As of Sunday night, we have officially entered a new phase of this pregnancy: LaborWatch 2012! What kicked it off? Well, there I was, cooking dinner and watching Lady and the Tramp on ABC Family (which, FYI, if you are a dog owner expecting your first baby, brings on some major guilt). I went to use the bathroom and, for the third time since getting knocked up nine months ago, saw some blood. It wasn't much - not nearly as much as the bleed I had at 9 weeks or the bleed I had at 21 weeks. It was really just some spotting, and for once I didn't immediately panic. It could have been my mucus plug/bloody show, which is entirely normal to see at 37 weeks. Normal, but perhaps an indication that I was about to go into labor? Yikes! Quick, grab the hospital bag!
In the end, despite some frequent Braxton-Hicks that night, everything stayed quiet and I haven't gone into labor yet. At least, I don't think I have. Who really knows? There's active labor, which by all accounts is hard to miss, and then there's early labor, which apparently can go on for quite some time and be practically indistinguishable from false labor. Near as I can tell, nothing has really started yet, although I have started paying more attention to the timing of my Braxton-Hicks contractions. And so we wait. Here's what my waiting looks like, by the numbers:
Amount of times per day I really, genuinely believe that I'm about to go into labor: 3-4
Amount of times I have actually gone into labor: 0
Amount of times I have talked myself into thinking I'm about to go into labor because I just really don't want to do some chore at work or at home: Many
Number of Braxton-Hicks contractions I have each day: 15-20
Amount of times these Braxton-Hicks contractions have had a distinguishable pattern: 0
Number of "real" contractions I have felt: 0? I think? Who knows! Apparently sometimes they feel the same as a Braxton-Hicks!
Number of birth videos I have watched, or re-watched, in the last few weeks: 10, maybe?
Amount of education I now have about the birthing process: High
Level
of comfort I continue to have with the idea that I am shortly going to
be asked to push an infant out of my personal region: Exceedingly Low
If anyone needs me, I'll be over here obsessively staring at the clock!
This is exactly how I felt in the last 2 weeks!!! I never got to experience going into labor on my own, so I'm not any help to what it actually feels like. It is a crazy time.... Good luck to you!!! I any wait for the baby to arrive:)
ReplyDeleteFor me, I had BH contractions that followed a pattern for many, many weeks! But, in terms of labor. My water broke. That's how I knew. And let me just clear up a little myth... first time moms can have their water break spontaneously. As was the case with me, in the checkout line of TJ MAXX. So, for me it was pretty clear. However, the days leading up to it, I hyper/super analyzed every.single.thing that was going on with my body. It was exhausting!! Good luck these next few weeks and try and rest!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it happens soon. I am starting to feel this way and I am only 33 weeks. Every little pain, tightness etc. I am reading into and thinking my water will break. Yeah I don't think so. I got awhile. But you HOME STRETCH! Good luck and keep us updated.
ReplyDeleteI so can relate to this post. Especially when possible labor means I can avoid a work task! Slackers unite! I also feel like the more I read/watch, the less I truly know. Too many conflicting sources of info/opinion makes me so confused! Ooooh 16 days to go!
ReplyDeleteThe morning my water broke I felt like I was constipated - I kept going to the bathroom trying to poop but nothing came out (I never pushed hard, though, my OB said no straining!). A few days before I started getting lower back pain I hadn't experienced before, but I thought it was from straining myself by trying to do stuff around the house or by riding in a car. In the end I am pretty sure that was early labor. When I got to the hospital and the real contractions started, I definitely felt like I had to poop with each one. Bizarre. The real contractions felt VERY different from Braxton-Hicks ones.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on Labor Watch 2012! I've heard it's like the 2ww in reverse!