latent phase

My waters went first and an hour later contractions started. They initially weren't that painful and felt different to anything I'd felt before. Like my whole lower belly was clenching for a few seconds and then releasing. They were irregular, between 5 and 15mins apart I think. This was all in the middle of the night and I laid in the bath for like 2hrs 😅 in the morning They were a bit more painful and I needed the TENS. But then they eased off around midday and I actually slept- had maybe 10-30mins between them or they were milder maybe.

After about 12hrs they finally ramped up and got much more painful and more frequent which I would guess was probably 1st stage.

So all in all it was very obvious for me and lasted around 12hrs before I was in established labour. It can last days though!! And waters might not go until much later.

Keep hydrated and monitor the frequency of cramps. If in doubt ring the midwives! Good luck 🩷

ive had the constant urge to open my bowels for a few days and last night i had diarrhoea, ive been feeling sick since yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon i had intense irregular contractions that lasted a few hours and then went away. they started up the same night for the same amount of time and i had backache until i fell asleep. i feel like i could be in the latent phase and i never experienced this with my first hence why im so worried

It might be your body getting ready for labour/baby moving into a ready position! If you are worried, ring triage to talk it through with a midwife- they are the ones that know best! Are you still feeling baby moving okay?