Contractions - anybody not just know?

[sanfair]

As a first timer (at 40+3), I've been getting occasional niggles that make me think everything's getting ready to go but haven't had anything like a contraction yet.

The definitive advice I've had (and am happy to accept) is that you just know when it's a real contraction.

I'm curious to know though, if anyone has been in the position where they didn't 'just know' and they were in labour?

Me on dc2 I had a stop start labor it started 7 times and lasted about 4-5 hours each time. When the real thing came I would not believe it was it until a hour before birth, this was not helped because ds had started with waters breaking which was a clear sign .

Of course it does happen but the intensity of contraction needed to push a baby through the birth canal is not something that you usually mistake for anything else or are able to put down to anything else.

It's like the difference between eating a slightly dodgy prawn and feeling a bit rough but able to ignore it and full blown food poisoning when you can't move from the toilet and/or sick bowl. Your body is busy with very strong and uncontrollable expulsion efforts. It's very apparent what's happening and how they're different once it starts.

I agree with show of hands because mine were cc they just kept stopping so when it was the real thing I thought they were going to stop, think it was because I was overly stressed at the time.

I was having BH for weeks, worse in few days before.

This was DC3, went to hospital with me saying its probably BHs.

He was born 2.5 later - I was sure I was in labour probably around an hour after arrival, ie 90 minutes before he was born.