How do you know you're in labor?

[CrazyEvil88]

I feel totally stupid for asking that question, but I was induced with my daughter last year as soon as I hit 37 weeks. I never felt contractions in my pregnancy before that. This time around I feel contractions all that time, and they're pretty regular at about 5- 7 minutes apart. But they're not paticularly strong contractions even though they last about 45 seconds. A lot of people tell me as they get that close together it starts getting painful, but I'm not really feeling like its so bad. I just want to know if maybe this is just false labor. Or if anybody else went into labor without feeling that much pain at first.

[Bren07]

 real labor contractions should/will last longer, get stronger and closer together....with my first my water broke so that's y i went into the hospital. the contractions i was having didnt feel any different than the BH i had been having. they didnt get painful until they gave me pitocin...with this baby i have been having BH (for months) and false labor (for weeks)...when i have the false labor (which happens almost every night) the contractions will come every 4-5mins and last about 1min 30seconds, they will happen for hours but not get any stronger or closer..
hope i helped some..

[ParkerMommy]

This can very well be labour. We had our little guy on monday 9 daays early. My contractions started at 7 mins apart when I woke up sunday morning then by the after noon they were regular 2 1/2 miins apart. During this time we were shopping at the mall so mine weren't really painful either. We went to the hospital just to be safe, they me home I was only 1 cm. But I swear as soon as we left the hospital they stared hurting so bad. The crazy thing they weren't that regular. Well by 4:30 in the morning I was going to pass out from the pain so we went back. I was diaated to 4 so they checked me in. So just cause yours aren't that ppainful doesn't mean its not real, it just might the begining. Good luck!

[cskomk0106]

I was induced with my first also, and haven't had this one yet, but with my first, even with the pitocin, I didn't feel any pain until after my water broke. Early labor isn't necessarily painful. You may want to go in and get checked out just in case, ya know?

[CrazyEvil88]

Thanks for all your help. Now I have more of an idea of what I'm looking for. I actually called my doctor and he said to wait until they get a little bit more painful and last at least a minute. I just hope I don't end up like my mom. She told me that she had no idea she was in labor with me until she was ready to push. Considering I have a 40 minute drive to the hospital that probably wouldn't be good.

[Roza1969]

 Ditto, I have the same thing BH's all the time, not painfull just tightening and hardening of my belly for a few minutes. 

[Mommy-2009]

I went through 22 hours of labor and the contractions really didn't hurt AT ALL the whole time. The only thing that hurt was my bum! I later found out it was hemorrhoids, which I didn't get until a while after labor started. I was just lying in bed and feeling my tummy tighten up... some of them I couldn't even feel except by pressing on my tummy to see if it was hard. I was at 3 cm by the time I got to the hospital and hadn't felt even the remotest pain at that point. Even throughout it all the only way I could tell I was having a contraction half of the time was from my bum hurting worse during them... and this is without an epidural and minimal amounts of pain medication.