Who Knows If I'm in Labor???? NOT ME!!

Stay VERY hydrated - especially in the summer time. That should help ease the false contractions.

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Sit on the ball and kinda roll your hips around. It is meant to help relax your pelvis and hips and get the baby in a good position. Good luck!

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I'm not sure how people use the exercise ball while laboring. But to answer your question as to how to know you are in real labor or not would be "there's a prize at the end of the real one ;)"

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It's real labor when you can barely breathe through the contractions :-)

I used the yoga ball by putting it on the hospital bed and resting my upper body on it. I was basically sitting on my knees and hugging the ball. It helped with the early contractions.

Good luck to you! Please update with you have the baby!!!

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They sit on it and rock or swivel their hips around on the ball. Some will lay their elbows, face and chest on the ball while knees are on the floor and also rock or swivel. It releases pressure and helps with the baby moving/rotating down where it needs to be.

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If it hurts like real labor, then it's early labor...and I consider it real labor. Just not the labor that's going to end with a baby coming out. You'll know it's "real" labor when it doesn't stop and a baby comes out (hehe).

But for real, if you're labor is anything like mine, it will start picking up pace and intensity. It won't stop after a few hours. I have a lot of early labor like you're describing, 24 hours of it! It doesn't stop, though, but I'm not dilated enough for them to consider it active labor...but it hurts just like active labor! Except that when active labor gets going, it's more "fast and furious" and there's no doubt in my mind it's the real thing.

The birth ball, maybe try bouncing it off your head? hehe. Just kidding. I'm not really sure. Hopefully someone else will know the answer to that one.

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Well, knowing when you are in labor can be tricky, but eventually you will know. It is often recommended if you have contractions at least five min apart for at least 1-2 hours and are strong enough that they stop you in your tracks, you can't walk and talk through them, then it is time to get checked out. I would check with your doc about what guidelines they recommend for evaluating labor.
As for the ball, you can sit on it, knees wide apart, it gets you in a modified/supported squat to open up the pelvis. You can kinda roll your hips in a circle or sway them back and forth to help the baby's head settle in the right position. Some women prefer to be still during contractions, others find the motion to be a good distraction, so moving during or in between contractions is up to you. Sometimes it helps to be facing a bed or table so you can lean forward for support during strong contractions.
Hope you get to meet that baby soon! Good luck.

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I never tried it but a friend did it helps with gravity it kind of pulls everything down. Some people just slowly bounce on it while they are in labor it helps with the contractions hope this helps

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Oh man, that's rough. I had the same thing with my 3rd, and I felt silly because by the 3rd kid you should "know". Hang in there, I bet you'll be meeting your sweet bundle sooner rather than later.

As for the ball, you can sit on it and kind of move your hips in a circle during contractions. It's supposed to help you manage your contractions, I think it also helps thin out the membranes too.

I am so sorry it sounds like you are miserable,... the only reason I am even posting is to tell you that you really made my day u posted on one of my questions and told me to check out ur question which led me to looking at some of the other ones,.... OOHHH my too funny u have got the best personality I have seen in a very long time!

I had the same problem. I never had regular labor.I dilated to 8 the last one without labor. You need to get up and walk when you hurt,if it's false labor it will stop. if it's real,it won't.

Drink water! I found no difference between real and false labor other than my false labor would stop after I drank water.

Oh you added the ball. Take the damn thing, sit on it, lie on it, roll around, if it feels good keep doing it! Seriously! What works for some doesn't work for others, it is meant to relax and keep the pain to a minimum. Well unless you are heck serious, then you straddle it and kinda rock and roll.

I had to use the exercise ball for my second pregnancy. My son was face down instead of face up. I "rolled" on the ball on my front to get him to turn. It worked!

My advise is walk walk walk. An exercise ball is used to bounce on, it brings the baby down.

I sat on the exercise ball all day when I was in labor the first time because if I was on the bed, I felt nauseated and hot and bothered. I just could not be on the bed. So, I stayed on the ball all day. The nurses made me a "diaper" so that my water/fluids did not leak onto the ball/floor. I had a friend in the labor room with me and she massaged my back while I sat on the ball (I had back labor through that whole day). She had great access to my back and it was a miracle for me to have her there. I did natural labor and it was only at the very end that I got up on the bed to deliver the baby. But, like someone else also said, my baby was in the wrong position and so maybe being on the ball helped with that as well. He was still in the wrong position before delivery, so they put me on the bed and basically turned me upside down (my head way down and my feet way up) and then they waited for gravity to make him flip. He flipped and then he was delivered.

-L.

I was just like you except the contractions didn't hurt. Even the night I went into real labor they felt no different. If I had listened to everyone's advice, I would have had the baby at home! The only sign it was real labor is that I kept track of the time. For a month or so my contractions were 5 minutes apart, always starting at 9:00 at night. The night I went into labor they immediately started at 3 minutes apart. They felt no different. I was in no pain, talked through contractions. Couldn't go to sleep because I was worried I was really in labor so I went to the hospital (even after my sister and labor & delivery told me I wasn't in labor!). When I got to the hospital I was already a 5! So, watch your timing :)
Good luck!