xp from third tri....labor ?

rider5344

when they say contractions 3 min. apart are they exactly, or about?  I'm not sure if I'm in labor or not (sounds stupid right?!)  With DD I felt strange one min. and the next bam! my water broke in a flood.  I've been feeling crampy all night (since about 7 or so It's 1 am here right now) and they are coming pretty consistently and for the most part are getting stronger though some aren't as strong as others.  Will it be continually stronger and closer or is there some variance?

MirandaLea29

It's about three minutes. My water broke (trickled) at home and the contractions started out at around 4 minutes apart, then an hour later were anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes apart. It's not like clockwork, but tend to vary a little.

If you can't talk through them and they come around 3 minutes apart consistently for an hour you should go to the hospital and get checked out. Good luck!

SammyJJo

I had some variance, especially because I was having trouble identifying exactly when a contraction started and when it ended - I felt like it faded in and out more than just stopped and started.  My doula told me to only time the parts that were too painful to talk through, but of course this led to some interpretation.  The variation I got was about plus or minus 45 seconds around contractions spaced by 5 minutes.

That was about 6 hours before we went to the hospital.  It was also the last time we timed contractions.  In the end we went off other cues and I went to the hospital when I couldn't stay home anymore; I just knew it was time to be at the hospital.  This led to a speedy delivery, baby was there about an hour after we were.

polkadotsock

Mine were around two-three minutes apart from when they started to when I gave birth so I'm not much help. But my doctor said when you can't talk through them to call.