Do contractions start gradually or just hit you?

[Baloonphobia]

This is actually my second baby but with the first I was woken up with a strong pain, 9 mins later another one and so on and baby arrived 6 hrs later. I'm wondering if this was my first contraction or would smaller ones have been building while I was asleep and then I only woke as they got bigger?

I didn't go naturally so I'm in for my induction this morning. Just had a lot of monitoring and waiting now to head up to the ward.

Good luck! Hope it all kicks off quickly for you and goes smoothly. Newborn cuddles are imminent

Hope it's all gone brilliantly! Good luck!

Well, I was induced. The gel worked, got it at half 12 and they broke my waters at half 8. Longest 8 hours of my life. Got epidural then and it only worked on one side. But that was fixed and had baby in two big pushes at 11. Thanks everyone!

Congratulations!