I know this is a weird question but I am 35 weeks pregnant and I have been having abdominal cramping, on and off contractions, and just recently started having more frequent bowel movements. TMI ... But the bowel movements are not alot just more frequent and every time I urinate... and I know all you ladies know how much us pregnant women pee! LOL .. I'm just wondering if any of you guys have experience with these types of things and how long did you do it before you went into labor? Just to let you know I am 50 % effaced, 1 cm dilated, and as far as I know -1 station.
My body "purged" like you describe when I delivered my second (fastest and easiest delivery of 3). That was beginning labor for me which started in the night and I delivered around 7 the next morning. Maybe you'll have your new LO before Christmas! :)
Your body is getting ready to have the baby. During labor there will be a lot of pushing, sometimes if a woman doesn't have fully cleared bowels before she'll have a movement when she pushes during a contraction during labor. Your body is clearing everything out before hand, rather polite of it.
Good luck on soon arrival of your Christmas Angel baby.
It could be a couple things.
1) There is less and less room in your abdomen and the baby could be putting pressure on your intestines so that there is less room for it to accumulate.
2) When left to nature (I mean instead of induction before labor naturally commences) the body usually does a sort of detox and purge. Many women have this happen within a couple days of labor, others it starts a couple weeks before labor.
3) You could have a bit of a stomach bug that is affecting digestion some, but not enough to send you running to the pot or make you puke. You could mention it to your doc/midwife at your next meeting, but I'm guessing it's not anything to worry about.
Effacement, dilation, and station have almost nothing to to do with how soon you will go into labor, so don't let that worry you. They can affect how fast labor will be once it starts, but not when it will start. It's really safer not to have cervical exams done at all, they don't tell you anything you need to know and they can introduce a lot of foreign bacteria into the environment :(
And yes, as a PP mentioned, most women push out at least some poo during the second stage of labor as they push the baby out. Many women don't realize they've done it, especially if they have any sort of pain drugs so they can't feel it.
Good Luck! :)
Sometimes you just feel that way because of where the baby is sitting. It does not always mean labor is near. Which is a good thing for you because 35 weeks is way too early! Try to keep the baby in at LEAST 3 more weeks to allow lung development. Some 35 weekers end up in NICU and ALL are considered Late Preterm infants and need special care. I am a nurse in a postpartum unit and care for moms and babies after delivery. Some 35 week babies come to us and they are usually small and have breathing issues, temperature instability and feeding difficulties. If you have any real labor signs get to the doctor ASAP!n
I started doing that a few days before labor started with all 3 of mine.
