Contraction?

This is my first baby and I know everyone is telling me that a contraction is painful (but I'm a wimp and everything she does is darn near painful at this point). But I have no clue what all a contraction is and how long they last or how far apart they are. Can someone tell me the different ways to know that you are going into labor? I don't want to be sitting in my house for hours thinking that I'm just having Braxton Hicks when I'm actually about to pop my baby girl out.

I've also been told to wait til my water breaks to go to the hospital, but I've been told that a lot of first time pregnancies, the person has to have their water broken...

You will know when the contractions are real. The pain is different and it is all encompassing.

Also, the water breaking bit, doesn't matter of its your 1st or 10th pregnancy. The bag of waters does not typically break until the very end of labor.

If you're in labor your contractions (everything tightens up, basically, and yes, they hurt) will be at regular intervals, will last longer and get progressively stronger. If you think you may be having contractions just write down the time that you have it and how long it lasts. Do the same thing every time. If there is a pattern it might be time! Wait until your contractions are about 7 minutes apart to go in. (this is what I was always told anyway) . Best of luck!