[00:00:27] Trish Ware, RN: For mamas looking for powerful education and support, I've had the amazing privilege of delivering mini babies in my 15 plus year career as a labor and delivery nurse, and as a mama of seven. I'm here to help you take the guesswork out of childbirth so you can make the choices that are right for you and your baby, and write the birth story of your dreams. 


[00:01:17] Trish Ware, RN: Hello, load. So we're gonna talk about a few things because inside of our birth courses and our pregnancy postpartum membership, I get more dms about. Signs of labor than probably anything else, let me say, signs of labor, water breaking and labor induction questions. So I wanna focus on some of those. 


[00:02:15] Trish Ware, RN: Now, what I want you guys to keep in mind, because no matter how many times I tell my girls, if any of my students are listening, they will know this is true. No matter how many times I tell my girls, they still, as soon as they have some of these signs, they're like, Baby's coming. But the truth of the matter is that your labor signs start well before labor. 


[00:03:16] Trish Ware, RN: So if you've taken my fearless birth experience, or you've watched my labor pain workshop, which is my favorite workshop, The labor pain and labor in general starts from a process, and the beginning of that process is that baby's head putting pressure on your cervix. So when the baby lowers or the lightning happens, what that means is the baby's getting nice and nestled into the pelvis. 


[00:04:10] Trish Ware, RN: So you're on a cycle here, baby moves down, puts pressure on the cervix. The cervix stimulates your brain. Your brain releases oxytocin. Oxytocin stimulates the contractions, the which it can be, Braxton Hs, as well as you're approaching labor. And those contractions, the squeezing of the uterus is squeezing the head down farther. 


[00:04:59] Trish Ware, RN: So [00:05:00] here's your cervix. This is actually a little bit of an open cervix, so this is perfect. Inside of your cervix is this goop, right, this plug. And it's like a gooey. almost looks like egg white mixed with some streaks of blood and brownish stuff. Right? And that is the plug. And what that is doing is protecting the inside where the baby is living from the outside. 


[00:05:48] Trish Ware, RN: No, not always. Sometimes it can come out in bits of pieces. It also can reseal itself for some of you who have had preterm labor or what have you, and the labor was stopped, your [00:06:00] plug is going to reestablish itself. However, a lot of people think it's gonna come out. Look just like a cork or something that. 


[00:06:28] Trish Ware, RN: Now, if you're one of my members inside of my membership, shoot me a picture, girl. We'll look at it. The plug is letting you know so. Something down there is happening, and as your uterus gets thinner and relaxes, that plug comes out and that makes sense because the baby has to come out as well, eventually. 


[00:07:19] Trish Ware, RN: To get all the things ready and if your partner isn't on board, it can also lead to a lot of frustration and irritation because I need to get this done. Like baby's coming time is up. Let's do it. And I personally love. The nesting stage, you get so much done and you enjoy it. So it's not like you're like stressed out by doing it. 


[00:08:04] Trish Ware, RN: When labor is starting, Closer to labor, right? So we've talked about some things that can happen before labor, so you might also see an increase of Braxton Hicks could be a sign. But I also wanna caution you, because my girls tell me all the time, my patients have told me a lot. They think because they're not. 


[00:08:41] Trish Ware, RN: And when I go back and ask her, she's not feeling them at all. So they're definitely Braxton Hicks, but she doesn't know it's happening. So if you've been like a little disappointed that you're not having Braxton Hicks, I wanna tell you, you. More than likely having Braxton. So an increase in Braxton [00:09:00] Hicks. 


[00:09:21] Trish Ware, RN: Another thing is you might just have a gut feeling. Remember, we're learning to listen to our instincts, so another one we're gonna talk about that is a pretty definitive sign that you're gonna have the baby, but isn't necessarily a sign that labor starting right then is your water breaking? For some women, they're water breaks and it takes a while for them to go into labor. 


[00:10:06] Trish Ware, RN: So the number one sign that labor is happening is dilation and effacement or cervical change like your cervix does. A few things in labor. I know that a lot of us are so focused on dilation that we forget. There's other key important. Now this is something that you're not gonna necessarily know is happening, and if you're one of my students or one of my members in my membership, then you know, I do not encourage you to have cervical exams, especially at 36, 37, 38 weeks, unless you're being induced for a really good medical reason. 


[00:11:07] Trish Ware, RN: If you know about my membership, if you're a student in our birth courses, and a member in our membership, you get something extra special called our labor bat signal and what that is inside of our membership, our student members are allowed at 37 weeks to make a group labor bat signal, a group DM with me and my team doula, and we just ha hold their hands, support them, help them navigate decisions and roadblocks and any warning signs. 


[00:11:57] Trish Ware, RN: there's a lot of things that have to occur, and [00:12:00] if they're occurring, your body is doing what it's supposed to do. Your body's gonna do it. Your body is incredible. Sometimes it needs a little nudge, but most of the time all it needs is patience. So one of the first things that's gonna begin to happen is that the consistency of your cervix is nice and tough, like the tip of your nose, like your. 


[00:12:45] Trish Ware, RN: So that's way more important than your dilation number prior to labor starting. So your before labor starts, your cervix is like a satellite. And it's pointed backwards towards your bottom. And then as labor starts to [00:13:00] progress or it starts to happen, it's gonna move to a mid position and then an anterior position, like it's ready to come out for baby to come out. 


[00:13:33] Trish Ware, RN: Birth is 90%. Mental. So we don't wanna start out the journey by not trusting our body and thinking that it's not doing exactly what it's supposed to do. So we're getting soft. Your satellite cervix is pointing forward. And then the next really important thing is, Effacement, which is thinning out. So for a first time mom, that's gonna happen prior to labor starting. 


[00:14:17] Trish Ware, RN: It doesn't take weeks for all of that to happen. It doesn't even take days. Sometimes it can. Hours and even minutes. So if you go to your prenatal appointment, your 39 weeks or your 40 weeks, or you're like, A couple of my students are 41 weeks right now, and you're, they say, oh, your cervix is still closed. 


[00:15:00] Trish Ware, RN: Now, sometimes, like I said, we need to help. Maybe a little nudge, but for the most part, the most important thing you can do when you're waiting for labor is to. Patience. Patience is key. Last night I taught a workshop. We do about two to eight workshops a month that are free to our members and free to our student members. 


[00:15:47] Trish Ware, RN: Support all the way through postpartum. We do weekly happy hours on Zoom tonight we have our pregnancy Happy Hours. So if you join today, go straight to the events and the l and m Happy hour and click [00:16:00] on that Zoom link and come and hang out. You can face-to-face, ask me a questions. I just got an A Labor bat signal, someone's in labor. 


[00:16:29] Trish Ware, RN: We've got a team doula, we've got a newborn specialist. We are looking at to bring a lactation consultant. We have a pelvic floor specialist. What else do we have? We have tons of mamas with lots of experience and so many resources. You guys, it's the number one place to be. So if you wanna join a birth class, calm labor is labor Nurse mama.com/calm. 


[00:17:20] Trish Ware, RN: We cry together, we laugh together, we scream together, we get pissed together, and we plot together. We come up with plans together and we truly support our girls. So this isn't like anything else. You're actually gonna have access. I hope you got some valuable information. I hope there's one thing you're taking away today, and the main thing I want for you is to remember your body is incredible.