BTDT Ladies- How did you know you were in labor?

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Registered: 07-05-2005
BTDT Ladies- How did you know you were in labor?
Thu, 09-27-2012 - 10:25am

Nature has designed birth simply and elegantly. Although every labor and birth is unique, and your labor will unfold in a very special way, the process is remarkably and beautifully constant. What follows are the typical changes that occur throughout the stages and phases of labor.

Your Labor Guide-

BTDT ladies, with your previous pregnancies, how did you know that you were really in labor?  What signs did you notice that made you realize this was really *it*?﻿﻿﻿﻿

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Registered: 01-15-2008
Sun, 09-30-2012 - 8:06am
I was losing my mucus plug and had my bloody show for more than 24 hours and then my contractions started feeling more regular (but still not really painful and about 9 minutes apart). The next morning, contractions woke me up and were coming between 5-6 minutes apart. After about a half-hour, they started to come along with pain. Those were my first painful contractions and along with the frequency of the contractions and more regular spacing, I suspected it was "time." When I got to the hospital I was still having painful contractions about 5 minutes apart, but I was already dilated to 7 cm. I was admitted and had baby vaginally less than 8 hours later. During active labor, contractions didn't start coming closer together until I was administered pitocin and then they started coming 1-2 minutes apart. Preparing myself for the worst, I'd watched all kind of different births on Discovery Channel, but was pleasantly surprised that mine was no where as complicated or painful as the ones I saw depicted on TV. I guess that was good preparation. It puts it all in perspective.
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