9. Am I in Labor? Discerning the Signs

In this episode of Faith Over Fear: The Christian Pregnancy & Birth Podcast, I’m walking you through one of the most common questions expectant mamas ask: “Am I in labor?” Whether you’re experiencing your first round of practice contractions or wondering if this is finally the real deal, this episode will help you discern the signs with confidence and peace.

As you approach your due date, it’s natural to analyze every sensation and wonder if labor is beginning. But those Braxton Hicks contractions can be so convincing! After experiencing this uncertainty myself—I want to equip you with the knowledge and faith-filled perspective you need to navigate this waiting season.

Whether you’re a first-time mama feeling overwhelmed by all the “what ifs” or an experienced mom who needs a refresher on labor signs, this episode offers practical wisdom rooted in trusting God’s perfect timing for your birth story.

In this episode, I share:

🤔The difference between possible, preliminary, and positive signs of labor

🫖What to do (and what NOT to do) when you start experiencing these signs

🛁 Comfort measures and relaxation techniques to practice during early labor

📞 How to discern when it’s time to call your provider or head to your birthplace

✝️ Faith-filled encouragement for trusting your body and God’s timing

Scripture Shared:

“But I trust in you, Lord. I say, you are my God. My times are in your hands.” – Psalm 31:14-15

Mentioned in this episode:

✨ “Am I in Labor? Discerning the Signs” Free Handout – Grab this companion resource in the Christian Mama Birth Prep Library

🤰 LMNT Electrolytes – My favorite clean electrolyte supplement for pregnancy

📚 Childbirth Education Course – Learn comfort measures and labor techniques

💛 Work with Me 1:1 – Doula Support & Coaching: Explore birth support and childbirth education for your pregnancy and birth journey

If this episode helped clarify the signs of labor for you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another mama who might be wondering the same thing.

Let’s keep choosing faith over fear as we trust God’s timing for our babies’ arrivals. Go here for the full blog post, show notes, and all resources mentioned

Transcript

Natalie Portman: 0:45

Hey mama. Welcome back to the podcast. Today. We're diving into what might be the question you're asking yourself right now, or might be asking yourself this later on in your pregnancy, Am I in labor?" Or is this just another round of Braxton Hicks or warmup contractions? I have definitely been there before. Those practice contractions are so convincing sometimes. So before we jump in, I want to let you know that I've created a really helpful companion handout for today's episode that breaks down all of the signs of labor we'll be discussing. It's called Am I in Labor? Discerning the Signs, and you can find it inside the Christian Mama birth prep library. This is a completely free resource that I've put together just for you, so you can go sign up at faithoverfearbirth.com or just click the link in the show notes to get access to this handout, along with a ton of other valuable birth prep resources. So now I'd love to walk you through the different stages from those early maybe signs all the way to this is the real deal moment. And of course, I'll weave in faith-filled encouragement along the way because God beautifully designed this process with such incredible wisdom. The first thing I'll go over are the possible signs of labor. So these are signs that are showing that your body is definitely preparing for labor, but it doesn't necessarily mean that labor is about to start. Some of these signs look like having a back ache that's dull, low, nagging, kind of achy feeling, and it sometimes will come and go. Another sign is having lower abdominal cramps. Sometimes it can kind of feel like period cramps and sometimes might even radiate into your upper thighs. And then another sign is having soft bowel movements. Your body will just kind of start clearing out, you're gonna have a lot of bowel movements towards the end, potentially, and this is just a natural process for your body to get ready for labor and birth. Next is a nesting urge. So this is that sudden burst of energy to clean and organize everything to tie up all the loose ends and just get everything ready for baby's arrival. And I found myself scrubbing the baseboards of my bathroom and thinking that was normal and. I realized after the fact when I was pregnant with Ellie, that was my nesting urge, that I, randomly felt like I needed to be scrubbing the baseboards at like three in the morning. So, if you find yourself doing things like that, or just you all of a sudden feel like you need to do all the things. To prepare for baby. That's your nesting urge. So with these possible signs of labor, some things I would suggest that you do in this phase is rest whenever possible. If you start to have these contractions, but you're not really sure if it's the real deal or not, don't try to spur them on necessarily. Unless of course you're like. Past your due date and you're trying to avoid induction, that's a little different. But if this is just happening in the last month, or maybe even two last two months of your pregnancy, rest, stay very hydrated. Sometimes your body will have these practice contractions because you're a little bit dehydrated. So. I always suggest drinking electrolytes daily. My favorite was drinking LMNT L-M-N-T. That electrolyte brand is phenomenal. It's super clean ingredients. You can buy like a sample pack on Amazon, but I actually suggest buying it on LMNT's website'cause you can get a much better deal if you buy it in bulk. But give LMNT a try. It helped reduce my swelling significantly also in my pregnancy, but also, keeps you really well hydrated, kept me from having a lot of the leg cramps and things that I was prone to prior to taking an electrolyte drink every day. Another thing you can do during this phase is journal and pray. And that could look like throwing on some worship music, or just silence and just going to the Lord in prayer about everything that's happening in this season as you're preparing for baby's arrival, especially if it's your first. And then use this time to, lean into that nesting urge, start finalizing your birth bag packing, or if you're doing a home birth, make sure all the supplies are in place. Just get yourself prepared so that it's one less mental load that you're carrying. And then start practicing relaxation techniques. So one thing I love to teach my clients is to welcome those practice contractions as a way for you to build up your confidence to know what you'll do when you have real labor contractions. So what I say is when you start having practice contractions, you take a cleansing breath in through your nose, out through your mouth, like you're fogging a mirror. And you scan your body head to toe and especially, this is nice if you're laying down, so say you're having practice contractions in the night, which is also really common. So do that practice breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth. As you scan your body head to toe, kind of becoming like a rag doll where if someone were to lift your hand or your arm it would just kind of flop down. Like you want to just totally relax Every muscle in your body. So those are some things you can start doing if you notice any of these possible signs of labor. And don't be discouraged. Just know that this is your body's way of showing that it's gearing up, but don't have an expectation that, oh, okay, I'm having these signs, so surely labor is right around the corner. Don't necessarily think that, but just know that these are good signs that your body is getting ready for the big day. The next ones I wanna go over are the preliminary signs of labor. So these might occur a little bit closer to the time that labor will begin usually starts, a couple weeks to days or sometimes even hours before active labor begins. One of the first signs is having non progressing contractions. These are contractions that are staying generally the same length, strength, and the spacing is staying about the same. And sometimes they can come and go, like I mentioned. This is super common at the last month or so of pregnancy, and especially in the evening, like at nighttime when you're trying to sleep, your body just releases different hormones in the evening and you're, all comfy, cozy sleeping next to hubby and your body just releases different hormones. So this is really common and I'm so glad that my sister. Gave me a heads up about this when I was pregnant the first time, because when I kept waking up in the night to these practice contractions, if I hadn't expected that, I would've definitely stayed up timing them or seeing if they sped up or something happened. And that's literally the last thing I want you to do. I want you to try to ignore contractions as much as is humanly possible until they are so strong, you just can't ignore it anymore. So if you're noticing. Regular contractions that are, say they're coming every five minutes but they're staying about the same strength and the duration is about the same. They're about, you know, 30 seconds or something like that. Pay no attention to it. Just ignore that it's happening. I. And then the other thing you could start to notice for this preliminary stage of labor, potential labor is losing your mucus plug or even having a little bit of bloody show. So mucus plug is something that protects the cervix from, infection and things like that. But towards the end of your pregnancy, you might start to notice a discharge, either in your underwear or when you wipe. That has a consistency of egg whites and this is a natural, normal process to lose that mucus plug ahead of labor. Some women lose it a little bit over time, so little that they barely even notice that's what that is. And then others might lose it in like a large clump. Either way. That's totally normal. It's totally fine. And then sometimes that. Mucus can even be a little bit blood tinged. And again, that is normal, but of course, if you're noticing a lot of blood or a lot of fluid, that's something else. You'll definitely wanna pay attention to that and talk with your provider if you're seeing those signs. But just a little bit of mucus, even a clump of mucus is normal. And, a sign that your body's gearing up. What's also crazy about the mucus plug is you could lose your mucus plug, say like at 36 weeks, and then you don't go into labor until 39 weeks or 40 weeks. And so you can lose your mucus plug, it can grow back, and then you can lose it again. It's one of those things where I say it's nice to pay attention to these signs because it's. Encouraging that you see your body starting to get ready. But don't hyperfocus on this sign alone, especially if you're not having any other signs that are pointing to things are gearing up for labor to begin immediately. The next thing is noticing a little bit of leaking of some sort of fluid. Some women can have a small leak, high up on the amniotic sac, and this can present as a slow little trickle of very thin fluid from their vagina. And if you're noticing this, you'll definitely want to pay attention to, the color of that fluid, the odor of that fluid, the amount and what time this started. And so to remember that I want you to think of an acronym coat, COAT. So color, odor, amount and time. So if you start to notice some sort of leaking of fluid, I suggest putting on a pad laying down for about 15 minutes. And when you get back up, if you still feel a gushing of fluid or there's just a steady amount of fluid that's coming out of you, definitely call your provider. Many of the time they'll want to have you either come into their office or the midwife can sometimes even come to you if you're doing a home birth, or have you go to labor and delivery to test the fluid to see if it's amniotic fluid or something else. So what to do during this phase? Stay in communication with your provider or your, doula or your birth team. Whoever depends on what sign you're seeing. But say, you have a doula, whether that's a virtual doula or a in-person doula shoot her a text and just say, Hey, I'm starting to, notice I'm having some, contractions or I lost my mucus plug today. Something like that, just so that she's in the know of what's happening in your body. But again, send it not to be like, oh, and labor's about to start, but just say, Hey, just wanting to let you know my body's gearing up. The biggest thing here is again, to not want to. Overly invest too much mental energy in non progressing contractions or signs. So say you want to time the contractions that are coming, they're, very manageable. What I would suggest you do is time your contractions on like a contraction timer app for maximum of 30 minutes. So just so you can kind of get. A sense of what the pattern is, how long the contractions are, how frequently they're coming, and some even allow you to rate the strength of the contraction. And then you can send a screenshot of that to your doula just to again, get a baseline for what's happening. And then don't time them anymore unless you notice there's a big shift, like they feel much stronger, closer together, or something like that. Another thing you can do during this phase is prioritize taking care of yourself. Resting, relaxing, hydrating, but at this point you could also get in an Epsom salt bath, sometimes non progressing contractions. If it's not real labor, if you get in an Epsom salt bath, it helps relax the uterine muscles to help those non progressing contractions just stop, or take a relaxing shower. Just something to kind of take your mind off of that and to just. Relax. And then another thing you could do is just distract yourself. Go watch a favorite movie or listen to some music or do something that you would enjoy that can take your mind off of this phase, because good chance that if you're just having these signs, the preliminary signs and the possible signs, labor may not be around the corner and you don't wanna waste your mental, emotional, physical energy on a warmup instead of saving all of that for the real deal when you're actually in labor. So speaking of that, let's now talk about the positive signs of labor. So if you are experiencing any of these signs, then we know labor is starting. So having progressing contractions. This looks like having contractions that are getting longer, stronger, and closer together. When I think longer contractions, generally if they're getting closer to like a minute. Minute and a half, then we know we're more so in labor territory than if they were 30 to 45 seconds long or so. This is a huge one. If you start to notice that the contractions are getting much stronger, that is a really good indication that this is actually labor instead of it being a prodromal or practice or a warmup labor. So especially if this is not your first baby, I find that with moms that have had previous pregnancies their labor may not have this classic, labor pattern where they're coming super regularly or the contraction is lasting a very consistent amount of time, but I pay way more attention to. Are the contractions feeling much stronger than they were 30 minutes an hour ago? So that's a really, really good sign. And then of course, if the contractions are getting closer together, that's another great sign that we are in true labor territory. And so a general rule of thumb is look for the 4 1 1 or 5 1, 1 rule where contractions are coming every four to five minutes. The contraction is lasting at least a minute. And this has been happening for at least an hour. So generally when contractions are in this pattern, we're looking at turning from early labor to active labor. And so if you're planning a home birth, you'll definitely wanna let your team know, your midwife, your doula, whoever's coming to attend the birth, to start heading to you around that point. And if you're planning a birth center or hospital birth, this is about the time generally that you'll want to start making your way to your birthplace. And then if you notice, a large gush of amniotic fluid, so this is usually undeniable where you have copious amounts of fluid just pouring out of you. Again, wanting to use that same coat acronym, COAT, color odor amount and time to have as information for your provider to let them know what time your water broke. What was the color of the amniotic fluid? When you believed it broke how much was it and is there any odor to it? And then of course the final positive sign of labor is having cervical dilation. Meaning the cervix is thinning out, it's becoming softer. It's opening dilating, and the cervix is starting to move more forward. So all of these signs, if you're having contractions and you're noticing that there's change, these are all signs that you are in labor. Which of course you wouldn't know if you're dilating unless your provider is checking you. So don't stress about this. If you're just at home, definitely just look for those positive signs, having progressing contractions or generally following that 4, 1, 1 or 5 1, 1 rule. And or your, amniotic fluid is gushing. And so what to do during this phase. This is when you'll really need to tap into the comfort measures and techniques. Breathing, massage, just moving around different labor positions. All of these things you'll want to tap into. And if you're unsure what that means, I do have a childbirth education course where I go over all of these things. So check that out. This is the time to call your doula or your provider and let them know if you haven't already, let them know that you're in labor. And start getting, your birth environment really set up. If you're laboring at home and you're having a home birth, you'll definitely at this point want to start getting your music playing. The lights dim the birth pool ready, if that's what you're doing. Just really setting yourself up. And then of course, if you're laboring and delivering in a hospital or a birth center. Start making your way to your, birthplace if you haven't already, and get the whole room set up so that you will be ready for this labor and birth. I also highly suggest lightly eating eat if you're hungry, especially if it's the time of day that you would normally be eating. If you wake up and you start labor, but you haven't had breakfast yet, if you can eat something, definitely do that. And prioritize protein, and just things that you know, your body will tolerate well. And continue to hydrate, especially if you are feeling weak or tired or you just know you haven't been super hydrated. Up to that point, I suggest trying to take a sip of water or electrolyte, or having both available after each contraction. And if it's hard to remember to do that, which it definitely is, have your doula, have your husband, have your midwife, whoever help remind you to take sips after contractions. And then of course, you want to focus very deeply on remaining calm, relaxing every muscle, pretending you're a ragdoll, breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth, just focusing on relaxation and your breath, because everything else is pretty much out of your hand, your body. We will just take over. But you can do your part by remaining calm, staying in just that instinctual brain instead of the overthinking prefrontal cortex. You definitely don't wanna be in a problem solving mindset. You wanna just be in a very instinctual mindset. So I'd love to read a verse of encouragement this comes out of Psalm 31, 14 through 15, and it says, but I trust in you, Lord. I say, you are my God. My times are in your hands. And isn't that just so perfect? Especially if you're listening to this and you're having a lot of the warmup signs and you're just like, Lord, when will this baby come? You might even be 42 weeks pregnant, and you're like, I am so over being pregnant. Trust me, I get it. I never made it to 42 weeks. I always delivered, before 41 weeks. But I, I know how rough it is towards the end. So give yourself that grace that the Lord has the start of this labor in his perfect and capable hands, so just giving that to him. I hope this episode has given you some clarity and peace about recognizing the signs of labor. And just remember that this birth is unique and God's timing is perfect, even when it doesn't feel like it to you. The most important thing I want you to take away from this is that you trust your body and trust your instincts. You were fearfully and wonderfully made, and the same God who knit your baby together in your womb is equipping you with everything you need for this journey. So don't forget to grab that companion handout that I mentioned. It's going to be such a helpful resource for you, especially as you're getting closer to your due date. It's just nice to see it with your own eyes. So head over to faithoverfearbirth.com or like I said, click to the link in the show notes to sign up for that birth prep library. And if this episode was helpful for you, would you please take just a moment to leave a review or rate the podcast for me? It helps so much for more mamas to find this information. So head over there please, if you don't mind, and just know that I'm praying for you as you prepare to meet your little one. And before we go, I just wanna go ahead and just say a prayer over you as you're preparing for this time. Lord Jesus, I just lift up this precious mama to you right now. You see her in this season of waiting the discomfort, the wondering, the practice contractions that are just keeping her guessing. But father, you know, this is hard. Being pregnant is uncomfortable and not knowing when labor will begin can feel so overwhelming. Give her peace in uncertainty and rest in her waiting. Remind her that you have equipped her body with everything it needs, and you have surrounded her with the support she needs for this journey. Lord Jesus, please give her rest and when the time comes, give her strength and peace to birth her baby in your perfect timing. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So I will see you next week for another episode, but until then, mama, you've got this. And more importantly, God's got you.