrelated reasons.
1. One week before my due date, I was feeling great on Saturday, so we had a big party at our house. We had a ton of people over, I made lots of food and drinks. I thought I'd "leave" the party early and go to bed, but I felt GREAT, so I was up and making homemade pizzas for the few remaining friends at 3am. I was in labor at 8am and the baby was born just before midnight.
2. Four days AFTER my due date, I was feeling pretty darn miserable, and instead of making my husband the homemade pizza I'd promised (maybe homemade pizza is the key?), I ended up ALL NIGHT throwing up. I know it was stomach flu and not pregnancy-related because my husband and son got sick too. I realized I was in labor at 8am (again!), but this time the baby was born at NOON. Good thing we had planned a homebirth for that one, because by the time I accepted I was truly in labor and not just sick, we never would have made it to the hospital in time.

So I guess if there is a #3, I'll stay up all night and make homemade pizzas when I want to go into labor and see what happens come 8am!

[Elizabeth]

I lost my appetite for chocolate during my first pregnancy. A week past my due date, I suddenly craved brownies, made a pan, and ate nearly all of them. That night during my yoga class, the baby dropped so that I felt like I could barely walk, and I lost my mucus plug the next morning. The next night I went into labor, and my daughter was born two days later.

[Jac]

I had the general out of sorts feeling in the 48 hours before hand. Kind of fluey, but with a bit a manic energy at the same time. I didn't know at the time, but in retrospect it was clear that things were moving along at that point.

I had not painful, very irregular contractions (anywhere from 7 - 20 mins apart) and at the time I wasnt sure if they were Braxton Hicks or not. That lasted for about 12 hours - then my water broke and the real pain/labor began.

No bloody show, mucus plug, or constipation clean out.

[Steph]

The bump stopped growing for me (well, went 2 weeks at the same size), coupled with a faster heartbeat. I was scheduled for an ultrasound the next afternoon, but went into labour instead :-)

[HeatherD]

I got really spacey before I went into labor. I started to have bloody show and my first real contractions around 9pm the day before I gave birth, but starting at around 11:30am the day before, I started to feel very spacey and a little discombobulated, like I couldn't handle basic tasks or answer simple questions very well. I went grocery shopping that afternoon and it all felt incredibly mentally challenging. Am curious if others had a similar experience.

[CaliBoo]

I sort of zoned out too for my 24 hours of early labor... lost the mucous plug and my appetite nearly simultaneously. Looking back, the loss of appetite should have really been the tip-off for me, because I ate like a trucker the rest of the pregnancy.
And certainly noone should wait until their water breaks to decide they are in labor. Mine didn't break until I was 9.5 cm and pushing. I'm a procrastinator, what can I say.

[caramama]

For me, it was my water breaking. That was a sure sign that the baby would come out within the next 24 hours (with GBS, they won't let you labor longer than that after your water breaks), even though both times the doctors had to go in and get them out (c-sections) after I labored for almost 20 hours.

And to get my water to break? Apparently I just had to have plans for the day or week ahead which would make it inconvient to have my water break/go into labor. Having my water break in the movie theater makes a good story, though!

I honestly just don't think there are sure-fire signs. What is true for one woman could be the opposite for another. The only sure thing is water breaking or true contractions that are close together, right?

For both, I was so done with the pregnancy that I was not worried about the laboring. I just wanted the baby out!

[caramama]

@CaliBoo - That's crazy to me that your water didn't break until you were 9.5 cm! My water broke before I even had real contractions both times! It's amazing how different everyone's L&D are.

[MrsHaley]

@CaliBoo - I had a similar experience -- my water didn't break until I was pushing (10 cm+) and BOY that's a squirty mess! I sprayed people halfway across the room!

[KateW]

I picked fights with my husband during early labor (before I knew it was THE day) both times. Actually, I felt that HE picked the fights, but in retrospect I'll take the blame:) So, um, irritable?

And, FWIW, each labor was a completely different beast - THIS IS IT vs is this it?, 25 hrs vs 3, hell on earth pain vs uh, I think I'll push now, terrified DH vs best bonding/intimate moment in our marriage. Go figure.

[jp]

For # 1, I got the urge to weed the entire backyard in February in Seattle. When I was done, I cleaned the bathroom fans out with a toothbrush. That night, my water broke (10 days early). Labor never really started though, and they ended up inducing and giving epidural. 26 hours after water breaking, she was born.

For #2, I had incredible braxton hicks contractions for 6 weeks. Due date came and went. Finally I was having weak, but timeable contractions. I went on a hike (very nearby) and started nipple stimulation to get things moving. Woke at 1am to blood, took a shower, hubby drove to hospital, and son was born by 2am. No meds, no time to fuss. And my water never broke. (He was born with waters intact.)

[Charisse]

Ha, I'm another one whose water broke at 10cm, like a gunshot. My friend A's never broke--her daughter was born in the caul and therefore, I believe, ought to have the second sight--I'll have to ask her about that.

[Diane]

I got CRANKY that day. Like, whoa. With my second, I thought, "ha! I'm cranky today! Maybe I'll have the baby!" and brushed it off as a silly thought. But yeah, my water broke an hour or so after I had that thought.

[mom2boys]

@caramama - ha. I was getting ready to walk out the door to go to the beach when my water broke. Almost an inconvenient place. :) But I don't recall any external signs other than I told everyone that Friday at work I wouldn't be back b/c his due date was Monday. Sunday morning my water broke and Monday a.m. he arrived.

[Kathy]

Diarrhea and feeling like I was coming down with the flu!

[Carolyn]

At five days after my due date I lost my mucus plug, had bloody show, and started having intense timeable contractions (between 6 and 20 minutes apart). All I could think about was sleep because I knew that I was going to need my energy. I was almost obsessing about how much I just. needed. to. sleep. This went on for three days.
I even went to the hospital on the first day because I totally thought that I was in labor. They sent me home, the contractions continued, and I still did not sleep...One the third day I went back to the hospital because the contractions were even more intense and closer together. They admitted me since I was ten days late...Labored all afternoon and all night with only 6cm of dilation (all that pain and such little progress...)
The next morning my doctor told me that I needed to either use pitocin or have a c-section...I choose the surgery.

[Cecily T]

Yeah, I think I nested in the 24 hours before labor. My water also didn't break until my MW helped it along when I was nearly ready to push. She wanted the baby's head pressing to help my last bit of dilation along.

I had about a week before she came where she was thumping 'down there' with every step I took, and man, that was uncomfortable. I was literally mincing around when I had to walk. I guess at some point she moved past that spot and dropped lower.

I woke up at 5am (NOT normal for me) with menstrual-type cramps, which progressed to much more fierce contractions. V was born at 1am the next morning.

[Jill in Atlanta]

I must say, I asked this question and the related, "When will I know to go to the hospital?" to many people before Baby #1. The best answer I was given was by a nurse at an OB appt. She put it bluntly, "If you have to ask if you're in labor, you're not."

After two children, I agree with her. There are so many differences that telling a woman to trust herself is my best answer. She'll know.

[Elizabeth_K]

Oh terrible (and yet awesome) topic. I'm 37 weeks along with my second tomorrow, and keep Googling "signs labor is starting." Obviously --- it's not. But now I have so much more to imagine. Cranky? YOU BETCHA! Picking fights with husband? YEP! Lots of ... emptying out in the bathroom? SURE THING! And I don't feel particularly flighty, but now I'm pretending I do so labor will start ... My first was born on 39 weeks on the dot, so I'm kind of hoping this one will be a bit earlier than that ...

[Meika]

I had absolutely no signs that couldn't be chalked up to late pregnancy until timeable birthing waves started. Nuthin'. Just a baby several hours later. :)

[SarcastiCarrie]

I want to be Meika.

[Jackie]

I SOO agree with losing the fear of labor by that point. Okay, I was 36.5 weeks with very large twins (almost 7 pounds each) so I think that helped. But I will never forget crying to my husband as we drove to the hospital, "PLEASE don't let them send me home!!" (This was exactly one week before my scheduled C-section.)
I also felt just generally awful that morning. I could barely move.

[HollyRhea]

Mucus plug is one thing, but you really want to see it tinged with pink or brown. The blood in your underwear/mucus is a sign that the cervix is changing.

Loose stools.

Sudden sleepiness the 24-48 hours before.

achy back, those flu-like symptoms someone described earlier.

Contractions that cause the uterus to draw up into a square shape, like the baby is "all balled up". This will get more pronounced as labor progresses.

And you can track dilation by a red line that travels up your butt-crack. I use this all the time at labors to see where a woman is. When the red line hits the top, like a turkey timer, "ding" - she's done. (http://books.google.com/books?id=79ZiRZZwzF4C&lpg=PP1&dq=heart%20and%20hands&pg=PA114#v=onepage&q=sacrococcygeal&f=false picture on this page but the explanation is on 115)

[paola]

Another one whose water broke in the pushing stage with both births.

I went into labour at 7.30 am with both kids too. On my due date. (Husband is a Project Manager. Really)

With my first child I actually had been bleeding 2 weeks before he was born. Enough for me to have to wear pads. His head was in my bum (sorry) for the same 2 week period. I had also been 3cm dilated for 2 weeks ( from when I was taken to hospital in an ambulance during my last OB visit, as birth was 'imminent')

With my daughter I had been 3 cm dilated since my 32w4d examination and so birth was 'imminent' again. And in those 8 weeks after I was achey and fluey and couldn't even walk down our stairs. 2 days before i actully gave birth I had the 'show', but hey, that was no warning, going by my first birth.

Oh, re. nesting, during labour whenever I had a break from contractions, all I wanted to do was clean up the mess I was making. I mean the blood, amniotic fluid, the paper towels. I just wanted to tidy the room up. I am obsessive compulsive, but not in a clean and tidy up way.

[nej]

What a timely topic. At almost 38 weeks with #2, I never went into labor with #1 (scheduled medically-necessary C-section at 39 wks - didn't have a single contraction) and so now that I'm trying for a VBAC, I'm in that stoned daze where I know I'm about to have a baby one way or the other, but I don't know when or how or what to expect. Except now, I have a litany of possible signs and that makes me feel a lot better.

I talked to my mom last night and she said all three of us came fast. No or few signs of early labor which is also a huge relief. One second she was at the ob's office 0.00% effaced/dialated and the next she was in the hospital convincing the nurse that the baby was coming out and holy crap it was.

Hopefully, it's all genetic because other than the guy at Safeway excitedly observing that the baby is getting low!, I'm showing no other signs of labor and as much as I am trying to enjoy this pregnancy and live in the moment as it will likely be my last, my knees are about to give out on me. My chiropractor is amazed that they're still holding me up.

That, and this limbo feeling is very disconcerting to a person like me, and I'd like to know if I'm going to have a VBAC or not. It's only going to be one of the most momentous events of my life and for Pete's sake, I'd like to just *know* already.

[Anne]

the baby dropped and I could BREATH! Couldn't walk though, felt like he was halfway out my pelvis. but then again I was one of those who was 3/4 cm dilated at 35 weeks and 50% effaced and stayed that way for 2 weeks before getting induced for pre-eclampsia.

[sueinithaca]

With my second, I was EXHAUSTED the day before labor. I could not stay awake for more than an hour or two for 36 hours before I accepted being in labor (and so 39 hours before he was born). For my first, I was in labor for 48 hours, so who the hell knows.

[Jamie]

I should have a good answer to this question since I have given birth to five children. But when my daughter was born in December, I spent the first four hours of labor saying, "These contractions are so annoying and I know they're just going to fizzle." Calling the midwife-- "Well, yeah, I've been having contractions every 5 minutes for the past two hours, but I don't think I'm having the baby tonight." Calling my neighbor about care for the other kids -- "Listen, I hate to bug you when it's probably nothing [pause to breathe through another annoying contraction] but if I have the baby -- which I'm not actually going to do -- could you help us out tonight?" Talking to my husband-- "I cannot possibly have a baby tonight when there are so many needles from the Christmas tree all over the floor. It's a good thing these contractions aren't going anywhere."

...And not long after that I was holding the baby.

[Missy]

Good topic! I've had four labors - all so different. In thinking what was similar, here's what I came up with:

1) Insomnia in the weeks leading up to the birth, accompanied by crazy nesting. My insomnia usually takes the form of being wide awake for the day at 4 or 5 in the morning. Then very sleepy the day or 2 before labor begins (but still strong nesting).

2) In the week or 2 before, daily bouts of regular contractions that make me think "ooh, this could be it".

3) In 3 out of 4 of my labors, I had strong cramps/pain in the morning of the day I went into labor (and I always went into labor in the evening). Not like my later regular contractions exactly but just some uncomfortable pain/twinges that came and went sporadically throughout the day.

As far as water breaking, that was how my labor started (well, noticeably started) for 2 of my kids. For one, they broke my water to speed things along, for another, it broke on its own at about 9 cm.

[Becky]

I started cleaning baseboards with baby wipes to get them clean enough to suit me. I also got really cranky and weepy. Finally, I started feeling all losey goosey in my joints from the increased relaxin.

[Rudyinparis]

...I remember with Younger feeling like the room we were for her birth was tiny, I swear, it seemed like a janitor's closet, and it seemed like the midwife and my husband were pushed up against the sides of the bed, really crammed in there. Then, when my water broke, it felt like SO MUCH water. This was all in the middle of the night... then, at dawn, holding the baby and blinking and looking around the room I was shocked to see that it was actually a pretty large sized room! I also asked my husband, confusedly, "When my water broke... was it a lot of water?" He thought a moment and said, no, not an especially noticable amount. But it had seemed to me that he and the midwife must have been sloshing around up to their ankles in that tiny little room. The mind is so funny--all the time, but particularly during labor!

To address the question, with Eldest I felt spacey amd dreamy in the hours before labor... I remember wandering around the grocery store. And then, later, I would feel an intermittent "odd" feeling... not pain... but... a feeling. Every ten minutes or so. When I told DH he got all excited and I said, "Don't get too carried away. It may not be labor." I was puzzled. He said, "Oh, I think it is!" With Younger, it all happened much faster.

[caramama]

@mom2boys - I'm glad it happened BEFORE you went to the beach. It would have been awkward to be gushing water as you trudged across the sand!

@Rudyinparis - I had the same feeling of the room being so small when I was in labor with my first kid! When we went to the same hospital for the second, I was looking around thinking that there was no way the room was that big. It totally was the same size (and just a couple doors down). Hubby confirmed it. So weird how the mind plays tricks on you!

[MemeGRL]

Wow. Never heard that about the line to the joint before--very cool!
@Jill in Atlanta (or her nurse, more accurately): We had no clue I was in labor with #1 until we got to the hospital because all the pain was in my back, and it stayed steady enough that we couldn't accurately track contractions. With the first: I was flying around the county looking for *exactly* the right kinds of shelves to put in the baby's room for three days. Then on Friday, I was out at a friend's house and couldn't keep my eyes open and took a two hour nap on her sofa while we were supposed to be visiting.
With the second, I went in for my 41st week appointment (non-stress test) and learned I was contracting every 5 minutes. Then they induced b/c they couldn't find enough fluid. Turns out the behemoth baby was hiding it all. But since he was already 10lb 10.5oz when he was delivered, I'm thrilled we didn't wait another second!
So yes: pure exhaustion (my friend, who had two kids, called it "banking sleep" and correctly predicted birth was imminent) and obsessy nesting. And I do remember feeling spacey though I chalked it up to tiredness.

[anon]

Throwing up and diarrhea. Sad but true.

[Katy]

Baby no. 1 - pre-eclampsia-induced C-section on his due date; I was so upset that I couldn't experience the whole natural, no-drug thing. But - I'm small, and he was 9lb4oz, so it was a good thing.

Baby no. 2 - Hoping for a vbac, my doc let me go four days past my due date. Contractions every 10 minutes for 10 days. No dilation, no effacing, no drop. I walked for hours the day before the scheduled surgery; nipple stim, etc, nothing. But I did have a few contractions that gave me a semi-clear sense that it might be more hell than I ever thought.

Baby no. 3 is under way now and I think I have no choice at this point but to do another c.

Prior to surgery on both babies, I was spacey and horrified to realize basics - I have no diapers in the house! I need to cook! Feeling basically seriously unready despite obsessing about pregnancy/babies for months.

[hush]

How I knew:

1) Went to my weekly dr's appt @ 41 weeks - my fluid was low, & I had high BP. Dr. asked me: "Would you like to have a baby today? Come to the hospital at 5pm and we'll induce you." (That's when I knew!!) 15.5 hours later, DS was born!

But what the hell do I really know:

2) I'm currently 40 wks 2d pregnant with baby #2, and could've just as easily asked the same question as the gal on Moxie's subway. Two nights ago I experienced 3 crappy hours of false labor - very painful BH contractions that caused me to want to wake up DH time them and call my mom about getting on a plane so she can watch DS, but got hungry and found that eating made me feel better; timed them and they were totally irregular, and I could talk through them... so yeah, not the real deal.

Part of me would like to have that "good story" experience of my water breaking, having labor happen like in the movies, yadda yadda, but realistically it would be nice to have a scheduled induction again so I can rest assured that DS will be cared for and that it will be my actual dr. delivering me. I feel a little too comfortable most days, and have no desire to remedy my messy house, so I don't think nature is going to take its course anytime soon...

[mamanic]

A few days of frequent BMs....and then 24+ inches of snow TOPPED by ice....hubby's car parked wonky on top of the snowbank so that he had to shovel (read: jackhammer the ice-topped wet leaded snow) to even get a path in or out...meanwhile I'm inside on a messageboard saying 'gee, I hope he gets a path cleared just in case anything happens today....' Fast-forward 10 minutes and I've showered, he comes inside, and my water breaks while I'm drying off.

PS I slapped my flip flops on my Shrek feet to get to the car....which hubby said he'd get a running start and jump the car out over the snowplow pile at the end of the driveway so that he wouldn't jostle me too much...forgetting that I was in labor and in flip flops to which I said I'd take my chances in the passenger seat, thankyouverymuch. ; )

[Becky]

I just gave birth for the second time on 9/21, and I have to say, I disagree with the nurse in Jill from Atlanta's story. BOTH times I questioned whether it was really labor (kind of like Jamie, I swore both times to my husband that they would send us home), but both times within 7 hours of leaving for the hospital was holding a baby...

For both pregnancies, I didn't have noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions until the week before going into labor. Both times I had contractions for at least 10 hours that were between 4-6 minutes apart but not really painful. Finally, both times, my doctor told me to come in "just to check it out" and by the time I was on the way to the hospital the pain started. No bloody show, mucus plug, or water breaking in either case.

For #1, I definitely felt flu-y and kind of just out of sorts that whole day. I also didn't really want to eat anything. Went in at 38 weeks, 6 days; I was only dilated 2.5 cm when I went in, and likely might have been sent home except for the fact that I turned up on the severe end of pre-eclamptic, so was immediately admitted, epiduraled, and given pitocin/magnesium (I was fine with both, it turns out); my first son was born 7 hours later.

For #2, I actually started feeling crampy the previous week,in addition to the Braxton-Hicks, and then on the weekend felt it again and also kind of flu-y. That Thursday my doctor said I was dilated to a 3, and that we were a go for inducing at 39 weeks. My husband was actually out of town that weekend with our first son, so he was checking on me constantly, afraid I'd go into labor. Starting on Friday, I was suddenly REALLY hungry, and took advantage of the free weekend to go out and eat with girlfriends. I told them all how I was scheduled to be induced on 10/1 at 39 weeks; I think that jinxed it. My husband arrived home at 5 pm Sunday; I had had a prenatal massage (my husband blames it for me going into labor) and got home a little before 6 pm...when the contractions started. Ended up with diarrhea as well, which, coupled with the fact that the contractions felt just like those I had with #1, made me think it might be real labor. Sent first son to friends' house at 9 pm, just in case, slept a bit, waited til the contractions seemed really regular and finally went to the hospital at 5 am. The By 1:30 pm I had our second son in hand, born at 37 weeks.

So it's possible to be unsure!

[L.]

With both, my water didn't break until transition, either! I also never had a mucous plug, and no bloody show until I was well into labor. No nesting peak either.

With #1, very little in the way of signs. I felt a little looser in the joints. That was it.

With #2, I thought it would be very fast because #1 only took 6 hours from start to finish. But instead it was stop-and-start over a couple days, and I went to the hospital in early labor in the morning and got sent home. Then I went into active labor the moment I left the hospital--literally--, went home for three or four hours, rushed back to the hospital and had a baby 45 minutes later. (Lesson: it's not always bad to be sent home! A change of environment can kick-start things. They call it "watched pot syndrome.") I didn't have any physical warnings that I recognized at the time. In retrospect--I too got really spaced out--gradually, though, over the preceding week or so. I was trying to work and had to stop because I kept making mistakes. And illness--the day before I was throwing up and totally thought I had a stomach bug, and got awfully depressed because I thought my labor would be delayed. A friend told me she thought her second's oncoming birth was food poisoning!

Love seeing others' experiences.

[Cloud]

With the first one, my water broke and labor never really started (although I was about 3 cm dilated at my last appointment). I was induced.

With #2... I wish I could tell you. I've been having contractions off and on for TWO WEEKS. I was 3 cm dilated and ~80% effaced at my last appointment last Friday. The doctor was sure labor would start soon. I've had several bouts of upset tummy that have fooled me. I have started timing contractions four times now. Two nights ago, I was sure it was it. I got hubby up to help with the timing and keep me company (it was, of course, the middle of the night). Contractions hung out at 10 minutes apart, 30-60 sec long, medium intensity for several hours. Then just stopped. I am still pregnant. And very cranky about it. MrsHaley, your at home induction method is very tempting.

I didn't go to the hospital Monday night because I was waiting for the contractions to do one of the following: get stronger, get closer together, or get longer.

All I can say is that I had better get a short, easy labor after all of this!