BH vs Real Thing - how will I know?

[bumperlicious]

Hi all

Just been woken up early this morning by bad pains in my belly. I don't know if they are braxton hicks or not, and TBH I could have been having them for a while, but I am just so uncomfortable all the time I'm not sure I can tell the difference.

But this time it woke me up. The first time was just a hardening of the bump (I always put this down to the baby moving into an awkward position, but maybe BH?) then next two were definite period type pains in my lower uterus which were painful but subsided after a minute (or probably less). Things always seem much worse in the middle of the night so that may be why I'm stressing, but I guess my real point is how will I know if they are BHs or early contractions?

mmmh - well, TBH it can be hard to tell them apart and with my second baby I dismissed as BH what were actually real contractions. Really, the only difference I have ever been able to tell is that they hurt more - only a bit at first and gradually worsen.
What's also always worked with me is getting into the bath and seeing whether they continue or not - BH usually stop, the real deal just carries on.

When are you due?

I had what I thought were just my BH but turned out not to be, as my BH got me to 4cm!

I would have a bath, and try to rest, you'll soon know if they are BH or not.

I was told that if they continue for over an hour in a pattern that it is likely that they are the real thing. It needs to be a continuous pattern though and they need to get consistently closer together. BH can be quite painful, I get a few each day usually in the evenings but they always die off after about half an hour and then the odd one at other times in the day.

hi bumperlicious,

because i have been having lots of BH, i ended up reading lots about it. all the information seems to point the differences in terms of constancy. while BH are unpredictable and most of the time not painful, contractions for labour are quite constant and painful. so it seems like the labour ones will increase by the hour too, just like lucia22 said, while BH will fade away.

but i also read if you are close to your due date and starts to get them constantly within one hour, its better to play safe and call the labour ward.

I had the worst BH last night from about 7pm to 10pm every 5 minutes. They finally stopped but if they hadn't I would have gone to the hospital pronto.

I'm 33 weeks. They aren't constant but some of the do bloody hurt! Just now I couldn't sit down as my pelvis/belly hurt so much! I think it's just a bit of a shock as I've only just started getting them.