Is this "the real thing" or just false labor?

[aumismommy]

Is this just my body getting ready or is this the real thing?? Please advise.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant (or possibly a little further) and had a long day yesterday of a lot of BH - timed them and they were irregular any where from 10 to 45 minutes apart lasting 10-30 seconds. Called the MW's and they said it sounded like normal prelabor stuff and to call them if I had more than 4 contractions in an hour lasting 30 seconds. They didn't get regular or longer. Kind of slept and woke to a few stronger feeling contractions.... but they don't hurt like I was expecting. So now today, I can't get my low back to stop aching for the life of me - I went for a walk to try to move it around and stretched...no avail. Also this afternoon I'm getting a little nauseous with some slight period style cramps (nothing too strong, pretty mild). Again, it's not strong feeling like I would expect if it were "the real thing" but I also don't want to be at the bank and have my water break ya know?

Any thoughts would be appreciated from those that have gone through anything like this! TIA

[MaerynPearl]

many women I know of (including myself) do not have membranes rupture until transition or even after actual birth.

Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to know the difference is real labor ends with a baby in your arms.

Have you tried hydrating yourself and resting to see if they go away?

[aumismommy]

Definitely hydrated and I have just been running a few errands today - nothing strenuous but am on my way back home now. They actually seem stronger when I am resting - whether they are or I'm just actually feeling them more since I'm not distracted. The backache is only better when I'm in the shower and let the hot water stay on it for awhile.

[lilylumos]

Sounds pretty normal. HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE and try to relax! it's very uncommon for water to break before labor so don't worry about that. This is your body getting ready for the big day!

[Annoia]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

many women I know of (including myself) do not have membranes rupture until transition or even after actual birth.

Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to know the difference is real labor ends with a baby in your arms.

Have you tried hydrating yourself and resting to see if they go away?

Too true. With my first, my membranes ruptured, then contractions started about 2 hours later.

With my second, she ruptured my membranes with her head as she came barreling out.

FWIW, I didn't feel like I was in labor until....I was in labor. The best way I can describe it is this - the moment I stopped asking myself "is this labor?" is when it was labor! The contractions became so distracting that I didn't care what it was labeled ... I just needed to focus.

[Just1More]

Well...that would be the sort of thing that would have me calling my midwife to come, falst alarm or not. My second baby gave me about a day of that, but not so strong. Then, "real" contractions started, but I was unknowingly on the cusp of transition. From the first truly painful contraction, it was 30 minutes until he was born.

Just sayin'.

[JessieBird]

That's exactly how my labour with DS started. My contractions were never painful and they didn't get regular until after about 24 hours of what you're describing. I had lots of back pain in the early stages but it went away. My midwife came over and checked me in the morning after a night of this. I was 4 cm and she said that with "latent" labour like that, progress could be less than a day away or two weeks away. Labour sped up that evening and DS arrived in the morning.

I think it's very rare for waters to break suddenly. From what I've read, it's usually a slow to moderate leak and you'll have time to take cover if you're in public. Mine broke with a loud pop and a gush but I was already 10 cm and pushing, definitely not in line at the bank. Conveniently I was on the toilet!