Before labor, there are so many signs and symptoms that women experience and it can be quite confusing to know the signs that labor is 24 to 48 hours away that should be expected.
The processes before labor don’t always go in “one way”. Some women feel so much energy, others feel so much fatigue. So what are the signs that labor is 24 to 48 hours away? Before we divulge critically into knowing this answer, let’s analyze some critical questions regarding labor.
What Is Labor?
Labour is the whole process of childbirth, that involves delivering the fetus, placenta membrane, and umbilical cord, from the uterus through the vagina to the outside world. The whole process of pregnancy that takes place for 9 months, climax with labor.
What Time Of The Day Does Labor Start?
Labor usually starts at night to the early hours of the morning. The reason for this is the hormone Melatonin. Melatonin is produced by the brain at night time to regulate the sleep cycle.
In the last week of pregnancy and shortly before labor, the uterine walls will become sensitive to the hormone melatonin. As labor approaches, there is a high level of oxytocin in the bloodstream. Melatonin works hand-in-hand with oxytocin to stimulate contractions of the uterus making labor startup.
Can Labor Start And Stop Over Days?
Yes, labor does start and stop for several days before proceeding to the active phase. Some women experience the symptoms of cramps, fatigue, nausea, backache, restlessness even contractions for several days.
These symptoms stop and start again repeatedly for days. This kind of Labour is called Prodromal labor. It isn’t usually Braxton Hicks contraction because labor contractions have started it is accompanied by slight cramps and pains.
Many women have had to go to the hospital and return when they check to see that they haven’t dilated much and the contractions are infrequent. This labor may go for days even up to a week.
Medical experts have said that the fact that the labor doesn’t progress, doesn’t mean that induction or CS should be done immediately. If yours is a low-risk pregnancy, you may want to stay at home till it progresses for active labor.
How Do You Feel 24 Hours Before Labor?
How a woman feels 24 hours before labor may be quite different from another since no two women are the same. For me, I felt the nesting instinct so strong.
I had this urge to prepare everything even when I had previously done so. Sometimes I looked through my baby’s bag, inspect each of the items and arrange them all over again.
I also felt extreme tiredness like I couldn’t carry on with the pregnancy anymore. Walking, moving around, everything felt like a chore. I remember I felt very irritated and anxious for the birth as I was 2 days past my due date at the hospital. Some women may experience similar to what I experienced.
Other symptoms that are experienced are a sudden burst of energy and drive, nervousness and fear, increased cravings, sometimes even increased sexual urge, incessant diarrhea, waist pain, etc. Whatever the symptoms you experience, just know labor is unique to different individuals.
Can You Be In Labor Without Contractions?
Yes, the early stage of labor can start up without noticeable contractions and water breaking. Sometimes the water breaks without a woman feeling the contractions.
If you have a high pain threshold you may not feel the contractions yet you are in labor but it is usually rare especially when you are in the active phase of labor.
Labour is usually determined by uterine contractions which is usually painful.
Even if a woman does not notice contractions at the early stage, she definitely won’t be feeling comfortable and when in labor.
For me, I did feel contractions but my water didn’t break as I had expected.
When Should You Go To The Doctor With Contractions?
The moment you start feeling the signs of labor doesn’t always mean you would birth the next hour. Sometimes you have to wait for some time at home and busy your mind to manage the labor pains before calling the doctor.
You should go to the doctor when the contractions are more intense and getting unbearable. You could go much earlier though if the hospital is not close by. And if you notice your water breaks head off to the hospital immediately.
Silent Labor Signs And Symptoms Few Days Before Delivery
The signs for silent labor are not so different from the signs of labor.
The striking difference is that there is no pain or the woman doesn’t show it. She feels the contractions, she knows she is in labor sometimes her water breaks but she doesn’t show the pain.
Going forward, let’s see some signs that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
1. Pelvic Pressure
Women experience pressure in the pelvic region even in the vagina as a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
This is mostly because, closer to labor, the baby’s head drops to a position down to the lower abdomen and you feel the sensation down there.
This is called lighting. It is what causes the frequent need to pee and the pelvic pain that women always experience during the last weeks of pregnancy.
The extended belly gravitates towards the bottom of the legs causing pressure. The increase in pressure in the pelvic region is the tightness you feel when seated and the mild or sharp pain in the abdomen region.
It is also accompanied by backache, pressure in the bum, and waste pain. The pain is also experienced when you spread your thighs, in the perineum and the pubic bone area. As the uterus rests on the pelvic area, it puts more strain down below. This is what causes the pressure and the pain.
2. Loss Of The Mucus Plug Or The Show
The discharge of the mucus plug or bloody show or show through the vagina is a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
The bloody show is a mucus-like vaginal discharge with a tinge of blood. A mucous membrane covers the cervix, preventing bacteria from entering the uterus and causing infections.
As labor approaches, the cervix starts dilating(expanding and opening) leading to the loss of the mucus plug through the vagina. This was the first sign that I felt during labor.
When I started seeing a discharge with blood, I knew that my labor was approaching. I was eagerly waiting for the water to break after that. During maternity classes, we had been schooled on the signs of labor and I never missed out on those two signs: water breaking and the bloody show.
When I was eager and anxious for my baby to arrive I kept checking and rechecking for any sign, finally I noticed few trickles pour out, I thought at first it was blood but I didn’t miss the nurse’s description at maternity class.
I was super excited now finally labor was here. It began to be more frequent. 6 to 12 hours later I had my baby. For some women losing their mucus plug immediately precedes contraction for some it is not.
However, be alert and be watchful for any changes and prepare your hospital bag and any other thing you will need for labor is on the way.
3. Cramps
Like the menstrual cramps we experience this one is very similar. The Cramp that precedes labor isn’t Braxton Hicks contraction( a painless contraction). The cramps spread through the lower abdomen, and waist causing some discomfort and unrest.
It isn’t really painful and it can come and go for several hours or even days before the real contraction but it’s just one sure sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away and you shouldn’t miss it.
I started experiencing mild cramps a few hours after I saw the discharge of the mucus plug. It may be different for others so do not expect yours to be the same.
It wasn’t more than the mild menstrual cramps I usually experience so it wasn’t a border. Several hours gone, the Cramp intensified and began to be a little more painful. The next day it started with contractions, and I delivered.
4. Braxton Hicks Contraction
This is also called false labor. Women usually experience Braxton Hicks contractions weeks before the actual labor, but on the onset of labor, Braxton Hicks contractions are increased.
Braxton Hicks contractions and not the contractions in women experience in labor they only proceed labor. You will be able to differentiate it from the real labor contractions because it is painless, unlike the cramps felt during menstruation and before labor.
It is a tightening feeling in the bump. ln Braxton Hicks contractions, the uterine muscles tightens and relaxes periodically. The contractions also cause the abdomen to tighten.
Sometimes you feel the movement of the fetus and the shape of your belly contours to a direction and after a while, it relaxes. Braxton Hicks contraction is a slow way of the pregnancy hormones sending messages that labor should proceed.
Women can experience Braxton Hicks contraction anywhere from 28 to 36 even over 40th weeks of pregnancy, but when it is very close to labor, the contractions become more intense. At first, when I felt these contractions I felt my baby was in distress, thankfully I was assured by my carer that it is completely normal.
5. The Water Breaks
One sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away is when the water breaks. We always would associate the sign of labor water breaking because that is the picture of labor they usually paint on TV.
Truthfully, that was the idea I had about labor until I experienced childbirth. At the onset of labor in pregnancy, a woman’s water breaks when the amniotic sac that covers the fetus is burst open.
The amniotic sac contains amniotic fluid. Here nutrients and other essential materials diffuse to the fetus from the mother’s bloodstream. Through the mother’s placenta. It also serves to protect the fetus in the womb from injury.
Once the baby is ready to be delivered the amniotic sac may pop open due to increasing pressure in the uterus so the fetus can move through the pelvis to the vagina and be delivered.
Unlike what we see on TV, we could experience the water breaking coming out as trickles of a pale-colored fluid passing put through the vagina, or it may gush out fast.
When the water breaks, it is a sure sign that labor is near. You should know that it is not in all women that water breaks labor. Sometimes the woman may already in labor before the water breaks.
Sometimes the Midwives have to pop the amniotic sac if it doesn’t pop on its own for labor to progress. One thing is sure when the water breaks the baby is full-term and labor is about to start or already progressing.
6. Nesting Instinct
A sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away is the nesting instinct. There is this nudge you feel unrest that makes you want to prepare so that everything would be perfect before the baby arrives.
This instinct can start early third trimester but as a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away is that an increased need to nestle. You just can’t help yourself but put things in tip-top shape.
When I was in my early stage of labor, I had this urge to get out my already packed bags and arrange them. Even when I was already having mild contractions, I didn’t want to go to the hospital till I washed all the stuff I had used the night before.
That’s when I finally felt content to leave for the hospital and getting to the hospital I was already 7 cm gone.
Some signs of nesting are the frequent need to pack and repack your bag and even go through your baby stuff before you feel calm, stressing out when things are not done the way you want, feeling super worried and cranky sometimes even crying because you haven’t completed the preparations for the baby.
There is also agitation and worry that you have to see your baby, a sudden burst of energy to get things done, and the urge to rub your belly often.
The nesting Instinct in pregnant women results from an increase in the hormone estradiol. Women are advised to manage the feeling judiciously. If you feel the need to pack do it.
Try to busy yourself with things. Find ways to distract yourself when you feel emotional and overwhelmed and be positive. You may feel unrest it’s normal. Try to calm down so you wouldn’t expend a lot of energy for near labor.
7. Extreme Tiredness
Many expectant mothers usually feel tired in the last weeks of pregnancy it is expected. When the tiredness becomes so extreme, it is a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
Coupled with the constant body aches, waist pain, discomfort, and difficulty in sleeping, you also feel very tired for seemly for no reason and even when you haven’t done much.
In my last days before birth, I was always yawning, always sleepy, always complaining of body aches. You know the feeling of where you just want to get it done and be “free”.
Since I was few days late from my due date, given by my hospital and I was super cranky that I wasn’t delivered yet. I told my doctor that I wanted an induction because the fatigue became unbearable.
The constant ache especially at my back and lower abdomen weren’t funny at all. The night before I visited the hospital to see my doctor finalize the induction labor started and I had a successful delivery.
The fatigue and tiredness women feel days before labor is because at the last lap energy level is lowered.
Some reasons for this are: the increased levels of hormones estrogen and progesterone act as a sedative makes women feel slow and tired, the emotional changes of mood swings worry anxiety also have an overall impact on the body and it can make you feel weak.
Especially when you get anxious and worked up and that the weight and pressure of the baby at the belly causes gravity making women find it difficult to walk and breathe. If you are already close to your due date I know how tired you can be able to hold up your so more it will soon be over.
8. Loose Bowel
As labor approaches, series of hormonal changes takes place in the body of a pregnant woman all preparing for the body for the work at hand and a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away is that you experience loose bowels that is the frequent need to poo.
Due to the hormonal changes the uterus, cervix, and rectum loosen up. This is what causes women to uses the loo frequently. If as your pregnancy progresses to your due date and you just can’t seem to hold your poo, take heart and hold strong for labor is on the way.
The hormonal changes also cause the bladder to relax and women can’t seem to hold their pee for long. Sometimes they even wee on their body. It is nothing to be embarrassed for as the symptoms are short-lived.
This loose bowel has a kind of advantage. It helps to empty the bowel and make you feel lighter. It also helps in the delivery process as it aids contraction easier contraction.
9. Weight Loss
It may seem probably surprising that weight loss is one of the signs that labor is 24 to 48 hours away but it’s true. Though women do not take notice of this.
Even if it is not noticed, women usually lose about 1 to 3 pounds before delivery. The reduced weight is a result of frequent urination, a reduction in the amniotic fluid.
It also because the body no longer stores fat, because it has taken enough needed for pregnancy and labor.
The weight loss at the last stage of pregnancy is more about the body ridding off the excess water so do not get too excited or worried either.
If you have maintained the right weight during pregnancy there would be no cause for alarm.
10. Dilation And Effacement Of The Cervix
When labour is about starting, dilation and effacement takes place. It is a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
In pregnancy, the cervix is closed and covered by the mucus plug to protect the baby and prevent infections. As the process of labor begins to start the cervix is stretches and the mucus plug drops.
As we have discussed earlier, it leads to the release of the mucus plug. When the mucus plug has completely dropped, the cervix opens up so that the baby can pass through the birth canal.
At the onset of Labour cervical effacement and dilation takes place. In cervical effacement, the cervix stretches and becomes thinner and expands and in dilation, it opens up when the cervix starts dilating it initiates the contractions which opens the cervix more and pushes the baby down.
Sometimes during the last few visits to the doctor before delivery, the doctor may do a cervical examination (a process to check the cervix to know if it is dilated or not (a cervix that is 2 to 3 cm dilated is an indication that labor is very near).
A cervical examination may not always be necessary because it increases the risk of infection speak with your doctor if you are uncomfortable with it. I never had to do a cervical examination and that didn’t alter my pregnancy in any way.
11. The Feeling Of Nausea
For some women, some of the early symptoms of first-trimester pregnancy resurfaces again.
If you are not feeling yourself, the need to throw up, restlessness, and a bit feverish in the last days of pregnancy, then it may be a sign that labor is 24 to 48 hours away.
Sometimes women also experience headaches and slight chills, not every woman is very things I didn’t actually but I have seen women who have sometimes have experienced this. It could also be accompanied by dizzy spells. If the sickness gets worse you should go to the hospital.
12. The Baby Drops Or Falls
This is also called lightning or engaged baby. When the baby drops into the pelvis in the last days of pregnancy.
The weight in the chest area reduces, but it moves to the lower abdomen. Causes some pressure in the bladder, leading to frequent urination it also causes extreme backache and pain in the perineum women feel.
Indeed labor is no small work the whole of pregnancy even. Though women have to go through all these, the good thing is that these symptoms are short-lived and we birth a new life. That is something awesome.
Wishing safe delivery to every soon-to-be moms out there. Save this for later!
