Questions - cramping and discharge

Greetings folks:

Here's a question for you. I'm at nearly 34 weeks, and for the past
week or two I've been experiencing some light cramping from time to
time, much like I'd experience when my period is about to show up. It's
not painful, and my little one is still bouncing around my belly as
much as ever, but is this a normal occurrence?

In the TMI category, I guess increased discharge is normal as time goes
on, I'm having to use pantyliners for the first time ever. But how does
one tell if one is leaking urine or amniotic fluid, as compared to just
run-of-the-mill discharge? There is odor as well, but that might be
related to the fact that with a pantyliner there, the area isn't
getting as much air circulation as usual.

I do have a docs appointment tomorrow where I can ask these things, but
thought I'd give you folks a try here to see what you think.

Thanks!

KD

"KD" wrote in message
oups.com...
Greetings folks:

Here's a question for you. I'm at nearly 34 weeks, and for the past
week or two I've been experiencing some light cramping from time to
time, much like I'd experience when my period is about to show up. It's
not painful, and my little one is still bouncing around my belly as
much as ever, but is this a normal occurrence?

I recall I had a bit more discharge towards the end... It was confirmed at,
I think it was, 34-35 weeks I had lost my plug, but my OB assured me it was
no cause for alarm and since it was still early, the plug would most likely
regenerate itself (I dunno what other word to use!) I did have a lot of
discharge, and I did ask, and was told it was perfectly normal. I think as
long as baby's moving around as usual, he or she is happy and content to
just sit around and, well, kick and stretch and sleep and all that fun stuff
babies surely must do before they're born. I would be concerned and call my
doctor or midwife ASAP if you notice a drastic change in movement or if
cramping does get unbearable. I noticed I had more cramping towards the end
if I did a lot of activity... Doing laundry all day, cleaning for long
periods of time, long walks, but again, it wasn't to the point that it hurt.

In the TMI category, I guess increased discharge is normal as time goes
on, I'm having to use pantyliners for the first time ever. But how does
one tell if one is leaking urine or amniotic fluid, as compared to just
run-of-the-mill discharge? There is odor as well, but that might be
related to the fact that with a pantyliner there, the area isn't
getting as much air circulation as usual.

My friend, actually, had her water break 3 or so weeks early. She told me
she really thought she was peeing her pants, so she ran to the washroom to
pee, and it just kept coming and coming. She said she was pretty much
unable to stop the trickling, and so she used a pad. She soaked through
that and decided that she probably didn't have that much lack of control of
her bladder, and she called the health link, and the nurse had informed her
to either taste or smell the fluid. She decided against tasting it, maybe
for fairly obvious reasons, and she took a smell. I can't remember how she
described it, but she could clearly tell it was not pee. I guess the best
way I can describe the difference between urine and amniotic fluid and
typical discharge is well, urine, we've all done it, and it should be no
different than any other time, amniotic fluid has a smell that is definitely
NOT urine and regular discharge doesn't gush or trickle out as a clear
fluid.

I do have a docs appointment tomorrow where I can ask these things, but
thought I'd give you folks a try here to see what you think.

It's hard for me to say because I've never experienced my water breaking,
other than when it was broken for me, and at those points, I really didn't
care and took little note of it. All I have to go on is what my best friend
had said, and our births/experiences seem to be a very hot topic for us,
even though our babies are already 6 months old, since our babies were born
at the same hospital on the same day, hers was just born about 6 hours
later! Maybe someone who has actually experienced it has a better way of
explaining!
Do talk to your doctor. No question is stupid, and chances are there's been
another pregnant woman with that exact same question or concern. Your doc
is there for you and should be able to give you a better understanding
because that's why they're a doctor!

Thanks!

KD

KD wrote:
Greetings folks:

Here's a question for you. I'm at nearly 34 weeks, and for the past
week or two I've been experiencing some light cramping from time to
time, much like I'd experience when my period is about to show up. It's
not painful, and my little one is still bouncing around my belly as
much as ever, but is this a normal occurrence?

In the TMI category, I guess increased discharge is normal as time goes
on, I'm having to use pantyliners for the first time ever. But how does
one tell if one is leaking urine or amniotic fluid, as compared to just
run-of-the-mill discharge? There is odor as well, but that might be
related to the fact that with a pantyliner there, the area isn't
getting as much air circulation as usual.

OMG! Those are totally the questions I was thinking about asking! I'm
at 38 weeks. I keep wondering if I'll know the contractions if/when I
feel them. I couldn't really tell with my first (which I suppose is
part of the reason they gave me pitocin after 6 hours), so I'm wondering
if it will be different this time.

What DOES labor feel like? Period cramps? Someone pinching you from
the inside? Like you've done too many sit ups? (One thing I saw at 3
AM had a Dr. talking about how the belly gets all tight, and then
relaxes, but my belly feels tight pretty much all the time....)

And discharge, too! Slimy and smelly - bleah - anything to worry about?
--
Cheri Stryker

Mom to DS1 - 6 yrs old
preg w/ DS2 - due Feb 19

"Cheri Stryker" wrote in message
...
OMG! Those are totally the questions I was thinking about asking! I'm at
38 weeks. I keep wondering if I'll know the contractions if/when I feel
them. I couldn't really tell with my first (which I suppose is part of
the reason they gave me pitocin after 6 hours), so I'm wondering if it
will be different this time.

What DOES labor feel like? Period cramps? Someone pinching you from the
inside? Like you've done too many sit ups? (One thing I saw at 3 AM had
a Dr. talking about how the belly gets all tight, and then relaxes, but my
belly feels tight pretty much all the time....)

FWIW, my first labor was entirely pitocin-induced and I wasn't sure that
"real" (i.e., spontaneous, non-chemically induced) labor would feel the same
way. What I found was that it DID feel pretty much the same, although I
found spontaneous labor a lot easier to cope with than the pitocin brand.

The thing about whether you'll recognize real labor when it's real labor is
that you probably won't know for SURE until after it actually results in a
baby! What I mean is that the beginning of real labor often doesn't feel
significantly different from plain old-fashioned Braxton-Hicks contractions.
It's just that if it's REAL labor, they won't go away--they'll keep getting
longer, stronger, closer together, and more uncomfortable as time wears on.

My second labor began with mild contractions starting at 6am on a Sunday
morning. Over the course of that whole day, I kept having them. They became
more frequent and more noticeable as the day wore on (a day during which we
went to the park and walked around, I got a haircut, we went to the pub, and
so on), but I STILL wasn't sure I was REALLY in labor when we left for the
hospital the following morning at 8am, even though by that time they were
4-7 minutes apart, 90 seconds long, and I couldn't talk through them any
more (all good signs of "the real thing"). Meanwhile, my husband was
terrified that I was going to produce a baby either in the car or in the
hospital parking lot--HE knew g! The thing is, although I wasn't sure I
was in labor, I DID know that if I wasn't, something was pretty wrong with
me and I should do something about it. If I'd been having a home birth, I'd
have called the midwife. Because I was having a hospital birth, I went to
the hospital. And gave birth about 90 minutes later.

The point is that you don't necessarily have to KNOW it's real labor to know
that something pretty significant is happening. Real labor generally gets
your attention, even if you're not exactly sure what it is g. Of course,
that doesn't mean that there aren't women who have long, uncomfortable bouts
of prodromal labor or women who have such short, precipitous and relatively
painless labors that they don't get to the hospital in time, but really,
that's pretty atypical.
--
Be well, Barbara

KD wrote:
Greetings folks:

Here's a question for you. I'm at nearly 34 weeks, and for the past
week or two I've been experiencing some light cramping from time to
time, much like I'd experience when my period is about to show up. It's
not painful, and my little one is still bouncing around my belly as
much as ever, but is this a normal occurrence?

In the TMI category, I guess increased discharge is normal as time goes
on, I'm having to use pantyliners for the first time ever. But how does
one tell if one is leaking urine or amniotic fluid, as compared to just
run-of-the-mill discharge? There is odor as well, but that might be
related to the fact that with a pantyliner there, the area isn't
getting as much air circulation as usual.

I do have a docs appointment tomorrow where I can ask these things, but
thought I'd give you folks a try here to see what you think.

Thanks!

KD

Hi all:

Went to the docs and got some answers!

Mild, menstrual-like cramping - normal. If it's painful, call/go to the
doc.

Discharge - If it's damp undies, normal at this stage in the game
(nearly 34 weeks). If it's running down your legs, whole 'nuther story,
call/go see the doc.

KD

KD wrote:
Hi all:

Went to the docs and got some answers!

Mild, menstrual-like cramping - normal. If it's painful, call/go to the
doc.

Discharge - If it's damp undies, normal at this stage in the game
(nearly 34 weeks). If it's running down your legs, whole 'nuther story,
call/go see the doc.

Thanks for the follow-up, KD. Still kinda wondering how women with more
recent experience would describe labor pains, but this helps.
--
Cheri Stryker

Mom to DS1 - 6 yrs old
preg w/ DS2 - due in Feb

My labour pains were clearly different because all my BH's were
tightenings in the front of belly. I had to stop sometimes to let them
pass but they weren't really painful, just uncomfortable. The
contractions made me hold my breath with the pain and were all in my
lower back, none in the belly at all.

HTH

Jeni (Mum to William, 7 mths)

Hi again!

We talked about labour a bit yesterday too. My doc said that most
first-time moms are afraid that they won't recognize labour and won't
go to the hospital on time. Her take on that was, if you can go about
your normal business, have dinner, do the dishes, whatever, then you're
probably NOT in active labour. But if you're calmly sitting having
dinner and suddenly have a pain that makes you lose your breath and
you're like, "What the heck was THAT?" then it's probably a good idea
to call your doc if it's in the daytime and let her check you out. If
it's nighttime, then go on to the hospital to get checked.

The BH that I've had, not painful at all. Uncomfortable yes, my belly
gets sort of tight and hard, happens a lot if I'm on my feet for
awhile. Makes me want to sit and take the pressure off, but I don't
lose my breath or anything, or need to stop until it passes. I didn't
recognize them as BH until I asked my doc about them a few weeks ago.
Of course, this is my first pregnancy, so I don't recognize much of
ANYTHING for what it is!

KD