Questions

I had a scheduled c-section, so I never really went into labor. No help here, sorry.

The only time I went into labor on my own, my water broke before I had any contractions. My friend said she went to the hospital with painful contractions that were pretty steady but they weren’t changing her cervix. It’s hard to know when to go and most of the time people go and are sent back home at least once before they go in real labor. I wish I could help, I know the waiting is so hard!

Although, while this may not be specific enough, I’ve heard that you should do something different – take a bath, lie down, eat something – and if they go away, they weren’t real. The few times that I thought I might be going into labor, that’s what I did. The contractions always stopped.

The contractions shouldn’t stop for anything if they’re real. If you take a bath, walk, stretch, take a nap etc and they stop then they weren’t the real thing. That being said, I really didn’t know when I was in labor because my contractions weren’t painful and it was 3 weeks before my due date….so if you have continous contractions (painful or not) or some other signs (mucus plug, blood, etc) it won’t hurt to get checked!

I was induced, but I could tell the contractions…dang, they hurt! My BH weren’t painful…just annoying. When are you due?

What others have said about moving (or stopping) or changing position is true – real contractions will continue whereas BH don’t. I also felt my contractions very low and in my back, whereas BH were at the top of my uterus. I had a day of non-painful contractions and then a day of rather painful! I knew I was in labour because it felt different, and I wrote down the times and they seemed to followa pattern, even from the start. I was told to go to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart for at least an hour. It’s good, if you can, to stay at home for as long as you feel comfortable and safe, labour progresses better if you are relaxed so a familiar environment helps.

Also, I didn’t get ‘real’ contractions until that Saturday morning, but when I woke up I realised they had been going on for a few hours in my sleep. I do remember late in my pregnancy that the occasional contraction felt different to others, but they stopped when I shifted.

My Mom’s trick was to start baking something. When it finally got to the point that she couldn’t keep baking, she knew it was real labor. As a result, I ate a lot of brownies right around the time Melissa and Keegan were due. I know that’s not really what you’re looking for, but I thought I’d share anyway.

Congrats.