I'm nearly 38w and I've been in early labour for I think just under a week now. At first I thought I was having Braxton Hicks, but after a trip to triage on Sunday night the doctor confirmed that the monitors were picking up contractions every 3-5 minutes that looked too strong and regular to be BH. At that point they felt fairly mild, but they've become much stronger over the last few days. Still really variable though... sometimes they're so painful I have to stop and breathe through them, sometimes I can carry on with what I'm doing and talk through them. No real pattern to them yet. I find they're milder and less frequent in the daytime, then build up in the evening until I'm convinced this might actually be it at around midnight, then they die off again!
The doctor said this could go on for hours, days or weeks, especially with a first birth! I know no one has a crystal ball but it's so frustrating and tiring going through this day after day without any idea of when things might ramp up! So I would love to hear your early labour stories - how long did this stage last for you?