hi, I am 39 weeks pregnant and due my first baby on monday 24th november . i am really scared about all the pain and labour which will be coming up for me very soon.can anyone tell me what to look out for for early signs of labour? I have been active all the through my pregnancy and now i have had a bad lower backpain for over a week now which is making my walking painful and lying down, this is any signs?

sometimes there are signs but sometimes there arnt obvious one is waters breaking but pain in the bump underneath,contractions ect,i also felt sick and dizzy. As for pain it may not hurt that much i can honestly say my 40 hour labour was not that painful, contractins hurt a bit but not as much as everyone told me,i only had pain relief cause i was so tired and the midwives said it was pain relief or a section there and then,i did end up with a section so cant comment on pushing but labour itself doesnt have to be painful,drink plenty,breath through and use your energy to hope with the pain and not scream ect.
My oh and dad said i was the nicest calmest pwerson ever in labour and the midwives said that i was amazing how i coped with it all without even a cross word but i just let my body take control and didnt fight it.
goodluck and i hope your little ones doesnt keep u waiting too long.x

Hi there
As Zoey said, you may get some signs but you may not! The backpain probably means that things are starting to get ready, but it may still be a while befoe anything happens. I had a show and then on-off contractions over 2 days which gradually got stronger.

Try not to worry about the pain, you will get through it! It did hurt, but I do think the fear of it is much worse than the pain itself. I'm a bit of a wimp normally but I was fine with the tens machine and then gas and air, for about an hour I was in the birth pool with no gas and air available. Just take each contraction at a time and remember that each one brings you closer to meeting lo, and that makes it all worthwhile! Do get as much rest as you can though, the thing that I really remember is just how much hard work it was pushing her out.
Good luck, and I'm sure it won't be as bad as you're expecting!

my sign was i had a hard thump in my stomach so it felt something told me to run to the bathroom then my waters broke but i was already 4cms gone. but my little sister she didnt even know she was in labour she had a pain in the bottom of her back and her mother in law said your in labour which she didnt believe got to hospital and she was. i wont say about my labour because it was hard and apinful but worth it in the end and know its hard to think about it, forgot all about it.

I had grumbling period pains on and off from about 37 weeks. I kept getting my hopes up, but labour came without warning. I got up in the night to go to the loo and it just started. I was scared about labour, but I managed on gas and air only, and had nothing when I was pushing. I made it to hospital at 6cm dilated and was coping really well. I wouldn't have gone in at that point but I was bleeding quite heavily and was a bit concerned. I think the best way to cope is to relax. It's painful for a reason and fighting it will only make things worse. Good luck, I am sure you will be fine.