How did your labour start?

[whereisthesun]

I'm pretty near my due date with No2 and am getting quite nervous about labour starting. I just want to hear your stories of where you were and how you knew labour had started!!

first 2 i had really regular braxton hicks for a couple of hours a day in the week leading up to it.
then woke up having contractions.

ds3 i had not much at all and then woke one morning having a hideously painful contraction and he was born about 45 nmins later.

1st time i was induced. second time i sneezed and thought i had wet myself! It was the early hours of the morning and I was facing a second induction due to being overdue. I was therefore do anything and everything to get started and all it took was one sneeze!!!!!

Had a show on the Sunday morning then I got up in middle of night Sun/Mon for the loo, got back to bed then became aware of water trickling down my leg. Phoned hosp, asked to come in, got checked then sent home. I then lay in bed excited/nervous and then I became sort of short of breath and had a tight tummy, im assuming this is early contractions. Figured this was the time to get up and sit on swiss ball etc but as I stood up the secondery waters went which is more like a bucket of water!
Unfortunately, the placenta was still covering the cervix slightly and with the waters came alot of blood so I had an emerg c-section which was painless and fine albeit scary. So, I have no experience of proper contractions or labour but a few of the early stages.
Im bricking it for the next one too, still don't know what it's like to give birth! x

Oh and according to the midwive. Most waters go in middle of the night?? Something to do with being relaxed and warm. I personally think the baby is getting you used to suddenly having to vacate this nice warm space in the middle of the night!
Don't worry too much about the waters, the first lot is mearly rain drops so you have time to run to a loo. It was a good 4 hours before the bucket arrived

i turned in bed and felt a slight pull then the urge to go to loo, ran/waddled as fast as i could to loo and waters broke, not heavy but they went, wot i didnt no was the waters keep comming until baby born, so wacked a big old mat pad in and got back in bed,
20 mins later contractions started,every 20 mins then 10 etc, i was told u have to deliver in 38 hrs if ur waters go, so thats a bonus as iam sure i would have been days (24hr and i was only 1 cm!) and baby had turned so contractions hard and heavy! evie arrived yep 38 hrs later!!!