Was I in false labour and if I was does it mean anything?

[curran]

Hi, I am 33 weeks and 6 days pregnant and yesterday afternoon about 5pm I noticed that I was having a lot of braxton hicks, I was out collecting my children and buying groceries so I did not pay attention to them until after dinner. My husband started timing them around 8pm and they were 9 mins apart and lasting for about a minute, they got progressively stronger and were proper contractions starting from my cervix and reaching up and around the top of my uterus. By 10.30 I figured I should call the hospital and see if I needed to be checked. I went in to hospital at 11pm, contractions now 6 mins apart and within a few hours they had gotten down to 2.5-3 mins apart. The midwife checked my cervix and said it was still closed. I had felt some sharp pains down there at some point which made me think that maybe my water was going to break but it never did. Anyway after deciding that my cervix was closed and the baby's head was still quite high she was satisfied that I would not be giving birth and so asked me to take 2 codeine based pain killers which completely whacked me out (it was 2am by this stage) and although I was still having contractions I couldnt really feel them as much anymore I was so tired that I eventually passed out and when I woke up at 10am there were no more.
This is my 3rd baby, the first 2 came the day before their due dates and I never had any false labours before. My last baby was 4.65kg and so I am being checked at 36 weeks for growth as they will probably be inducing me at 38 or so weeks to try and avoid the shoulder dystocia that happened last time.
My question is, these contractions were very strong and I also experienced back pain, I do not think they were braxton hicks because they were regular and consistant for many hours and gained in strength and frequency. Could this be a sign that I might have my baby soon or is it more likely that it was just a one-off and if so what WAS it? My in-laws immediately gave me **** over the 'false alarm' and 'braxton hicks' but I have had babies before and this was not like BH contractions, it was like labour. Has anybody experienced this kind of thing and what came of it? Did you carry to term?

[jabin20]

I'm 37 weeks with #2. I have Been in false laBour with this one 3 times already! And from what your saying, it does sound like false laBour. I went thru the same thing aBout a week ago. Contractions just like that for aBout 6 hours and then they totally stopped! They hurt! They make you worry and they get you NO WHERE!!! Hope this helps. :)

[ealahweemah72]

when i was about 39 weeks and 7 days away from my due date i went through the same thing. got to the hospital and i was 2 cm dilated they kept me for a bit but i hadn't continued to dilated so home i went. the next day around the same exact time i went back because my mucus plug thingy came out during a run to the bathroom and i was feeling contractions but because of the previous night i was ignoring them till i saw that. got to the hospital this time and was 6 cm gave birth the next morning 6 days before my due date