id had braxton hicks and lots of pains on and off for a few weeks leading up to birth from 37 weeks id say and i gave birth at 40+2. The pains even when they were bad and coming regular never got too intense or didnt get worse over time.

When i actually was in labour i woke up with vey intense pains that i just knew it was the real thing, I had to breath through them and they were just so much more intense, they also kept coming regularily but actually mine started to fizzle out a bit after about 4 hours and me and hubby got disapointed then all of a sudden i had a couple of huge contractions and was throwing up (sorry tmi) and we just knew it was time to go. after that they just kept coming regularily and got more and more intense. I was 5cm when i arrived at the hospital (but i think with having contractions on and off for the few weeks leading up that must have helped me dialate a bit!) 3 hours later i was 10cm and feeling big urge to push.

everyones so different though but id just say go with your instincts and call the hospital for advise if you are unsure, id say if your able to have conversation on phone to hospital then it might be worth sticking it out a bit longer till they get more intense, but then thats me i didnt want to be at the hospital a long time i wanted to labour at home as long as i could. goodluck!

My contractions never built up closer together, they were every 3 minutes from the start, i just "knew" labour had started, i went into hospital when the pain began to get more unbearable (16 hours after first contraction) x

I knew when to go in because I just started getting contractions every 5 minutes from the beginning. Literally nothing to BOOM! OH rang the hospital and they asked to speak to me and his words were (while I was on the floor screaming like a banshee) "erm she's a little bit hysterical" so they told us to go in. My contractions started at 4.30am and Pashley was born at 3.33pm that afternoon.
x

Every pregnancy and woman is so different here is my one word of advice: If you think your in labor (sever pain, consistently close together times) GO to the hospital!! I was in denial with my first and almost had the baby in the car! Trust me...you would rather go into the hospital and be turned away 100 times becuase its false labor than sit at home in agony, not having the baby monitored, and jeopardize not getting an epidural (that is if its part of your plan )

I didn't know. We were told "wait until contractions are under 5 minutes apart lasting over 45 seconds".....so I went into hospital when they were 3 minutes apart and lasting over a minute and they sent me home....TWICE! (Apparently I wasnt in 'active labour')

I never felt the tightening of Braxton Hicks when I was in real labor. For me, though, contractions started as "gotta pee" urges without the other bladder signals. Once those were 3-5 minutes apart and 1 min in length, we were to call our OB who'd authorize us to head to the hospital.

same here. they are nothing alike. contractions hurt like hell, i kept feeling the need to poo so i sat on my toilet for each one until i went in. i thought i would have a prob knowing, too, but like everyone says-you will know. just start timing them (i found an app on my phone) and try to rest until you go in.

Yeah, Braxton Hicks are just tightenings. Contractions start like Braxton hicks but then you get a dull pain at the bottom of your bump (I did) which quickly progressed into a sharp pain which then progressed into some sort of 'SAW' movie torture scene. Felt like my hips were being sawn through.

I got really painful braxton hicks in the last few weeks of my first pregnancy (and have been having them for much longer this time, grrr!), so i was a bit worried that i might not know when i was truly in labour.

But i did
The pain was way worse than the most painful braxton hicks i had, i literally couldn't speak or focus while i was having a contraction and when i called the labour ward and had a contraction in the middle of a conversation i threw the phone down as i couldn't speak during it and they told me to come in straight away. I was only having them every 7/8 ish mins which is why i held off calling for a while as i was always told about the 3-5 min apart 'rule' but i was still around 5cm dilated, thank god, so everyone is different

The day before was a Sunday and I was tired of being pregnant so my husband took me out of town to eat a spicy chicken sandwich and walk around a shopping center for a couple hours. The next morning I was having contractions and went to the bathroom and there was bloody show. I waited and things started slowly progressing so my mom took me to get checked and I was dialated to 2cm. ta da