True labor usually begins with contractions that intensify rather than ease up - more than 4 an hour. When you change positions or move around and the contraction gets stronger - it is the real thing. Pain, if any, starts in the lower back and can radiate down the groin and into the legs and feels like you need to have a bowel movement. The contractions will become more frequent and will increase in duration, though they may not be "text" book - i.e. - every 5 minutes. They may be 5 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, 4 minutes, etc. Bloody show or blood-tinged mucus will start during true labor. Membranes may rupture, though this only happens in about 15% of labors. The rupture may be a gush or a trickle.

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