Okay so what are we going to talk about today
i don't know but the wheel knows so let's give it a spin
of labor oh good one here signs and labor this is a great question and i get a lot in childbirth
class is how will I know if I'm actually in labor right especially it's your first time you've never
been through labor before you know you don't know exactly how it feels and certainly tv and movies
do not get it right they show a lot of screaming they show a lot of grabbing ah and you know a
real dramatic because obviously they're it's supposed to entertain us so it's gonna be dramatic
but the start of labor for most people especially first the first time you've given birth can be a
lot more subtle and if you go to a childbirth class if you read about contractions you'll
probably see them drawn kind of like this like a hill like a um you know with that peak and the
ends kind of trailing off that is certainly what it feels like where uh your uterus just contracts
and it gets stronger and stronger and stronger and then it gets lighter and lighter and lighter
so it kind of peaks like that and a uterus that's contracting is certainly a sign of labor but the
beginning of labor can often your uterus can often feel more like a menstrual cramp um other people
have described it like a gas pain and so it might not have that real peaking look or feel to it it
might just feel kind of like oh I'm a little bit off a little bit crampy usually you will feel
the beginning contractions below your belly button when they are actual uterine contractions of labor
sometimes people feel them in their back more but they're different from braxton hicks in that they
don't usually feel like your whole uterus is tightening they usually feel underneath
so a sign of labor could be one of them is your uterus contracting which causes a crampy feeling
which causes maybe even a gassy pressurey crampy feeling and sometimes they have it has a start
and a stop and sometimes it's just kind of a vague um feeling that you can't really define
the edges the starts and the stops so that's certainly a sign of that labor is starting
the second one which is a topic that we discussed at the very first wheel spin which has to do with
poop your bowel movements often an early sign of labor is having two increased bowel movements
or softer bowel movements so not to the point point of necessarily diarrhea um
but some you know more quantity and softer it generally is a sign that labor is starting
sometimes people lose their mucus plug which is also a topic that we have discussed and i'll put
links in the youtube um description below um and the mucous plug when the cervix dilates
the mucous plug can come out and that is a plug of mucus that is kind of like um keeps bacteria
from getting to the baby and when the cervix dilates some the mucus
kind of drops out and sometimes it's all at once or sometimes it's little bits
so as you go to the bathroom and wipe you might notice an increased amount of mucus um
stringy mucus sometimes brownish because it might have some blood that's that's older or sometimes
pinkish or reddish so that's a sign of labor another sign of labor might be your water breaking
which is also has also been a topic we covered on the wheel and that can happen at the beginning
of labor or before labor starts rupture of your membranes is the technical term and that is when
you notice fluid leaking out um that doesn't really stop it starts and stops but it doesn't
stop completely which would be your water breaking um other signs of labor which aren't like super
um don't necessarily have to do with your anatomy a lot of people notice that they feel that nesting
urge where they want to clean things or organize things that's not a scientific sign of labor
but i would say a lot of people have expressed that they experience that before labor starts
other things that you know that start labor are that might be a sign of labor um or one other
thing that can sort of um sometimes indicate that labor is on the way is when the baby's
head engages in your pelvis so that is when the baby's head drops into the pelvis and um the way
you might know that this has happened is if you have experienced a lot of like feet and
kicks and things up in your ribs and kind of a shortness of breath where you feel like the baby
is high and then all of a sudden your belly feels different different shape the baby feels lower you
can breathe a little bit easier that could mean that the baby's head has engaged in your pelvis
and sometimes you might hear this called the baby dropping so i remember um going to a grocery store
when i was pregnant um and one of the the clerks saying you're gonna have the baby soon
looks like that baby dropped which i thought was so funny because how do they have any idea that
my baby has dropped or not sure enough it was like two weeks later that i had the baby but
you know sometimes people like to give their anecdotal information
so baby dropping into the pelvis sometimes can indicate that labor is on its way however babies
can also kind of move back and forth so it's not necessarily a set a definite sign of labor but
water breaking mucus plug loose stools loose bowel movements and contractions contractions
is really our real surefire okay something's going on and it might lead to labor or it could be the
beginning signs um of labor that might happen in days so i would love to hear what you think or how
your labor started uh go ahead and please share below it really helps me also don't forget to
let me know if you've seen any of the other videos and or if there's one you liked or one
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signs of labor helpful today so i hope you guys have a great day and see you next time