How will I know if I'm going into labor? Labor & Birth

"When your contractions are consistently five minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds to one minute, for at least an hour [five minutes apart, one minute long, for one hour], you're likely in labor. Some women start labor very slowly -- and early labor can last days for some women, while others go almost immediately into active labor. I recommend calling your doctor or going to the hospital if your water breaks, you have heavy bleeding, or you don't feel your baby moving." -- Sarah Yamaguchi, MD, OB/GYN at Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, CA

"When you start experiencing regular painful contractions that are frequent and start to form a pattern, that typically indicates the onset of labor." -- Sheeva Talebian, MD, member of American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), New York, NY

"My first clue for both of my babies was my discharge/plug changing. It gets to be waxy or rubbery, super thick, and nearly impossible to wipe off. I had it two hours before active labor with my first baby."

"My early labor felt like period cramps -- not like Braxton-Hicks or regular contractions -- very, very crampy and also in my lower back, just like I was about to start my period."

"With my first baby, my water broke -- labor with the other babies started with contractions. They started mild, but five minutes apart. While they weren't super painful, I clearly felt a tightening from both sides towards the peak in my lower front stomach."

"I had a false alarm last week, and it turned out that I was dehydrated and having Braxton-Hicks contractions. With my oldest child, I got very restless the day before I went into labor and had hardcore nesting instinct. I started to vomit, lost my plug, had cramps different from Braxton-Hicks, and then I started to spot."