Confused about my Contractions...

[BlueIrises]

I believe my contractions have started sometime are 3:40, then 4:40, then 5:10, and again 5:40...the last one woke me up...I hope this isn't BHC.

When I woke up at 3:30ish I felt crampy and then I felt this wave of heat or tightness move across belly. I am hopeful this is the real thing and not a false alarm. (Would love to know from veterans if that is what a contraction feels like in the early stages)

I have been writing them down for the past 2 hours and they come every 10-12 minutes. However they are now low and not going across my whole belly as before. Also I don't really have lower back pain as described in all these PG books that say real contx include lower back pain...

Also, there was a little bloody mucus when I wiped earlier...very little but that was new...

Do you think my body is faking it or is this really happening?

I'm so confused b/c at yesterday's doc appt he said I was still only a fingertip dilated and 60-70% effaced...

Help me understand what is going on!

[Lia M]

It does sound like you might have started labor to me. The blood when you wiped was your mucus plug. That was my first sign with my first baby. She was born about 30 hrs later. Just keep timing your contractions and keep doing what you had planned to do today. If the contractions start to get serious you can always stop.

[Lia M]

DO NOT GO TO THE HOSPITAL UNTIL YOU HAVE VERY HARD LABOR! You could easily end up with a c-section if they think you are taking to long!

[earthgirl]

Yeah, I think you may be in labor. For me, nothing happened the way I expected. Mine started with my water breaking, which is when I also lost my mucus plug. This confused me b/c there was a lot more blood than I expected. I did not start having contractions until 4.5 hours later and they were sporadic and weird almost the entire labor. I don't think it was until the last 2 hours that they came with any regularity whatsoever.

Just keep paying attention to what's going on. You'll know when it's time to go to the hospital. Good luck!

Oh, forgot to say that I didn't have back pain until it was time to push and even then it wasn't very bad.