Belle - labour is wonderful (yes, I know I am nuts ) and nothing to be feared!! In most cases of natural labour commencement, the contractions actually start out quite mild and increase slowly. You (usually) have many hours before meeting your baby and each contraction brings you one step closer.

My labour with DS took me almost 3 hours to recognise I was in labour I had one contraction at midnight and 1am. At 2am I started to think this might be something They then moved to every 20 minutes, the every 7, then every 4. I was 4cm dilated at 6am, 7 cm at 8am.

With DD (third labour) - they were intense and rapid after 2-3 weeks of pre-labour (none with DS). She was posterior and contractions were close from the beginning. She was born 2.5 hours after being 2cm dilated (4 hour labour). The lead up to her labour resulted in me calling DH home from work 2 days before she was born - I was convinced she was going to arrive!!

Enjoy your last few days of pregnancy and the little person moving inside you. Be excited that labour means you will soon meet your little one - and that is an amazing thing Good luck!!