How much time before labor did you experience contractions?

It definitely sounds like your body is getting ready. I went thru 3 natural deliveries. Each time I had the same type of contractions as you described during the last week. I never really had bad contractions until after my water had broken.

Good luck!

Personally, I had preterm labor contractions which I started to experience at around 20-21 weeks. I was put on medication to stop it and didn't feel any contractions after that, not even Braxton-Hicks.

My water ended up breaking at 35 weeks, and I started to experience contractions about 20-30 minutes after my water broke. However, not everyone's labor starts this way. For a lot of women, contractions come first, and then the water breaks.

Braxton-Hicks contractions will actually intensify and occur more frequently the farther along you get in your pregnancy. Eventually, it may even be hard to distinguish between Braxton-hicks and the real thing. Just keep in mind that when you start experiencing contractions there are a few things you can do to try and figure out whether they are real labor contractions or not.

1.) If you are laying down and get contractions, get up and move around. B.H. will go away w/ moderate exercise like walking, while real contractions will intensify and not go away. If you are moving away trying laying down on your side, and see if they go away...again, real contractions will not go away.

2.) Try drinking several glasses of water. Sometimes B.H. will intensify w/ dehydration...but once you drink fluids and become hydrated again, the contractions will stop. But real ones will not.

3.) Try taking a bath. The warm water will relax the uterine muscles if they are BH, and the contractions will go away. If it is real contractions, they will intensify and become more frequent.

If you are experiencing contractions, just pay attention to them, and see if they are becoming regular. If you have more than 4 an hour, you need to call you provider or go to the hospital.

Also, your body will give you signs as it is preparing for labor:

1.) Loss of mucus plug/bloody show

2.) Low backache

3.) Diarrhea (your body's way of cleaning you out naturally)

4.) Regular contractions

5.) Water breaking

Good luck w/ everything.

you're lucky! i had painful contractions and cramping from week 30 on with both of my children. with my second, i was put on bedrest at 31 weeks because they were causing me to dilate and efface. with her, i had 4 false labors where i got contractions every 6 minutes for hrs, but they never got closer or stronger from about week 36 on. funny thing is, i made it all the way til 39 weeks 3 days before the real thing happened. but your body is definately starting to prepare for the big event.

I woke at 1:30am and just felt "off". I was getting easy contractions, then around 7am they got really bad. Those felt like HORRIBLE menstrual cramps. I went to the hospital and my daughter was born via emergency c-section because she was a footling breech at 10:38am. Oh and my water broke at the hospital over the toilet! :)

Good luck!!