How did the VERY start of your labour start off.. How did it feel?

Did you know you were in labour straight away?

What were the signs?

Just curious !!

sorry i cant help i have no idea as i was induced with my daughter. at the start it was like period pains but i think its a bit different if ur induced x

hey i had my baby over 2 months ago. my tummy felt really hard and it was like period pains at the start. i thought it was braxon hicks, cos the nite be4 i had them. but then they were coming regular still never thought nothing of it they just got worse so thats how i knew i was in labour

I woke up very early with flu symptoms: fever, shivering, feeling sick, being sick...

I didn't know that I was in labour, and only called a dr at first because I had a serious hip pain and couldn't move. At about 10 my waters broke and I wasn't sure if I had wet myself because of being so ill and in such pain that I hadn't been able to go to the toilet... DH phoned a MW and she said to put a pad on and check it in an hour... Well, I went to sleep again as I was so unwell there wasn't anything else I could do. When I woke up the pad was soaked - yet I still wasn't convinced my waters had broke! Hubby called an ambulance and it was only when a MW confirmed it that I really believed I was in labour! Seems so silly now - pink liquid was just continuously running out of me! Once my waters broke it didn't stop until Anna was born. My contractions started at about 12.30. They never had a break between them and never changed in intensity. I really didn't believe I was in labour for hours until I was told otherwise but I really wasn't very clear-headed from being so ill that morning (not sure if that was a part of my labour or not, but I suspect the hip pain was). It's really just as well I was so ill in the morning before my labour anyway because hubby was due to be in London that day to prepare for the meet he's organising there (for the forum that he moderates) - He only stayed because I was so ill I needed to be looked after! SO lucky!

Hi! if you don't mind me asking, how did your induction go? I'm a bit scared of being induced, it's something that plays on my mind alot too..

Wow Tasha, how did you find the energy for your labour, I can't even imagine feeling like I have the flu then be in labour, thats to much at once!!

Actually after a point the flu symptoms disapeared and my labour just went really smoothly - Once I realised I was in labour and got my head round it, I found the way I best coped with the contractions (which for me was sitting upright and rocking on my hands - sod that the doctors had asked me to lay on my side - that was bloody painful!! lol) and the contractions were so constant and intense, without any break that a) I literally was just breathing through each one, one after another after another... I had no time to think about the pain or worry about anything else and b) my labour progressed really quickly; At 4 o'clock I was 1cm dilated, and I was checked again at 7 and found to be 8cm already! At 8 I started feeling the urge to push but held off for a while (partly because I didn't know if it was right to push yet and partly because I was worried about pooping myself ) but when I eventually did push she just slid right on out and the MW barely had time to catch her! LOL

In all, I was so wrapped up in dealing with my labour that I didn't have time to get tired or feel the pain, and afterwards I had my darling daughter and she was taken to SCBU so I had to be awake for her - the adrenalin carried me though until I had my blood transfusion so it all worked out great in the end!

wow you done great Tasha, if I do half as good as you done, I'll be pretty damn proud of myself !! lol

So the rocking was good for you yeah??

Ive had some pretty painful BH and I just kind of instantly kneel, lean on something and rock, I do it without thinking, I was thinking of doing this while in labour..

I went over my due date and was admitted to the hospital where I was given medications to prepare my cervix because it wasn't softening or anything, and I had quite a big baby, so doc wanted him to come then. The medicine ended up putting me into labor, so I never needed to be induced.. but I was hooked up to the machines so I could see my contractions but couldn't feel them at first. Then they started to get regular and thats when I started feeling them. I had my waters broke at 1cm or 4cm.. I cannot remember.. but after that it flew by; until my c-section (again.. he was TOO big!)

I'd definately go for that - It's worth a try at least and if it already makes you feel good and you instinctively do it you'll probs find that'll be your natural way of coping with your contractions - I couldn't cope with the contractions unless I was using my method of coping, which was rocking - it just naturally seemed to take the pain away somehow The docs kept trying to get me to lay down because baby was being monitored (her heartbeat was going from too high to dangerously low) but I just couldn't listen to them about that and *had* to be sat up and rocking. I wouldn't say it's something I consciously did; I wasn't thinking clearly through all my labour - I was very not with it and it feels a bit like everything just happened around me and I came to from a fuzzy haze when I started pushing and my beautiful baby came out.