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Question

Curious FTM here 🙋🏼

What were your signs causing you to go into labor and delivery when you were in labor? What did your contractions feel like? How long did you wait once your contractions started? Had you had contractions previously in your pregnancy? Did your water break? Etc.

Answer

I've just had my second baby (a girl 😊) on June 6th. She was due June 10th so arrived a little earlier than expected. 
From my experience, contractions first felt like lower back pain/period cramps. 
Both times I went into labour it started like that. I knew I was going to have her soon this time around when I lost my mucous plug the night before. With my son I had lost it 2 days before. 
Also, with my first baby I was dreadfully sick the day before (vomiting etc... 🙊) 
With my son, my water broke at home and my contractions weren't close together for many hours later. With my daughter my contractions became stronger and more frequent quite quickly. My water didn't actually break until the midwife examined me in the delivery room. 
The contractions hurt (really hurt, everytime I had one I felt like I needed to squat/bend over/lie down anything to get comfortable but I couldn't ...) and they soon reached the point where I could no longer talk while having them. I think that's when you've progressed quite far. I left for the hospital fully expecting to have hours left before she arrived (my son took 19hrs after my water broke) and then found out I was 9cm dilated already 🙉 and gave birth within an hour of arriving there.

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I'm a FTM and delivered on Wednesday. I started having mild contractions Monday morning. At about 1 am on Tuesday contractions became intense enough that I was no longer able to sleep through them. I continued to have contractions through the night and then contacted my midwife in the morning to give her a heads up. She advised me to call her back when my contractions got to 3-4 minutes apart. I continued to have contractions all day, but they never got to 3-4 minutes apart and were very scattered, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, but my 3 am Wednesday the contractions became so intense that my husband called my midwife to let her know how bad they were. I was completely unable to communicate during a contraction. She told us to come in and I was 4 cm at the time when I arrived. Although I had a long and irregular early labor things progressed quickly once I arrived at the birthing center and my son was born at 9:10 am. Everyone is different, but I knew I needed to be at the birth center based on the intensity of my contractions. I had a completely natural delivery and at the time we left to drive there I thought there was no way I would survive my birth plan. Thankfully I got through it, but I would say to trust your body and follow your instincts.

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It's truly different for everyone. My contractions felt like period cramps but with an obvious peak of pain and then a drop off. They were irregular for 5 hours and then I went to pee and felt a pop (it felt like my baby jumped onto my cervix). I wasn't sure if it was my water breaking or not.. So I laid down for 30 minutes with a pad on. When I stood up I felt a good amount of liquid come out. Checked the pad and it smelled a little like bleach so we started for the hospital. At this point my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were strong but I could still talk through them. At the hospital they checked and found I was only 3cm dilated and my water hadn't fully broken yet. I labored in a tub for two hours and had progressed to 7cm by then. Baby was born in another 2 hours. It was a 5 hour labor total. I think you'll know when you should go to the hospital... True contractions are no joke and really require your attention. I also had no noticeable Braxton Hicks throughout pregnancy.

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After sex my contractions got stronger and stronger where it was difficult to walk normal. They were timing closer and more tegular. Then they amped up where it was harder to breathe normal during. Then the pressure down below increased. I thought I need a bowel movement. Sat on toilet and could barely pull myself off. Had to hold husband's arm to walk to car then my water broke. Straight to hospital we went. Delivered an hour later.

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I've been wondering this too, especially since I'm three days past due date and have had period-like cramps at night and in the mornings for THREE weeks. It has felt like an eternity of cervical discomfort, cramping, and pressure that has only gotten me to 1 cm of dilation (80% effaced tho-yay!). The pain so far isn't bad, though, it's the anticipation. I never thought I'd be so excited to feel "real contractions" lol.

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Following

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Following !! Lol

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Following. I'm curious too 😬

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