My friend has asked me to ask good old mumsnet a question may be one for lulumama.....

[ScoobyDooooo]

She has been having contractions they have been stopping & starting she is 36 weeks today, but she says her belly has gone rock hard, harder than ever she says it is uncomfortable is this a sign of labour or does the belly go soft i can not remember? this is her 2nd child.

I got this with DS2. It was Braxton Hicks!

Bloody uncomfortbale though. It went on for 2 weeks before he was born!

Sounds like Braxton Hicks - very strange things!!

She is very much hoping it is braxton hicks as she still has alot to do & buy, she only has half her hospital bag & is now panicking so i said i was ask for her. Shoudl she also expect her belly to go hard when real labour comes though?

as ID has said . it is braxtons!! very irritating though ! still , a full term pregnancy is 37 weeks onwards, so who knows! best thing to do is ignore them

BH are good, they help get the uterus ready and shift baby about a bit, ready for birth, so they are doing something positive! have a good bounce on the birth ball or a bath when they come and wait for it all to kick off !!

as long as her belly goes soft again, at some point, she is fine, if it feels rock hard and uncomfortbale for prolonged periods, give the midwife a call !

can i just say, i love all things birth related, as everyone knows , but there are lots of other wonderfully knowleadgeable MNetters out there too!! who most likely know more than me !

Like Mars, Mears, Hertsnessex, Toady, DaisyMOO , muminfife, just off the top of my head!!

and lots of others ! but it makes me and a little proud to be asked for xx

Thank you all am going to let her know

Sorry lulumama your name just sticks in my head & i see you alot on the pregnancy/birth related subjects that is why i asked for you & also i know you here quite often so could rely on you

your belly does become hard in labour, but there are lots of other things too

the contractions get into a rhythm, they do not stop, they last around a minute, they are often accompanied by backache, the time between them diminishes as the intensity increases. vomiting can occur,shakiness, feeling 'out of it',

look, no-one can predict when labour starts! this might be the beginning, or she could go to 40 + weeks..that is why it is important to try to get on with things , get the bag packed and then relax as far as is possible, and wait !

natural tips to help encourage cervical ripening and labour to start!

no worries, scooby !

Another good way to differentiate is when you get BH's you say, crikey that feels weird I wonder if it's labour
when it is labour you are unable to sit there and contemplate whether or not it is, you just know.
And also I found could not sit, or lay down when the real biz started, whereas with BH's I could
I'm 36 wks this week and have been getting them at an ever increasing rate since 30 wks
FWIw I really believe they do a lot of the hard work for you At least they appeared to for me!

Well the update is the asked her to pop up to labour ward to be monitored, so i went with her as her dp had there little boy. She went on the monitor & the baby was in distress the heart beat kept dropping then going very high, they monitored her for 2 hrs & luckily it settled down because they said if it had not they may have to do a cs because they did not like the fact the baby was in distress.

My friend looked knackered, she was moody & just wanted a cup of tea a twix & her bed (her words) we left at midnight & she has been ok, she had a few contractions whilst on the monitor but no pattern, she has been at home resting (as much as poss with a 4 yr old)

She feels she is going to be early this pg has not been great & she feels her body it now preparing her, she has totally had enough with all the aching, kicking in the ribs & tiredness bless her.

bless her...hope all is well, and she has a lovely labour when the time comes x