Yes, that’s right.  I’m in labor.  Typing a post.  While in labor, I’ve also gone grocery shopping, picked up kids from school, cooked dinner, practiced yoga, and more.  How is this possible, you ask?  If I were you and not in labor, I would be asking the same thing.  Whenever I heard of women in labor, they always sounded like they were in too much distress and discomfort to do anything but moan.  Well, as it turns out, there’s a side of labor that is JUST NOT DISCUSSED.  We’re talking about prodromal labor.  And I am here to say, while every woman is quite different in how they respond to and experience prodromal labor, my experience has been, dare I say, pleasant?  Perhaps that’s a deceiving word, but compared to what I thought labor would feel like, I am so relieved to know that, now feeling labor, I am quite comfortable with its pace, physicality, and more.

First of all, what is prodromal labor?  Well, because few books even offer this vocab word up in their indexes, what I’ve had to do is look into this side of labor online, referencing other laboring women’s and doulas’ experiences.  Basically, leading up to the day that a woman’s baby is born, she experiences a wide range of different contraction-like symptoms.  (Do keep in mind that some women are either not aware of these contractions or simply do not experience them.)  Braxton Hicks are “painless” practice contractions in which the uterus tightens and releases sporadically beginning in the second trimester, but for some women, especially, it seems, those who experience prodromal labor, Braxton Hicks (BH) occur at the onset of pregnancy or in the first trimester, and continue through the entire pregnancy.  This was the case with me.  Also, BH can be accompanied by lower abdominal cramping.  My midwife made sure I knew that if I ever began to experience cramping along with my BH, to call her immediately.  (While my false labor began around week 31, my prodromal labor, looking back, did not start until week 32.)  Once I began to experience this cramping with contractions, around week 32, I called my midwife and was asked to come in to have an internal exam.  At the time, my cervix was long, hard, and closed.  This was two weeks ago.  Also, this was not accompanied by bleeding of any kind.  If you experience bleeding, call your practitioner immediately.

Closer to the baby’s due date, if BH pick up and begin to simulate real labor, they are known as false labor.  Different entirely is what is known as prodromal labor.  While false labor is irregular, typically painless, and stops when a woman eats, drinks, walks, rests or bathes, prodromal labor is the opposite and much closer in its appearance to real labor.  In fact, most women who experience prodromal labor say there is nothing false about it!  After three weeks of prodromal labor, I have finally caved and started to refer to myself as being in labor, albeit early, early labor, but labor nonetheless.  Here’s why:

Prodromal labor is regularly timed contractions, or if not that, then at least they do not stop when one follows the Bradley Method principles of eating, drinking, walking, resting, or bathing.  In fact, prodromal labor can often pick up when one engages in activity, which is how I first clued myself in to the fact that what I was experiencing was not, in fact, false labor.  Also, prodromal labor is accompanied by a range of low-grade pain.  From menstrual-like cramps and diarrhea-like cramps to slightly toe-curling pangs, no matter your pain tolerance, it is obvious that the contractions experienced in prodromal labor are different from regular BH. Also, a woman can experience low back, groin, and upper thigh pain when having a prodromal contraction.   Prodromal labor can also bring on nausea, a lack of appetite, fatigue and weakness, which is why it is SO very important to still eat, drink, and rest throughout this process.  Finally, prodromal labor can last a couple of days or a few weeks.  From my research, I have found that it is more rare for a woman to experience this kind of labor for weeks leading up to the birth of her baby, but I am going on 3 weeks now, so I am a testament to its possibility.  Also, a woman who has experienced prodromal labor with all three of her births is an EXCELLENT resource in understanding and relating to this experience.  Check out Sarah’s FrogBlog.  I have found great comfort in reading her pages and pages of first-hand prodromal experience.  She has made me feel like I am not alone, and hopefully she’ll help you or someone you know feel the same.

While Sarah’s contractions were more sporadic and mine are more regular, we can both understand the experience of prodromal labor in the way she so intelligently puts it in her blog, hence her blog’s title.  Being in prodromal labor is like being a frog in a cold pot of water that begins to boil at a slow and steady rate.  By the time you’re in active labor, or in boiling water, it’s very hard to tell, since you’ve become so accustomed to labor’s sensations.  This is highly different from the majority of women out there, who wake up with relatively strong contractions that lead within a day’s time to the birth of their baby.  I think one could look at prodromal labor (and I’ve certainly read plenty of accounts) as a horrible, painful punishment.  Already, frequently when I’ve reached out to friends to tell them of my prodromal experience, they all respond saying how sorry they are that I’m in so much pain.  Funny, though, that I never mentioned the word “pain” in my correspondence with them.  For me, prodromal labor is like a mediocre period, nothing more, albeit a tad annoying and confusing.  The way I see it, as far as a first pregnancy goes, I am beyond THRILLED that my body actually knows what to do!  I feel secure, comforted, and excited to know that this baby and I are working together.  My concerns simply lie in the fact that I won’t know when to actually call my midwife to go in to the hospital, as I most likely will be unable to go by the typical signposts: either emotional or timing-wise.  Even with my Bradley Method classes behind me, when I first began experiencing prodromal labor, my experienced Bradley teacher was even stumped.  I am now sharing my experience with her so she can share it with others.  On the upside, I have heard of women, who after much prodromal labor, are able to deliver their babies in a few short hours.  This, known as precipitous birth, is rare, but is known to happen with prodromal laborers.

If I happened to go by what my midwife would like to see when I make that call, announcing my real labor, then I would have called days ago.  When I first started experiencing prodromal labor, I was not timing the contractions.  Over the past week I have been periodically timing my contractions, and as of two days ago my contractions were 14 minutes apart when resting and 4 minutes apart when walking slowly.  Some were more intense (I hate to use the word painful) than others.  Some I could talk and walk through, others I could not.  ALL were completely different in how long they lasted.  The average for me is between 1:30 and 2:30 minutes.  Those that are either weak or less than 30 seconds I do not even time or count, just as Sarah has done.  I was doing this before I started reading her blog, too!  It just felt right to only count the ones that seemed to be doing something.  As of last night, I awoke to strong cramping and contractions, and went to take a bath from 2 am to 5 am.  I then lay back in bed and was able to fall asleep until 7 am, when I became aware of the cramping again.  (Just to note: this cramping is lower abdominal cramping, like menstrual cramps, and is accompanied by painless BH contractions/tightening in a melon-sized circle around my belly button.)  Upon waking, and telling my husband what was going on, he suggested we time them, and when we did found the contractions to be 3-4 minutes apart lasting 1-2 minutes.  Now, according to my midwife, if this were to go on for 2 hours, I owe her a call, but I just don’t “feel” like it’s time.  It’s already been going on for three hours, and while I’m still lying in bed, I just don’t feel like the baby is ready to make an appearance.  Just in case, I do have my husband on call!  Could this be the frog-in-water scenario?

I also want to point out, in as great a detail as possible, what else I feel when I experience my contractions, so that you women out there who are wondering what it is you’re feeling or experiencing can relate your process to mine.  So, on a small contraction, I merely feel tightening around my belly button (which I sometimes have to feel with my hand to make sure is there) and dull lower cramping.  For a stronger contraction, I often know one is coming because I immediately feel an overwhelming amount of pressure on my rectum and urethra, like I’ve “gotta go!”  This is then accompanied by tightening and lower cramping.  Finally, if the contraction is really bad, I have all of the above symptoms, plus pain on one side of my cervix (usually for me the left) accompanied by nausea and a dull aching in my left groin, left hip and upper left thigh (sometimes my low back into my butt).  I even get a little shaky, just the way I used to when my period came on fast and I got cramps before I had time to take advil and let it kick in.  For the really bad ones, if I’m walking, I feel a tugging from behind my belly button down to my vagina, and I must stop walking or talking and hold onto the underside of my big belly.  Also, my stool has been much looser, which is a typical sign that body is clearing out the bowels for the commencement of labor.

Finally, I must state that I have suffered from Endometriosis from the onset of my period at age 11.  I have no idea if the Endo or the young age at which I got my period are any indication as to why I am experiencing prodromal labor, but I would love to hear feedback from others with this same history.  I have often thought labor would be less “painful” of an experience for me due to the pain I became used to experiencing with my Endo, so it IS possible, I guess, that this is why prodromal labor is not as bad for me.  I do not, however, want to hinder anyone else’s experience of pain in this matter, as everyone is just so different.

Just to be clear, as well, all of my symptoms are happening quite early in this pregnancy.  I am 34 weeks 1 day pregnant, which my midwife has said is not ideal for going into labor, but is not too early that she will stop my labor once it has started.  Therefore, I could be in the hospital tonight or in 6 weeks.  I will say that my women’s intuition has always said this baby would come early.  There have been many times, in fact, when my husband and I have questioned our dates, since this kind of prodromal labor does not usually start til 36 weeks, and if I am 4 weeks more pregnant than my records state, I would have been exactly 36 weeks when my labor started.  I believe we shall soon see…