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They told me to come as soon as contractions were consistent. My mom had her second baby in under 4 hours plus I was GBS+ so my doc didn't want to take any chances. As it turned out it was a moot point for me because my water broke in the middle of the night at 37+5

No special instructions for me. I was GBS positive and my water broke spontaneously, so I went in ASAP. When my labor finally got going, my baby was born in 45 minutes.

@Foodnerd81: Have the contractions calmed down now?

I think it's so funny that, the first time around, we would preface questions like this with "FTM question, sorry!" - and now we're doing it for the second time we are still none the wiser!! I haven't got a clue what a normal contraction feels like (I never even had braxton hicks) so I'm not going to know if I'm in labour or not!!

I heard different things from my practice. My midwife and I settled on 3 min apart since my first labor was 51 hours.

My second labor snuck up on me since the contractions didn't hurt until 2 minutes apart. If you get timeable contractions you should pay attention to them regardless of intensity. I should have stuck with the 5-1-1. That was about 2.5 hours before LO was born. Since I waited until I felt like I was really in labor ( like the feeling I had at the start of labor with #1) I transitioned in the car and was 10cm when I arrived.

My water breaks so whenever it breaks I go to the hospital. My water breaks prior to 37 weeks so it's a no-brainer.

My doctor's office has you call the answering service before you go in. This time my water broke before contractions (and they were incredibly painful immediately versus my barely noticeable ones with my first labor) so we called and were told to come in right away.

My first labor was really long (over a day), and labor with my second happened so quickly. I was hesitant to head to the hospital since I had contractions on and off in the weeks leading up. I woke up in the middle of the night and just gave my DH the head's up that something might possibly happen. I had a hunch that this was the real deal, and the contractions were more consistent. Everything happened so quickly, and I'm glad DH rushed us to the hospital. The baby was born a few hours later.

I went in when my contractions were 5 mins apart, lasting about 45 seconds, for an hour... I was at 6cm when I got there and baby was born just over an hour later.

I'll be no help because for my second lo my midwife said to call her at the first signs of labor. My first lo I had an induction so I wasn't sure how labor would start. I ended up waking up at 12.20am with painful contractions that were 5 mins apart already. Of course I was in denial so got up and bounced on the birth ball etc, then got husband up at 2am to tell him I was in labor, rang the midwife at 2.30 and told her to come to my house to check me since I didn't believe I was far along (normal contractions were no where near as painful as my induction ones) she checked my and I was 8cm, so got an ambulance to the hospital and baby was born at 4.43am! So I'd say probably when they're painful and consistent

My doc told me the 5-1-1 rule, but I stopped counting pretty early on. I was basically just holding on until my mom arrived (water broke at 11 pm, my arrived at 115 am) and I went from feeling in control to absolutely out of control panicked within 15 minutes. Got to the hospital at 210 am, DD2 born at 3am. Next birth, I am really going to the hospital right away. Or I'm pretty sure I'm having the kid at home or in the car on the way.

At the hospital they told me 5-1-1 or if my water broke. I went from feeling a little sick to delivering in less than an hour so I should have just gone in for even feeling off.

Who knows what I'll have to do if I have another one!?!

With both of my kids, it was waiting until contractions got more regular. The second time, we organized our toddler for a babysitting stay. By that point, the contractions were pretty regular and fierce. I went into labor around 9am and had him at 6pm. I was GBS positive, so they did everything they could to delay delivery until the four hour mark.

I was told to go in when they were 7-8 minutes apart. I was already 4 cm dilated so they didn't want me hanging out at home too long. My contractions weren't super strong or painful, but it did hurt a bit. I was convinced the doctor was just going to send me home. Nope, I was 6 cm. 4 hours later she was here.

I would call when you think things are happening m. Good luck!!

I didn't get any special directions for my second baby - basically the same as the first. Things definitely progressed faster for baby #2 though!

And I went into labor at 37 weeks too, so it can happen!