[C13 (meaning heap of firewood): perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hraukr rick 1] ruck (rÊk) n. a wrinkle, crease, or fold. vb (usually foll by up) to become or make wrinkled, creased, or puckered [C18: from Scandinavian; related to Old Norse hrukka] ruck (rÊk) n. slang a fight [C20: short for ruckus] ruck (rÊk) n (Military) military slang a rucksack
As your baby's birthday gets close, your cervix begins to dilate, or open up. Dilation is checked during a pelvic exam. It is measured in centimeters, from 0 (no dilation) to 10 (full dilation) Typically, if you're four centimeters dilated, you're in the active stage of labor.
The beginning of labor is a complex process that is not fully understood. Multiple hormones and body systems in both mother and baby are involved, and predicting when labor will start is very difficult. Because labor is complicated and hard to study, scientists can't say for sure that stress causes preterm labor. But there is an association. In other words, studies show that mothers who experience more stress are more likely to go into labor early, so stress increases a mother's risk of premature labor.