Tell me your pre-labour experience ...

[Just Me]

......

[chickenlittle]

I get crampy and sore on and off in the last few weeks, esp at night, in fact I wake up thinking "is this is?" but it isn't.. and also I just long to do stuff on my own, like just sit by myself quietly and do a crossword, or sit down and read chapters and chapters of a book... but now with 2 kids and #3 nearly here it's a bit harder to get solo time!

[demongrrl23]

Going through the whole pre-labour thing myself too, Im at 36 + 5 wks....getting very crampy, espcially at night, very tired, after having about 3-4 weeks of nesting energy, lower back ache, got nausea, no appetite, the runs (*tmi, sorry*)......really really over it....not allowed to have this bubby before the 19th Sept however (Im due 22/09)....Ive got too much on!! After the 19th the calenders clear so Ill be allowed to go into labour!!! lol!!

[STARRYSKY]

are you sure you want to know....??

I started having pre labour about 2 weeks before ds was born (@ 38 weeks, was born at 40wks)
I was having contractions every 6-20mins, sometimes they would go away for an hour or so in the first week, but it continued like that for what felt like forever!
in the last 4 days, I couldnt sleep, was teary, contractions every 6-10 mins, hospital gave me panadeine forte which usually knocks me out, but all I got was 2 hours unbroken sleep.
I ended up consenting to having my waters broken at my last AN appointment.
Hope yours doesnt go on like mine! Good luck x

[Fleur]

Pre-labour - hmmm.
I had weeks of what I thought was pre-labour, (I posted my own thread about it back then.)
Painful BH that would quite often wake me up at night (from about 34 -36 weeks I think?) I would have hours of BH which would then stop, had the runs, back pain, irritable etc. My last antenatal appt was at 41 weeks & I thought surely I would be on my way, asked the Dr to do a stretch & sweep.. nope, my cervix was very high & closed tight still.
Went home in tears thinking it would never happen...went into labour 3 days later.

As for my mood & emotions.. I was moody all through the PG. Those last few weeks not knowing what was going on really did my head in though. Not knowing if I was in labour or not. I was all calm & zen-like one minute & a raving nutter the next

I'm not sure either if that's what you wanted to hear! Just know that whatever happens, your body is doing a great job preparing itself.
GL

[bubno.3]

At 32 weeks i was doing a night shift at work and had low pelvic pressure and a constant pain in bump... it wouldnt go away with sitting or walking so after panadol and 3 hrs of this i decided mmmm $400 or a healthy baby? i decided baby so i called it quits and went home ... i got home at 5am and the pain finally eased and i finally fell asleep at 7am. I was officially on maternity leave no more nursing .....

We had the baby shower at 34 weeks ..... felt fine but feeling over it and had a few niggles

35 weeks to 38weeks with DH telling me oh you have heaps of time .... i can distinctly rememeber sitting having dinner and i got this huge BH that took my breath away at 35 wks.... 36 wks i had been woken up to pain and walking around lounge room and at times stopping and rolling my hips.... but they were so irregular that i wasnt too concerned. 37 weeks our friend came home from OS and i remember literally labouring on the couch and my ds 8 at the time rubbed my back ..... that day i told dh i think we better go to the hospital as they are hurting and getting more regular.... so off we went but nope cervix shut and things stopped but 38 weeks i was feeling yuck and sick of the contractions so i went to my gp had high BP 150/100 so i came home and told DH we are having a baby today.... went to the hospital and i was induced.

So yes you can have a lovely time with pre labour have fun.....

[LimeSlice]

I got very anti social also - it was just me and my MIL lol but all of sudden I really couldnt stand to be near anyone, got a little short tempered I suppose.
The contractions were regular and not painful, but did take my breath away.
It didn't last long though, they got quite painful after about 4 hours and then more regular and I couldnt walk through them anymore...that went on for another 30 hours lol

I have to say, I really enjoyed my prelabour - most of it was in the evening so I took the time to chill, center myself, a bit of meditation and wrote my diary, I really loved the calm that came over me.
(I was already 41+1 and never got BH so I knew I was going)
Rest up, and try and enjoy Good luck!

[bon]

TBH I have never had any pre labour. I just get very nesty and I don't want to go anywhere, especially in the last week. I just want to stay home, although I don't mind visitors.

[satya]

OK, you posted that yesterday and not been back in to the thread since.... been busy or was it the beginning of labour?

Anyway, my pre labour started as I woke up on a Sunday morning. I felt completely normal the day before. Never had any BH throughout the pregnancy. I woke up with a show & AF pain, both of which got worse as the day went on. I also lost my plug in bits throughout the day. My bump dropped mid morning then around lunch time it dropped really low. By then I was pretty sure it was about to be on. Several urgent trips to the loo. I had the odd uncomfortable contraction but they didn't get painful til about 5pm that evening. My labour started at 9pm - that was judged by the middys based on when I was getting regular painful contractions. Bub was born the following afternoon.

[Just Me]

I'm still here . Thanks everyone for posting your responses, I feel a lot more normal now and it seems pre-labour can entail just about anything. It is frustrating. I am not ready to go into proper labour yet (and neither is my baby - she's only 35 weeks) but I just want to feel like myself again.

I have been having incidents of headaches and badly disturbed vision for the last couple of days. It happened once last Tuesday and then not again till the weekend where I have had a few of these. I have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow so I will be screened for PE again then and tell them about my headaches and vision disturbances. Not fun.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for your responses, I really appreciated reading your stories

[angelaartsstudent]

16 hours of contractions every 6 minutes...

BH got stronger for weeks and weeks.

If you rest and relax and they go away then it's not time yet :-)

[Fleur]

..... it seems pre-labour can entail just about anything. It is frustrating.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Hope everything goes well for you at your appt today

[demongrrl23]

Still going through all these lovely pre-labour things myself but Ive added one more to the mix.....I seem to be getting the shivers as well as feeling very flushed, like I have a fever or something, although Ive taken my temp and all is normal and I dont feel ill (well apart from some nausea which i know is normal)...but even though the night isnt that cold here, Im wrapped up and I still feel cold....I dont want to turn on the heater just yet as I dont want everyone else to roast!!

Anybody else had a sensation like this? I have read somewhere that its normal but would just like to know if anyone else has had this?

[Macca79]

At the moment Im 39 weeks and have had stop start labour for 2 weeks with full contractions a show but nothing regular. I am about 2 cm dilated but have been for a while. I have had BH since 25 weeks.

With DS I got to 40 weeks had a big show and was about 2 cm dilated from 38 weeks. BH from about 34 weeks.

Pre labour is different for all, I say just go with how you feel. It's normal to turn inwards and not want to be around others much, it's your bodies way of helping you rest and prepare.