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hmm.. Im kinda curious about this too... sorry I have no info.. this is my first. however, I think that you should start counting it from the time you start to get contraction at home *shrug* just my opinion.

I've wondered about this too! I had just irregular pains with my first, when I went int they broke my water, so I've always counted from the time they broke my water until I gave birth. I think it would be hard to tell if you never have any regular contractions, because you really don't know when it started.....but, I guess if you have a definite knowledge of when they started you could go by that?

You start timing from the beginning of one contraction to the beginning of the next.

no, what i meant is timing the whole entire birth , not timing the contractions. i heard that your water can break at any time during labour, sometime it doesnt break until the near end. with my first child i timed my labour started from my first steady contraction until i gave birth which was 18.5 hrs. the hospital timed it at 9.5hrs. i am so confused! its true that how do you know to time your labour when everyone is different and some people even have silence birth! they cant feel any contractions, and some contractions are so irregular that you think its only braxton hicks!

My OB nurse told me that you start timing from the point where your contraction become regular. I never asked the doctor.

I was told that it starts from when you're 3cm or contractions are 5 minutes apart. For me, that was 46 hours with my first...hoping for a faster labour this time! It's definitely not from when your water breaks, because I had been having contractions 5 minutes apart for about 38 hours before the OB finally broke my water.