"Tightening" vs Braxton Hicks vs contractions

[lalue]

Hello all - I'm 33 weeks and in the last few weeks everything seems to have gone off a bit! Baby measured small, I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced high blood pressure and then last night tested positive for a risk of preterm birth whilst they thought I was having contractions. All in all we've been bracing ourselves for a little while that she may come quite early.

It sounds like I might be allowed home on the condition I come back if there are any "tightenings". I'm probably overthinking it but what would that feel like and how would you distinguish it from normal shifting around in there? I'm a bit nervous that when I thought baby was just in an awkward position that meant I could feel her more and had been quite reassured about it, this was showing on the CTG effectively as contractions!

Thank you for any thoughts and sorry for the mind dump - feeling a bit jumbled.

I didn't realise I was having braxton hicks for along time. I thought it was just my baby was just in a weird position as my tummy would go hard and id rub it and then it would stop and I just thought it was the baby moving! I got a lot of them. I was in a quite physical retail job where I was on my feet and I notice I got them a lot more when I was doing any exercise like walking to and from work. I got them very early on through my whole pregnancies. My first son was premmie 31w3ds I would say I had less Braxton hicks with him. He wasn't at risk if preterm labour it was just a random thing (although I suspect it was the pregnancy chiropractor adjusting my pelvis that caused it but that's another story!) My second was full term and I had a lot more with him. Was 36 weeks they suddenly became very regular every 10 minutes and I went into hospital to be monitored but they just stopped. I think it's very normal to have a lot of Braxton hicks but it's when they become regular that it might lead to being actual contractions.

Thank you, @Cotswoldmama - that's really reassuring! Exactly how I've been feeling - i.e. like baby is closer to the surface somehow and if I rub the part that feels tight she shifts a little. Had no idea that it might be Braxton Hicks (or contractions) until yesterday's CTG. So maybe looking out for that coming more regularly/with greater intensity.