# Can labor start suddenly, no warning?



## lovelymama2 (Jul 17, 2009)

Is labor always preceded by sloooow signs like mucus plug, prodromal labor, etc .... like does your body always "build up" to it?

Or can it just kind of START and kick in with no warning signs? Are both equally likely?

I'm due Tuesday and hoping he'll be born on that date as it would give our family two "equinox" celebrations ... as of now I've only had very very very very mild false contractions, just in the front of the belly. Nothing real.

I'm kind of hoping that tomorrow, I'll just GO! into labor with no signs or warnings.

Of course with my luck lately I'll end up going 2 weeks late.


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## Astraia (Jan 1, 2009)

For sure it's possible!

Some people never have prodomal or long early labour, it just sort of kicks in all at once.

I wasn't one of those people- I had 2 hrs of "early" labour, 2 hrs of nothing, then labour started for real after that.

Mucus plug, bloody show, or early, intermittent contractions aren't necessary for labour to start. Some people see all of them, some see a few, some see none.


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## russsk (Aug 17, 2007)

Happened with me. My water broke and ctx started 5 min later. They were regular and 5 min apart right from the get-go. If I had lost my mucous plug at some point then I missed it.


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## Poodge (Jun 16, 2009)

I had some early labor from 1 am to 8am, nothing all day, and full blown labor started around 5 pm that evening. Before that I had no warning signs. Didn't lose my mucus plug and in fact was high, tight, and closed when I saw the doctor at 10 am after the early labor the day I went into labor. So it is very possible.


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## 34me (Oct 2, 2006)

for my first two it was exactly that, no warning. I finally saw my mucous plug for the first time 4 days before I had #3


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## Lousli (Nov 4, 2003)

With my first I had no warning. No BH, didn't lose my plug, etc. One night I just got into bed, heard and felt a pop, and my water had broken. From the time my water broke to the time of her birth was 11 hours. And when I showed up at the hospital I was not in active labor (I went because I was only at 36 weeks) and my first exam, about 2-3 hours after my water broke, I was only a fingertip dilated. I went from that to holding a baby in 8 or 9 hours.


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## littlebb (Apr 15, 2009)

No early labor for me - only Braxton Hicks but that doesn't count in my book since I had them from the very beginning since I used Red Raspberry Leaf tincture throughout. I was 42 weeks and 1 day and felt hopeless because I wasn't seeing any signs of labor whatsoever. But at 2:30 a.m. one morning, ctx started out of nowhere and he was born 16 hours later. It's totally possible - use your mind and think positive thoughts. Envision your birth and labor. I swear that helps. And good luck!


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## mama to 2 girls (Dec 11, 2006)

Yep! Both dd2 and ds....Not dilated at ALL and then next thing you know BOOM labor started....my water didn't break with either of them until about 10 mins. or so before they were born (while pushing). So for me I had absolutely NO "signs" whatsoever.


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## beckyand3littlemonsters (Sep 16, 2006)

with my 1st i got no bh at all then my dd came and i woke with contractions every 20mins then had a show, she was born the next morning.


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## femalephish (Feb 3, 2009)

YES!

I had my baby 6 hours after I first thought, 'hmm... could this be pre/early labor?'

Good luck!


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## darcytrue (Jan 23, 2009)

My first two labors were not obvious. I had gas pains to begin with and that eventually turned in to contrax.

But yeah, I guess labor just "happens" when it happens - no matter how you look at it.


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

For my first yes.
I woke up to contractions 2 minutes apart at 1:00am. There was no "early labor"

For my second, Sort of.
My water broke a day and a half before I went into labor. I wasn't having any contractions. Baby sounded good and water was clear so we just waited for labor to begin. Bam! Labor began at 3:30am and again 2 minutes apart. It took less than four hours this time.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Yes, it can. I've laboured with four of mine. With ds2 and ds3 (Aaron), I had lots of build up, "false" labour, etc. With both ds1 and dd2, it just started, with no warning at all.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

With all 3 of my children, I have just woken up early in the morning with contractions and had a baby later that day.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

With mine, I had three contractions that were 10 minutes apart, then they were five minutes apart right away and I was off! So, yes.


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

Yes! With DS it started spontaneously at 37w5d and he was born exactly 24 hours later. No warning before that.


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

both of my labors started with active labor, contractions 5 min apart and lasted 6 hours start to finish. i did lose my mucus plug a week or so before though.


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## mommyfied (Jun 25, 2007)

Yes, that happens a lot. The morning my first was born at 39w0d, I had no idea although I did see some bits of mucous plug a couple of days prior. I didn't have any other symptoms. My water broke at 2 pm and she was born at 11 pm. The second one was more of a surprise although I was expecting her to come soon since she was born on her due date. I didn't feel any different that day. I felt my first contraction at 5:55 pm and she was born at 8:25 pm.


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## callieollie (Jan 2, 2007)

With my first, I had some "signs" - loose stools, lost my mucus plug, and some prodromal labor for about 12 hours before it kicked into active labor for the next 28 hours!

With my second, I'd had no signs or anything and then woke up in the middle of the night to what i thought were braxton hicks conractions, started timing them an hour later "just in case," found they were 2 minutes apart and had her 2 1/2 hours later!


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## _betsy_ (Jun 29, 2004)

YEP! I walk around for a month or so getting to 100% effaced and 4-5 cms dilated without ever feeling a thing. With DD2, I was a good 5 cms dilated and 100% and she was engaged for about 2 weeks before anything happened. And I never felt so much as a BH.

Then the water breaks and look OUT! Baby is born in under 2 hours, both times. No noticeable mucous plug, no bloody show, nothing. An hour and 48 minutes with my first, an hour and 8 minutes with my second - 2 pushing cx - and the cord was wrapped loosely around her neck twice, which slowed her down!


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## Sonneva (Jun 12, 2008)

Yup, with my DD I went to the washroom and heard a loud *pop* and was thrown instantly into a contraction. They were 2 mins apart from that point forward with a total labour time of 6 hours from *pop* to baby.

I was 3 cm dilated and fully effaced for 5 weeks leading up to the birth though.


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## Dov'sMom (Jan 24, 2007)

My grandmother, in the age and firmly of the belief that a woman should be put to sleep as soon as there was any sign of labor gave birth to my father (her 3d) in the car on the way to the hospital. She never talked much about birth (except to say that she couldn't fathom why a woman would refuse pain control and that the idea of breastfeeding, well, not HER body!) but I'm pretty sure that if she had any impending signs she would have been there sooner.

My best friend had three precipitous births. The first, her blood pressure was high that morning (in retrospect, a sign of labor), so she was hospitalized, on monitors, etc., and nothing to indicate she was in labor until within 25 minutes of the first birth (twins). The second, she had been told to go on leave from 36 weeks to monitor for 2 hours a day to catch any "silent" contractions, and still, despite having seen nothing at all to indicate any contractions the night before, woke up at 7 with contractions and gave birth at 7:30 (in her bathroom). The third, same deal with taking leave, noticed some hardening of the uterus at noon (was supposed to "monitor" by spending 1/2 hour every few hours relaxing with her hand on her belly to feel for uterine hardening), ran to the hospital ASAP and gave birth within minutes of arrival.

Another friend, with #2 thought she had weeks left to go because that morning's check up had shown minimal effacement and no dilation and besides she had no signs of anything happening, water broke in the grocery store and she gave birth 20 minutes later in the hospital waiting room (hospital 5 minutes from store). With #3, felt sluggish one evening, baby born at home 1/2 hour later.

So yes, my almost-personal experience makes me believe that a woman can give birth with little to no "prep."

Now for me, with #1 had sporadic contractions from Sat., regular 15 minutes from Sunday night, 2-3 minutes from Monday night, gave birth Wednesday morning. So plenty of prep. With #2, regular contractions all night Wed. night and Thur. night, very few during the day. Friday sporadic contractions all day. Friday night active labor, birthed near midnight on Saturday. Plenty of prep all around. Hadn't been checked either time until arriving at the hospital deep into transition (with #1, around midnight Tuesday; with #2 at 10:30 PM Sat.), both times between 8 and 9, so no clue how long I was actually dilating.


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## eloise24 (Nov 17, 2005)

Yup, another one here! Went to bed and woke up to feel a pop and a gush! My first contraction started about 15 minutes later and then stayed between 3 and 5 minutes apart until baby was born 13 hours later!


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## lillacfaerie (Jun 29, 2009)

Yes. I started having contractions about 4 mins apart lasting 45 seconds. I thought for sure that I was imagining them! I stayed at home for 2 hrs, then went to the hospital. When I got there I was at 8 centimeters. I thought the baby would be born in about 20 mins, but things really slowed down once I got to the hospital. She was born 2 hrs later after 20 mins of pushing


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## Bea (Apr 6, 2008)

I woke to go for a pee at 6:30 am, water broke when I stood up, first contraction at 7am, baby born 7:58am.

It was like being hit by a train!


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## leavemealone (Feb 16, 2005)

All my labors have been like that. With my first, my water broke before contractions about midnight and I was induced at the hospital. With my second, I had no braxton hicks or anything, but woke up in labor about 12:30 am and labor progressed from there. With my third child, I remember going to bed and the next thing I remember is standing on the side of my bed screaming. There was no slow build to this labor - it was BAM, you are having a baby today! None of my labors have been extremely long or short. They were 15 hours, 13 hours and 8 hours. I'd had some painless tightening when I was overdoing stuff like carrying heavy loads of laundry, grocery shopping, etc. They were painless and they went away when I slowed down.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

All 3 of mine started suddenly, no signs or warning.


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## JennTheMomma (Jun 19, 2008)

That's how my labor went, just started out of the blue. I had no early labor signs. I was napping and at noon I woke up with a sharp pain, had a bloody show and I was in labor.


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## gillibean (Nov 28, 2006)

Two of my three were under 12 hours from the very first contraction till they were born. I didn't notice losing the mucous plug or anything. I barely even had any braxton hick contractions.


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