I need to learn about "false labor"... when does it become real?

[MyZymurgy]

I never had contractions with my DS (long story) so I'm not sure what to make of all this.

I woke up Friday night with contractions. I had them all day saturday. They were 7 minutes apart (like clockwork) Saturday morning. Saturday night they were six minutes apart. It is amazing to me how accurate they are and consistent - six minutes on the dot, it's crazy! They are not increasing in intensity - so when I called and spoke to a nurse she told me it was "false labor". This is fine by me since I am only 35 weeks.

How long can false labor last? Does false labor every become real labor? I just hope I won't be contracting like this for the next month before delivery. It's hard to sleep through them so it is sort of exhausting! This will eventually go away, right? Rest and fluids hasn't made a bit of difference. Walking just seems to increase their intensity, so I'm trying to 'take it easy'.

Tell me about your false labor/Braxton Hicks experiences. Is this all fairly "normal" for this stage of pregnancy?

Thanks so much!

[womenswisdom]

Yes, fairly normal, but no fun . It's called prodromal labor, not BH probably at this point. It can be very regular but doesn't increase in frequency, strength or duration. It IS making good changes to your cervix (maybe not dilation, but possibly effacement which is more important anyway, position, station, etc.) It's not likely this will continue for the next month. Either it'll stop (and maybe start again) or start getting longer, stronger, closer together and become "real" labor. You might ask your CP about trying a Benadryl or a glass of wine to see if you can get relaxed enough to get the to stop or to sleep at least. I had on/off prodromal labor for 3 weeks before I ended up being induced for no good reason at 40+3. It sucked, but the resulting c/s sucked way more so just try to relax and go with the flow and know that your body is working slooowly to bring your baby!

[staceychev]

I've been having it for weeks. When I went to midwife at 40+1, I was 3 cm and 50% dilated. But... still waiting to go into "true" labor. I'm 41 weeks tomorrow.

[MaerynPearl]

I had prodromal for over a month with my daughter... getting dehydrated made it worse. I went to the hospital several times thinking it was full blown labor and just told to drink more water and sure enough it would calm down...

The danger there is that when it actually DOES become real labor, you run the risk of thinking its not! So its better to be safe than sorry and at least get checked.

[MyZymurgy]

Thanks for the great responses!

The contractions today are continuing, however they are no longer like clockwork. Now they are 3, 5, or sometimes even 9 minutes apart. So, just further evidence that this isn't the real deal yet.

This afternoon, however, I've suddenly been hit with really bad lower back pain. I go to the bathroom often, thinking I need to #2 really bad but I don't... they are just cramps. I'm also dealing with some nausea now too. YUCK.

I'm sorry to be asking so many questions and sounding so naive. But can this back pain and nausea possibly be related to early labor? Or just normal sick feelings that everyone gets this late in the third trimester?

I know no one has a crystal ball, of course... but I'm just trying to learn what symptoms might actually be meaningful.

I'm very excited to meet our daughter --- but I hope I have at least a few more weeks before that happens! (And I hope that if I do have a few more weeks, they aren't filled with constant contractions, back cramps and nausea. Geesh. I'm so pooped and the show hasn't even begun!)

[beachlover]

Personally, since you are unsure and experiencing lots of different symptoms I'd ask my CP to see me. Only because your little one is NOT full term yet. If she was, I wouldn't worry at all.

It sounds like your baby has dropped and is applying pressure to your bottom and lower back but those symptoms can also be a sign of labor. My last few pregnancies, I had that for a few days and then had the baby, so in your case with baby not being due for a while yet, it may be worth getting checked out.