Labor Symptoms

Labor Symptoms Other than Contractions

There are a few other labor symptoms you may experience, other than the contractions.

• Nesting Instinct: Some women experience a burst of energy and a strong cleaning instinct. They might reorganize the baby’s room or rewash all the baby’s clothes. Extreme examples include scrubbing the kitchen floor with a toothbrush or planting dozens of flowers in the backyard.
• Loose Bowel Movements/Nausea: These flu-like symptoms are a good indication your body is getting ready for labor.
• Losing the Mucus Plug: If you’ve been contracting off and on for a couple of days, you might notice you’re passing a great deal of blood-tinged mucus or actually see a clump of mucus in the toilet. If you see this, pat yourself on the back because your cervix has probably softened and might even have dilated a centimeter or two.
• Extreme Moodiness: Snapping at the people you love, or bursting into tears over nothing is a very common labor symptom and a sign labor is about to begin.

What About Those Contractions?

It is common to have days if not weeks of Braxton Hicks or ‘warm-up’ labor contractions.

• Braxton Hick Contractions are usually not painful, though they might be uncomfortable. These contractions usually do not follow a pattern and tend to disappear if you move around.
• These contractions can be very frustrating and confusing. Remember they are contractions, and they are doing work. Your uterus is figuring out how to contract, your body is getting the baby into position in your pelvis. These contractions might even soften your cervix and maybe even dilate you a centimeter or two.

True contractions are different and women that have experienced lots of Braxton Hick Contractions will notice the difference.

• True contractions make your whole belly hard and should be uncomfortable if not painful. They should (but not always) start in your back and radiate forward.
• Strength can be determined by how hard they make your belly. Without a contraction, your belly should feel like your nose. During a medium contraction, your belly will feel like your chin and during a strong contraction, it will feel like your forehead. Yes, your belly will get as hard as your forehead!

Sometimes you might experience contractions as a painful backache that comes and goes or gets stronger and then weaker. If you’re experiencing this, try to see if there’s any pattern with the ache, or if your belly gets hard every time your back starts to hurt.

How Will I Know It's the Real Thing?

You probably won’t know if the contractions are real for at least a few hours. If you notice you’re having a lot of contractions, try not to worry if this is the real thing. However, you may notice other labor symptoms. If you do, you are probably in early labor.

• Try to go through your daily routine as you normally would.
• Eat high protein, high carbohydrate foods and drink lots of fluids.
• Keep yourself busy. Go for a walk, go to a movie, go shopping with a friend or make a cake or lasagna.
• Try not to get too caught up in timing the contractions. Don’t light candles, turn on your relaxing music, and go into your labor space until you need to; otherwise you won’t have that space when you really need it.
• Sleep if you can, but rest if you can’t.

Remember labor can take days to begin. It’s very common to contract for a few hours and then stop for a while. You will know it’s the real thing if the contractions move closer together and get stronger over time.

Women in labor will also go to a place I like to call ‘LaborLand’. In 'LaborLand' women are experiencing contractions that require more attention. They may want quiet during contractions, lose track of conversations, and even lose track of people. Women in 'LaborLand' seem floaty and unfocused, and often repeat themselves. You might find it hard to get their attention. If you’re not already in the place where you’re planning on giving birth, you might want to head there.

What if My Water Breaks?

Congratulations! This is a very clear labor syptom and indicates you will have your baby soon! You will know you’ve released your waters if you experience a gush of fluid from your vagina. Instead of a gush, you might leak a little bit of fluid, which is also called a high leak. Urine leakage in late pregnancy is often confused with a high leak. If you’re not sure if it’s urine or amniotic fluid, try to stop the leak with a Kegel. If it stops, it’s probably urine. If it doesn’t or you continue to leak small amounts of fluid for the next hour, your water has probably broken.

Because of the risk of infection, you should follow your care provider’s instructions. Some will want you head into your birthing facility immediately; others will simply want a phone call.

When Do I Go to My Birthing Facility?

You should follow your care providers guidelines, but a good rule of thumb is when contractions are about five minutes apart, lasting about a minute, and been that way for about an hour. This is a guideline, not a rule. If you feel like you need to go to your birthing facility, or you need to call your care provider, do!

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