What does real labor feel like?

We are getting closer, as I write this I am 39 weeks and 1 day. The longest I've been pregnant yet! My others came at 38 weeks 1 day and 38 weeks 6 days, so this feels like eternity to me!

So that question all first time moms have "What does real labor feel like?". Recently I was able to be a 'doula' (I'm not certified so I use that term loosely) for a good friend's labor and delivery. She was first time mom and we had that "what does labor feel like?" chat. Granted, everyone is different and every person's pain tolerance level is different. So what I felt may not be the same for you. But I hope my experiences can at least give you a good basis.

With our first I Googled that question, read every book I could on it and STILL in the throws of labor I wasn't sure it was the real thing. I learned very quickly my pain tolerance level is high! Woo hoo!!
With baby #1 I woke up to annoying back pains and put a heating pad on it and when back to sleep. Woke up an hour later and just couldn't get comfortable, took a hot shower and realized that when the ache went into my legs that this just may be it. But that wonderful break you get in between kept teasing me and making me think it was just more 'practice' contractions. Ether way I woke up the hubby and said "maybe call the midwife I think I might.... (pause for 1 min to give into contraction)..be in labor". Once he saw that he called her and woke her up, since it was 1A.M. We made our way to the birthing center, I walked in like it was no big deal and apologized to her up and down for dragging her out of bed. Stopping along the way to lean on the couch to have a contraction. She looked at me not sure if it was real or not, but said we would go and 'check'.

Once I settled into the big bed they had there she 'checked' me and started laughing. "You are complete! 10cm!! How did you not know!?!" We both had a good laugh about that.

So there you have it! Pains that went into my legs and ones that made me stop mid sentence and think of nothing else.

Baby #2
Again I doubt myself to much, this one was similar. We were out doing shopping for a friend's bridal shower and needed to run to Target too. While at the first store I had to stop the cart while we were shopping and give in to the feeling. But we kept going, I was not totally sure this was it and don't like to be thought of as a drama queen. So I told my husband "just keep looking for the dish towels they want then we can head out". Little did I know the 'head out' phrase was literal.

We got in the car to go to Target, only a 3 min drive, and once we got there I told my husband "you run in and I will wait here with little man in his car seat". In that short time it took him to get bananas and come back it suddenly hit me THIS WAS IT! I called him on his phone and told him "get back here we need to go home! NOW!". The intensity went from 'ok I can bear it'..... to... 'holy cow I am going to give birth in the car!' In only a few minutes too. By the time we got home the midwife was on her way and that tub needed to be set up in record time. That is a birth story for another time....

So baby #2, the hunching over on the cart to deal with the intense contractions and then the sudden ramp up in the intensity.

With baby #3 this is all yet to be determined, this one has given me those silly 'practice contractions' or Braxton Hicks for months now. The pressure has been there for weeks, so I am at a loss. My only thought is that they will get intense enough where I can't think of anything else. But we will see....