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Signs of Early Labor You Want to Know Now

Signs of Early Labor You Want to Know Now

beginning the beginning phase of Labor ah it is 
the one that seems it can it can be such a range   it can be short for some people it can be very 
long for other people and it is the time of labor   when labor just gets started it might even be a 
time where your body is an early labor but you   don't know that you're in early labor so you might 
be having some contractions your uterus might be   contracting but likely and early labor there isn't 
it not likely but often an early labor the uterus   doesn't have a pattern of contractions yet so 
contractions might be sporadic where they're   happening one you look at one five minutes apart 
one ten minutes part one seven and a big stretch   goes so that's not uncommon to see an early labor 
the technical definition of early labor is when   your cervix is between zero centimeters dilated 
and six centimeters dilated so the cervix dilates   10 centimeters and our technical term is really 
zero to six centimeters dilated so and that has   changed over the years it used to be zero to 
four with early labor and the American College   of OBGYNs has updated that to six zero six so 
it's that early phase of labor where your cervix   is dilating as your 6.now that doesn't mean it 
early labor doesn't mean that contractions aren't   in a pattern but usually at the very beginning 
of early labor we see contractions developing   into a pattern it's also the time of labor where 
contractions are usually shorter from start to   finish so we might see contractions 30 seconds 
long and then they get more of a 45 more of a   1 minute long from start to finish so we're also 
seeing contractions go going from a shorter time   period to a longer time period length during 
early labor early labor is also a time where   you might experience some some other signs of 
labor like you might experience diarrhea that   can be an early labor sign sometimes people are 
a little nauseous you're though your water might   break and early labor but it might not it's not 
a definite sign of early labor sometimes people   lose their mucus plug or have some bloody show 
both of which are on the wheel which we will   cover at another day um but it's a good time to 
try to it until active labor as much as you can   coping good coping mechanisms during that time 
is try to go about your day and your life as as   much as normal as possible and be on the restful 
side so if it is a time of day that you are in   early labor and you should be sleeping so if it's 
overnight sleep should be your top priority rest   should be your top priority and then whenever you 
have to get up whenever you have to move around   and really deal with labor then deal with it but 
until then because early labor can be so long it's   really encouraged to try to go about your normal 
day activities now the second time second time   the third time if you had a baby before your early 
labor might look a little bit different it might   be a little bit shorter it might not look like 
your first time or your other times giving birth   but it's certainly the time where your body is 
dilating from zero six zero to six centimeters   good partner support during early labor is 
encouraging those normal activities that rest   when a when rest should happen definitely bringing 
water you know having that water bottle ready to   go having snacks ready to go encouraging to move 
around once labor kind of picks up encouraging   movement and being present is a great way to be a 
supportive partner in early labor and again just   being as as keeping as normal of an activity in 
a restful fashion as you can so I don't mean like   go to work go to Target or something like that in 
early labor though some people do but just trying   to keep keep a little bit of normalcy it's also 
good in early labor just to check in with your   contractions I wouldn't recommend timing every 
single contraction because that can make living   life normally not work really keeps you focused 
on time sometimes can feel really long if you're   timing every contraction but timing checking 
in with your labor as they feel like they've   changed so early labor it is also the other thing 
to note is it's usually when people are excited   about labor because you've waited a long time 
and it's a exciting phase so usually we're more   excited and energetic in early labor then maybe 
an active or transition phase so if you have any   questions about early labor want to share your 
experiences of early labor if I missed anything   if you're a birth worker or doula and you want to 
add to the conversation please enter comments I   to see comments about the topic of the day 
and keep the conversation going after the   wheel has fun if you need any more information 
about partner support check out the supporting   her online course for labor which also put the 
link in the comments and I will spin the wheel   again tomorrow and see what topic we have so 
see you guys next time bye thanks for joining

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