All of that is really helpful guys, thanks so much.

It does help to be on my feet so am just wandering around the house and DH is timing my contractions = which are sorer than I expected for starter ones. They are still fairly irregular but all are lasting a steady 3 minutes at the moment. Might give it another hour and ring the hospital - it's been almost 6 hours of this. Not that I think I am close or anything, I know this could go on for a while but I just want to talk to the midwives again.

Might try a shower shortly.
Thanks again folks, I'll be back and forward to here over the next few hours I'm sure.

Sue x