Transitioning from Braxton Hicks to Real Labor

I am 34 weeks and have been monitored for contractions 3x a day in the hospital for the last week. For my first 2 pregnancies, I NEVER felt Braxton Hicks contractions and did not feel real contractions until either after my water broke or less than 24 hours before I delivered. I have been feeling lots of contractions for the past several weeks and they are still 2 to 10 minutes apart (with some barely noticeable and some pretty intense). My high risk specialist says they are just practice Braxton Hicks contractions because they are not changing my cervix. They are talking about sending me home since I am at 34 weeks, but I am worried that if my water breaks or my contractions start kicking in, that my labor will progress very quickly or it would be hard for me to tell when there are enough "real" contractions to come back to the hospital. I live over 30 minutes away from the hospital and don't want to ignore symtoms long enough that I don't make it to the hospital. Can enyone tell me about your experience transitioning from Braxton Hicks to Real Labor and what kind of time frame you had? ThanksTr

 

i had pretty regular BH from fairly early on, at all levels of intensity, but at around 33.5 weeks they started to be more on the painful side. i also started having a thick mucosy discharge & at my 34 week appointment i was 2 - 3 cm dilated. they said to come in if i had 6 or more contractions in an hour that didn't go away with rest, drinking water or emptying my bladder. that evening, i was timing regular contractions every 8 - 10 minutes that weren't going away with rest or water or emptying my bladder and even though they weren't any more intense than they had been in the previous week, i went into the hospital to get checked. i was 4 cm dilated & stayed overnight without any change. the next morning, still in triage, they said i could have a shower if i wanted. when i got back to my bed, my water broke & my girls were born about 2 hours later.

try not to worry - if you're concerned or have a feeling something's up, go and get checked. the worst they're going to do is send you home.

 

I had regular BH contractions starting at 32 weeks. They were 3-7 minutes apart all of the time and slightly uncomfortable. I could always tell when I was having one. They never went unnoticed. I also had a lot of mucuous the last 2 weeks. I kept thinking I was losing my plug. I would time the contractions at home and then at every NST they were the same, but since I never progressed, they kept sending me home. The day before my girls came, I could feel the transitioning but was still only 1-2 cm. It was just a little more uncomfortable, not necessarily super painful. I had an NST that day and a growth scan and I tried to convince my peri to let me stay. I delivered the next day at 36.5 weeks. I woke up at 4am with serious discomfort and drove to the hospital (45 min away) and when they checked me I was 100% and 6cm. My best advice is if you are feeling any different, go right away because it can go quickly just like mine!

 

Good question! I am wondering the same thing... found out today I'm 2cm and 70%, my BH over the last week have become more painful, but not something that stops me from normal activities, and nothing closer than 10 minutes apart.. My first son came an hour after my water broke (we barely made it to hospital) so I'm trying to figure out the same thing.. When do I know it's "real" contractions?!

Thanks for your responses so far!

 

Yesterday evening I experienced rather painful BH contractions and this morning I spotted something that looks like the mucous plug. Oh, I'm so worried...

 

Well, the 2 things I feared would happen actually did and I was very thankful that I was still on bedrest at the hospital when they did. My Braxton-Hicks had converted to progressive "real" contractions and I had no clue - if anything the contractions did not seem as bad as ones I had before. Two days after having a "high and tight" cervix, they discovered after a routine non-stress test monitoring that my contractions were regular and that I was 2-3cm dialated and -1 position.

The other part was that I ended up with an unplanned C-Section less than 3 hours later and the babies were born at 34wks +1day (5lbs 6oz and 5lbs 3oz, both about 18 inches) During the same routine non-stress test monitoring, they detected an very fast heart rate for Baby B, which ended up being a result of her having an atrial flutter (abnormal heart rate). By midnight the NICU doctors shocked her to reset her heart rhythm, and she spent the next 3 days in the NICU. We stayed in the hospital a 3 more days in the regular nursery to monitor their weight gain and jaundice levels and just got home this week.

There are sooo many things that ironically fell into place that night - Praise God looking over us through the whole situation and placing us where we needed to be and in the hands of great nurses and doctors!